Category Archives: Airstream Travel

Great Falls, Montana

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August 23, 2020

We traveled north into Montana and camped at Conestoga Campground and RV Park in White Sulphur Springs. This was our view out our window.

The RV Park even had it’s own fish pond.

We like to camp in one place for a couple of weeks and take day trips to places around our base camp. One of our side trips while in Montana was to Great Falls, Montana. We were happy to find a Mongolian BBQ that was open. It was one of the first times we were able to dine in at a restaurant since the Covid-19 pandemic.

From there, we drove alongside the Missouri River to see Black Eagle Falls and Rainbow Falls. Other stops were at Giant Springs State Park and the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.

The drive to Great Falls was beautiful through the mountains and forests. This is a lookout just a few miles outside of Great Falls.

There are five falls within a 10 mile stretch of the Missouri River. The one seen below is Black Eagle Falls which is right in the middle of the city of Great Falls.

The next one seen below is Rainbow Falls.

As you can see, there are power houses built before each of the falls to maximize electricity generation for the area.

Between Black Eagle Falls and Rainbow Falls is Giant Springs State Park. Giant Springs is one of the largest freshwater springs in the nation. It is the source of the Roe River, one of the world’s shortest rivers. Roe River flows into the Missouri River. But the source of the springs itself comes from miles of underground water from the mountains miles away. The water the bubbles up from cracks in rocks into a pool and runs over rocks into the Missouri River. By the way, did you know that the Missouri River is the longest river in North America?

The park grounds were green and beautiful.

Notice how clear the water is!

In the photo below, you can see where the water bubbles up out of the rocks below and into the pool.

You can faintly see circles in the water where the water is bubbling up.

The world’s shortest river of just 200 feet.

Beyond the walkway is the Missouri River.

The Missouri River is also the river that explorers Lewis and Clark traveled to find a waterway to the Pacific and to explore the large region of the Louisiana Purchase. We stopped at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. One floor of exhibits was closed due to the pandemic, but the top floor still had some interesting exhibits, including a panorama of what it was like to carry heavy dugout canoes around each of the falls in this area.

The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center

It’s interesting to see sites where history took place in the beginnings of our country. I would love to come back to Great Falls, Montana, and explore the area and its history further.

Categories: Airstream Travel, RV Travel Tags: Full Time RVing, Giant Springs State Park, Great Falls, Montana, MT, RVing, Sites to see in Great Falls, White Sulphur Springs

Mt. Lemmon – Tucson, Arizona

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April 23, 2020

Mount Lemmon

One of the side trips we made while in isolation during the pandemic was an excursion to Mount Lemmon near Tucson. This mountain is over 9,000 feet high. Mount Lemmon is named after a woman botanist, Sara Plummer Lemmon, who made it to the top by horse and by foot in 1881.

At the top is Mount Lemmon Observatory which was formerly the site of a USAF radar base of the Air Defense Command. All the military buildings were abandoned and given to the US Forest Service. Summerhaven is a small town at the top with many private residences and cabins. All restaurants and facilities were closed due to the pandemic.

We drove the Catalina Highway or Mount Lemmon Highway as far as Summerhaven. We saw many cyclists along the way. The desert saguaros and other cacti eventually gave way to scrub pines then tall pines at the summit. The temperature change was dramatic–from very warm to cool and breezy. We ate a sack lunch at the top and enjoyed the view and the cool breeze. It’s easy to see why locals like to visit the mountain to escape the summer heat.

Road up Mount Lemmon

Vegetation on lower sides of the mountain.

Saguaros are plentiful and an Ocotillo is blooming

Interesting rock formations along the road

Beautiful vistas from the road

A view overlooking Tucson

View from the top of Mount Lemmon

Our lunch spot

Categories: Airstream Travel, Arizona Travel, RV Travel Tags: AZ, Full Time RVing, Mount Lemmon, Mount Lemmon Tucson, Mt Lemmon, RVing, Tucson

San Xavier Mission, Tucson AZ

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April 17, 2020

The pandemic of 2020 was in full swing. We had all our future reservations canceled and were told to stay in place. But after weeks of being in lockdown, we needed to get out. We decided it would be safe to drive out to the beautiful San Xavier mission south of Tucson, Arizona, and at least take a look at the outside. I’m so glad we did.

This National Historic Lankmark was founded as a Catholic mission by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692. Construction of the current structure was begun in 1783 and completed in 1797. The interior is filled with original statuary and mural paintings. The church was closed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, however, the mission is still actively run by Franciscans today.

Palo Verde tree, saguaro cactus, prickly pear and yucca plant (in foreground).

 The grounds were beautiful with many cacti in bloom.

Blooming cholla cactus

Blooming prickly pear cactus

Blooming Barrel Cactus

Cane cholla cactus in bloom

Saguaro Cactus

Mission San Xavier

Categories: Airstream Travel, Arizona Travel, RV Travel Tags: AZ, cacti gardens, catcus blooms, cholla cactus, Full Time RVing, Mission San Xavier, Missions in Arizona, Places to see in Tucson, prickly pear cactus, RVing, saguaro cactus, San Xavier Mission, Southern Arizona places to see, Tucson, Tucson Historical sites, yucca cactus

Quinta Mazatlan, McAllen, Texas

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February 8, 2020

Quinta Mazatlan (KEEN-tuh  MAH-zaht-lahn) “Quinta” in Spanish means country house, villa or estate. The word “Mazatlan” in ancient Indian  means “Land of the Deer”. The history of this site starts with a man and his wife (Jason and Marcia Matthews) who built the mansion with a special mix of adobe in the 1930’s. They lived there for 30 years. In the mid 60’s the mansion came up for sale and the city of McAllen bought it to preserve it from destruction. It became an urban sanctuary whose mission is to work “to enrich people’s lives by sharing knowledge about birds, plants, and environmental stewardship in South Texas.”

Entrance

Quinta Mazatlan Adobe Mansion

Massive carved front doors

Notice the shell above the door.

Inside the adobe mansion.

One of two antique pianos of Brazilian rosewood.

Roman tub in bathroom

Tilework in archway

Courtyard

Pool and portico in courtyard.

Well in courtyard

Pathway to bird feeders and amphitheater.

Baby Cacti

A tangled mess of cacti growing in among the brush and trees.

                                                       Agave Plant

Large Agave Plant

Bird Feeders at Amphitheater

This water flows to the pond where it is pumped back to the top of the creek bed. The pump runs on solar electricity. On right are bronze turtles to illustrate the local wildlife.

Pathway to pond

Pathway around pond.

Portico with solar panels on the roof to run pump.

It was very enjoyable to see this historic adobe and walk the pathways in the garden in the afternoon under cloudy skies. I imagine it gets really hot here in summers, and the thick walls of the adobe would have kept the house cool.

Categories: RV Travel, Texas Travel Tags: Full Time RVing, McAllen, Quinta Mazatlan, RVing, Sites to see in McAllen, South Texas sites to see, Texas, TX

Lake Medina and San Antonio

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January 24, 2020

Lake Medina Campground near San Antonio, TX

About an hour’s drive northwest of San Antonio, is Lake Medina Campground. Our first campsite was in among the cedar trees. Big mistake! We didn’t know that December and January are the two worst months of the year for “cedar fever”, an allergic reaction many people have to the pollen that blows off the trees during that time of year. We moved to another campsite where there were less trees, but Ray still had terrible allergies from the pollen.

Our campsite among the cedar trees, Lake Medina, TX.

The lake itself is a blue shimmering gem among the rocky hills surrounding it, being situated in the Hill country of Texas.

Lake Medina

One day I took a walk near the shoreline and found an old rock chimney, all that remains of an old house.

Old Chimney

On the grounds are other old structures of bygone days—a two storied house and an old barn. The deer are so tame that they hardly move when you walk toward them. It is illegal to feed them, but I have a feeling that one reason they are so tame is that they have become accustomed to being hand fed by the campers. One buck loitered near our campsite and I got a good photo of him.

 One afternoon, we decided to take a drive to San Antonio. Ray wanted to see the house where he spent his childhood days on Frost Street. They lived there when he was ages 3 to 4. When the family moved away, they rented the house out. They came back several times in between renters to fix it up and add some fresh paint. His last year spent there was when he was 12 years old. The house looks much smaller now, than in his memories. He remembered the big pecan tree in the back yard. It has a massive trunk now and it towers over the houses around it.  They returned when he was 11, and his dad painted it turquoise blue with gloss black window trim and a coral orange front door.  It became more sedate sometime after they sold it.

Ray’s childhood home on Frost Street

Ray’s childhood home with pecan tree in the back yard.

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant that was featured in Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives by Guy Fieri (Dewese’s Tip Top Cafe). The Roasted Pork Butt with Gravy was delicious, but I really wished we’d ordered a big plate of their homemade Onion Rings.

Our other major goal of the day was to visit the McNay Art Museum. We got confused about where the entrance was and so took a nice walk along the banks of the river. After we found the entrance, we realized we should come back another day when we had more time, which is what we did.

Walk by River in San Antonio

The McNay museum is housed in a 24 room Spanish Colonial Revival-style mansion of Marion Koogler McNay. She was an American painter and art teacher who inherited her father’s oil fortune. The museum is named after her. When she died, the house was bequeathed to the City of San Antonio to house the museum. Most of the art is from the 19th and 20th century European and American art by impressionists like Paul Cezanne, Pablo Picasso, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keefe and Mary Cassatt. My favorite was “The Cup of Tea” by Mary Cassatt, along with many other paintings of Mary Cassatt’s women showing the every day life of women of that period.

Mary Cassatt’s “The Cup of Tea”

One of the paintings by Mary Cassatt was done in pastel on paper called “Head of Simone in a Large Plumed Hat, Looking Right”. I thought this painting would be of interest to my daughter Christy who loves to work in pastels.

 One of my other favorite paintings was the Yellow and Blue Iris by Lowell Nesbitt. I thought it was by Georgia O’Keefe at first because it reminds me of her large paintings of flowers.

“Yellow and Blue Iris” by Lowell Nesbit

Also in the museum was a large painting by Claude Monet called “Nympheas” (Water Lilies)”. It was Monet’s dream to make paintings that fill a circular room. The paintings were of water lilies from his garden in Giverny, France. The painting we saw was one of the many preliminary studies for the paintings he painted on huge canvas panels that hang in a circular room at the Orangerie des Tuileries in Paris. Monet gave those paintings to the French nation.

As we wandered around the museum, we found ourselves outside in the beautiful interior garden with palm trees and fountains and koi ponds. One fish was monstrous!

Courtyard at McNay Art Museum

Outside the museum were many modern sculptures. By then, we were tired and decided to head home.

Sculptures outside McNay Art Museum

Categories: Airstream Travel, RV Travel, Texas Travel Tags: Art Museums, Art Museums of Texas, Mary Cassatt, Mary Cassatt The Cup of Tea, McNay Art Museum, Medina Lake, San Antonio, Texas, TX

Looking back at 2019

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December 13, 2019

 After a year of thinning down, we sold our home in California on October 3, 2019.  We gave away or sold most of our stuff. What’s left is stored in a 10’x20’ storage unit.  We started our journey to see America in a 23 year old 23 foot long Jayco trailer pulled by our 13 year old Suburban.  We belong to the Thousand Trails Campgrounds, so we spent our first few weeks in their Morgan Hill RV park.  There we thinned out our belongings even further.  Having collected stuff for 44 years, so it took some time!  After saying good-bye to our kids and grandkids, we headed toward Mesa, Arizona.

In Mesa, we bought a used 2016 Chevy Heavy duty diesel truck that met all our criteria for a towing vehicle.  It made a wonderful difference towing the trailer up hills and mountains!

Next, we drove to Texas.  We belong to the Escapees RV Club located in Livingston, Texas. We use their mailing service that collects our mail, scans it, and ships it to us wherever we are, when we ask. We chose their mailing service because it provided us with a “physical” address which was needed for some documents.  We spent Thanksgiving with my dad and sister in Austin, Texas. They kindly took care of our cat while we went to Virginia to buy the Airstream.

Ray was looking for specific things in a used Airstream.  He found a 2014 International Signature Airstream that had a feature we really wanted—two recliners instead of a couch.  This was an option only from 2011 – 2015. The trailer was in great condition and came with many extras, like an expensive Hensley hitch. The problem was its location, in Virginia near Washington, D.C.  We arranged to see it and stored our Jayco trailer in Texas.  We hit the road, driving 3 days, staying in motels along the way.  The Airstream was just what we were looking for, and we bought it.

We planned to drive across the Midwest states back to Texas, but a big storm system was sweeping the nation, bringing snow and freezing weather.  We didn’t want to tow our trailer through that weather, so we changed plans, heading straight south on I-95 to I-10 in Florida.  We stopped at various campgrounds along the way, but didn’t stay more than a night or two.  By the time we got back to Texas, we needed a rest!  Racing cross-country was not what we left California to do.

We spent several days unloading the Jayco and getting it ready to sell, moving everything into the Airstream. We had the Title for the Airstream and got it licensed in Texas, but we are still waiting on the Title for our truck.  In Texas, you have to register all your vehicles before you can get Texas driver’s licenses.  That was the next item on our list.

We enjoy our 208 square foot home on wheels, but like so many others, we are looking for a home “whose builder and maker is God.”  Like the old chorus said, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through…”

Ray & Phyllis

Dreams Come True…

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November 16, 2019

Dreams Come True…

At least for us they have. Getting our 30 foot Airstream was our goal. We needed something to travel in to see the USA that would be reliable, sturdy and easy to pull. We were blessed with finding a used 2014 International Signature Airstream. We had to travel to Virginia to get it. But it was worth it. We are really happy with the quality of the craftsmanship of the Airstream line.

Our first stop was to go to Texas where we decided we would change our “domicile” and become Texans. But on the way, we stopped in Arizona and found the right truck for us in Scottsdale. What a difference in pulling a trailer to have a heavy duty diesel truck! It pulled our little Jayco trailer (our first trailer) right up the hills and mountains.

When we arrived in Texas, we found we had to register all our vehicles before we could get our driver’s licenses. But in order to register our truck, we had to have the pink slip. It takes awhile for the DMV to process all that. So we headed off to Virginia to look at the Airstream. We had pretty much made up our minds already, but it didn’t hurt to look. The previous owners were really nice and threw in a bunch of extras.

Looking at the weather on our way out of Virginia, we noticed a real winter storm moving in fast. We had to head straight south to Florida to avoid it. Even so, it got pretty cold for a few days. But finally, we made it back to Texas and warmer weather.

Categories: Airstream Travel, RV Travel, Texas Travel