Category: Trips

  • Southern US Trip Summary

    This morning at home we feel as though we are living between two worlds. Before we enter back into our everyday life with all its responsibilities we look back on six and a half weeks of excitement and adventure. We’re happy we did write the blog so that we don’t forget all the things we saw and experienced. It definitely is a trip to remember and does rival our Route 66 trip from two years ago.

    What worked well:

    WIND Mobile’s Unlimited US Roaming. We’ve been WIND Mobile customers for a number of years now and their price just can’t be beat. For $15 a month we had unlimited voice calling, texting and 1GB of data while in the US. This allowed us to keep in touch and look up things on the road.

    Good Sam Membership: This RV club membership cost $25 a year and give you 10% discount at member campsites.  It definitely paid for itself.

    America the Beautiful Pass: This $80/year pass gives you free entrance to US Parks and other recreation sites. It paid for itself as well.

    Garmin GPS: We love our Garmin GPS system. At the start of the trip we had the RV/Trucking dezl 760 model but it was stolen in Albuquerque so we bought a nuvi 2689LMT to replace it. These GPS units have campground locations pre-installed and provide lots of information on arrival times, traffic conditions, etc.

    Allstays Camp and RV App: We use this app on our iPads all the time to look for campgrounds. It shows the location of campgrounds and gives information about their rating, facilities and distance from your current location.

    NOAA Weather Pro App: This app for the iPad and iPhone shows a map with weather conditions. It also has the ability to send alerts to your phone when severe weather is nearby.

    Visitor Centres, Park Rangers and Bureau of Land Management offices: These are always a source of great information and have invaluable knowledge of local conditions and opportunities.

    Frugal RV Travel Guides: These guides have great route information as well as tips on inexpensive places to stay overnight.

    Here’s a map of the entire trip. This is an image grab from Google Maps as it wasn’t possible to use the entire GPS track on a live map, probably because of its size.

    SouthernUS

  • Cloverdale, Indiana to Dundas, Ontario

    This morning we were all excited to go to Indianapolis to see Kevin Raber again and visit his new gallery. We’ve known Kevin since our 2009 Antarctica trip and our PODAS trips to Death Valley and Iceland. Kevin used to be the Vice President of Phase One USA and is now the CEO of Luminous Landscape, a great online resource for photographers.

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    Kevin has a lovely gallery/workspace in the Stutz building in downtown Indianapolis. Stutz was a car manufacturer and some of the historic cars are on display in the building today.

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    Ruth loved the old freight elevators and we all enjoyed a nice lunch in the building’s restaurant. Thanks for lunch Kevin.

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    After a great visit we decided to drive the remaining 700 or so kms home rather than spending another night so close to our final destination.

    It was an amazing trip and rivals our Route 66 trip.

  • Newton Kansas to Cloverdale, Indiana

    Wow, US states just fly by when you’re on the Interstate and there isn’t much to see. We decided to make this a pure driving day to make it as close as possible to Indianapolis for a visit with Kevin Raber tomorrow.

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    Our campground for the night was interesting to say the least. It was a tucked away, old, treed park with inhabitants who seem to have lived there in their decrepit, permanently parked trailers for a long time. The bathrooms were old as well, but we were happy to smell the bleach when we entered the facilities.

  • Chama, New Mexico to Newton, Kansas

    It has really difficult to depart from Chama, not only because it was fun riding and hearing the steam trains, but knowing that from now on it would be a long haul home.

    As a treat we were able to hear, see and photograph today’s steam train trip as it passed by our campground and later the road we travelled on. We even made a video of the steam train chugging up the mountain.

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    We drove non-stop to Newton, Kansas, stopping only for gas and a quick lunch in the parking lot of a closed Italian restaurant. While having lunch, a man walked by the van glaring at us and mumbling something which made us decide lunch was over.

    We stayed at the Newton, Kansas Walmart for the night.

  • Chama, New Mexico

    Pepsi had the day off today while we rode the Cumbres and Toltec steam train from Chama, New Mexico to Antonito, Colorado. The train line was built in 1880 to extend an existing rail line from Denver to the silver rich mountains near Silverton, Colorado. These days it is a national historic landmark and the longest, highest and most complete example of late 19th and early 20th century narrow gauge railroading in the U.S.

    What a treat it was to see the steam and smoke from the engines! We arrived early and took pictures prior to departure and were allowed to freely roam along the tracks.

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    We rode in the Parlour car and were served a fruit plate as soon as we boarded.

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    Our adventure began and we quickly crossed the bridge close to our campground and waved to our fellow campers who had assembled for the passing of the train.

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    The trip from Chama climbs a 4% grade and the engine needs to work very hard to pull the train up the mountain. Many curves gave great photo opportunities.

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    We were in the last car and walked up to the locomotive and were rained on by hot bits of coal. It was like being sand blasted. The train stopped briefly while the water tank was refilled. The tank can hold 5,000 gallons of water.

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    Lunch was included in the fare and was at Osier, roughly in the middle of the 64 mile trip. There were lots of choices and the food was tasty and the service on the train and in the restaurant was great. The commissioner of the railway was also on our trip and seemed happy with how things were going.

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    After lunch it was all downhill – at least with the train. We passed through a beautiful 600ft canyon, saw some antelope and had a great rum cake as an afternoon snack. We arrived in Antonito at 4:45pm and two busses were waiting to take us back to Chama.

    This stream train trip is definitely recommended!

  • Santa Fe, New Mexico to Chama, New Mexico

    The morning started with a visit to a Hobby Lobby and a Tandy Leather store before we visited El Rancho de las Golondrinas – the ranch of the swallows – now a living museum with buildings dating back to the 1700s. It was a stopping point along the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the royal road of the interior from Mexico City to New Mexico.

    This ranch was a fort at one time and the residents lived and worked in rooms around the internal plaza.

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    In addition to the ranch buildings, a number of buildings from other locations were transported or rebuilt in a small village on the grounds. While walking to the village area we came across a bull snake. Not poisonous but an impressive 5 ft or so in length.

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    In the village we visited a blacksmith’s shop, a governor’s house, a mill and a chapel along with a pen housing goats.

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    We needed to be in Chama this evening so that we could ride the steam train tomorrow morning. We left in good time but encountered a bit of a delay when we picked up a bolt in the rear right tire at 4:30pm. The air was escaping the tire quickly, but our trusty new GPS located a tire shop 2kms down the road and they were able to fix the tire right away for $15. Thirty minutes later we were on the road and arrived Rio Chama RV Park. This campground is a short walk from the train station and is train themed.

    We decided to walk to the train station to orient ourselves and had a great dinner and a beer on the patio at a restaurant in town.

  • Santa Fe, New Mexico

    After breakfast outside we we packed and moved across the street to our new campsite at Los Suenos de Santa Fe RV Resort. We left Pepsi in the van for the day and walked to the bus stop to take the city bus #2 to downtown Santa Fe. We were let off early because the center part of the city was closed to most traffic because of a major native arts and crafts festival taking place this weekend.

    Our walk to the famous plaza gave a good impression of Santa Fe as cultural and sophisticated city. We saw the Lensic performing arts centre and found a plaque that Billy the Kid was jailed for the last time in Santa Fe’s Cornell building. We walked by the original trading post from 1603 and were intrigued by the stores with beautiful pottery from different native tribes.

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    We enjoyed the surreal sound of a street musician who used a Swiss handpan instrument which almost sounded a string instrument.

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    Santa Fe has very elegant and super expensive stores that can be found in modern mall-like settings but also along the street and around the plaza.

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    Window shopping made us very hungry and we stopped for lunch at the La Fonda on the Plaza hotel and restaurant.

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    After lunch we explored a photography gallery in the hotel which sold well known photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson and Edouard Boubat among others.

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    Back on the street we visited the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi which contains the oldest Madonna in New Mexico.

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    Next stop was the Georgia O’Keefe Museum and here we learned about Georgia’s life and art.

    Our last stop for the day was in the Railyard district where we not only saw the Rail Runner train but also a number of native art booths that were set up for the weekend Indigenous Fine Art Market.

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    Many of the booths were already closed, but we were able to see a native fashion show.

    Filled with lots of great impressions but very tired we took the city bus back to our campground and had a swim before going to bed.

  • Albuquerque, New Mexico to Santa Fe, New Mexico

    The morning started with a scramble to check what the insurance would cover and a search for a place that could fix our lock. It turns out that we will have to file a claim against our home insurance because most of the items stolen are not permanent items in the RV. Only the GPS would qualify as would the repair of the lock itself.

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    We ended up taking the van to a Ace Auto Parts, a repair place that our friend Robert had recommended. They looked at it and told us they could fix it if we picked up the handle assembly from a Chevrolet dealer in town. The first dealer didn’t have it in stock, but found another dealer nearby that had the one and only assembly in Albuquerque. We drove to that dealer, told them the story and they graciously sold it to us at a discount. Back at Ace Auto Parts, the door trim was quickly removed, the part installed and the door trim put back and we were on our way.

    We really missed our GPS unit as the one built into the radio on the van is definitely sub-standard. BestBuy came to the rescue and we bought a new Garmin unit. Happy again, we decided to continue our trip rather than head straight home.

    We took the Turquoise Trail to Santa Fe. Along the way we saw remnants of some mining and some hip and artsy small towns.

    In Santa Fe we found an interesting campground which combines RV sites with a 55+ community. You must be 21+ to stay at the campground. They have a great pool which was a wonderful way to relax after all the stress of the last two days.

  • Albuquerque, New Mexico

    The American RV Park provides a free continental breakfast and we definitely did not miss this opportunity.

    We made it a very leisurely morning, taking care of some business and having a snooze before we headed off to see Albuquerque’s Old Town. There are a number of craft shops, galleries and boutiques here.

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    At the Plaza, we saw vendors and buildings in Pueblo style.

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    Another highlight was the San Felipi de Neri church, the oldest church in Albuquerque.

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    We had to take turns seeing the church because Pepsi wasn’t allowed in.

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    Time for a cold drink and some ice cream. We sat on the patio and struck up a conversation with two women who were also enjoying their ice cream and cold drinks.

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    Even Pepsi enjoyed a cold ice water and looked quite content.

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    The two women suggested we should not miss a photography gallery on the second floor. It turned out to be a photo collective of several artists who share a lovely space and we remembered the wonderful studio space we shared with some Studio 12 members in Hamilton and the Art Crawl shows we put on.

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    When we arrived back at the van we discovered that someone had broken into it and stolen our GPS, Ruth’s iPhone, Martin’s iPad and two of our cameras. The police arrived in good time and we filed a report. The police officer really took his time to help us and Martin searched for the serial numbers of the stolen items. With the side door lock punched out, we were a little worried we’d have another break-in so the police officer promised us that one of his colleagues would patrol the area we would be in and keep an eye on it.

    We went out for dinner with our friend Robert and left Pepsi and the remaining valuables in his shop while we were gone.

  • Gallup, New Mexico to Albuquerque, New Mexico

    We woke up to beautiful morning light at our campsite.

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    We got up, had breakfast and drove into a town that had transformed itself from an almost ghost town on Sunday night into an active commercial centre.

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    We didn’t make it far in Gallup. We parked at the visitor centre and walked across the street to First American Traders. This is a native arts and crafts store, both retail and wholesale.

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    We agonized for about two hours over a selection of pottery from different native tribes. Now we have problems using the bathroom in the van because there is a huge box wedged under the sink.

    We needed to get some more cash and looked for an ATM. We’ve found that in the U.S. ATM machines are generally drive-through units and one needs to line up with the cars to use them.

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    Our next stop was Earl’s Family Restaurant. We had discovered this restaurant on our Route 66 trip in 2013 and wanted to visit again. One unique feature of this restaurant is that it allows native vendors to sell wares table to table that they or a close family member have made.

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    Now we booted it on I-40 to Albuquerque to meet-up with our neon sign making friend. We caught up on the last two years, had proscuitto sandwiches and then headed out to a New Mexican restaurant for delicious enchiladas with green sauce. It was a fun night.

    We spent the night at the American RV Park on the west end of Albuquerque.

    Note: Map track is approximate as GPS unit was lost. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post.