Alexx Begins Blogging - Day 9 of 178

These are the voyages of the Starship "Air Barty One" (AB1) whose 10-year mission is to bravely go where no retirees have gone before ... OK, that may be a bit much.  I am Captain James T. Kirk (aka Alexx) who along with my science officer Mrs. Spock (aka Diedre) and our 3 flight deck officer-cats Lt. O'Hura (Samantha), Mr. Sulu (Casey), and engineer Scottie (Charlie) are in the beginning of our 178-day, Midwest-states voyage to see the country, meet new people, and annoy the heck out of friends and family alike.

     All right, enough with the "Star Trek" blather.  I'm really more of a "Star Wars" guy.  Yes, Diedre and I are beginning day 9 nestled in the little town of Ouray, Colorado, surrounded by the San Juan Mountains.  The city is so pretty, it's referred to as "The Switzerland of the U.S."  That's only fair, since when we were across the pond, we called Zurich the "Cleveland of Switzerland."

     Before setting ourselves adrift on this 6-month adventure, we took three test runs to make sure our 35' Forest River Georgetown motor-home was seaworthy, so to speak.  Our trip to Tombstone in February saw us covered with snow the first day, something we had pledged never to drive in for at least the next 10 years.  So much for that vow.  On that trip, we saw the wondrous Kartchner Caverns, the Bisbee Copper Queen Mine, and walked Boot Hill where the 2nd place finishers in "The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" now reside. 

      In March, we journeyed to Laughlin, Nevada, mainly for a senior softball tournament where, just like the boys we visited at Tombstone's Boot Hill, we finished second.

     In the last of our shakedown cruises, we went to Yuma, Arizona, home of the State Territorial Prison; San Diego to visit our friend Sara Oswald, previously of Owatonna and National Computer Systems; and then the northwestern part of Los Angeles where meals were shared with cousin Jan Price and hubby John; nephew Jake; nephew Brian and his wife Cindy and son Shepherd; and a giant Sunday brunch for all 14 members of our family generously hosted by longtime friend and all-around good gal Pauli Morin and husband Jeffrey.  Talk about your qualifying for sainthood.  

We also made it to a game at Dodger Stadium, making it 11 major league stadiums we've been to (I've been to more, but I'm so old, they've torn down 8 of the ones I've been to).  Our goal is to make it to all 30 stadiums by the end of the 2015 season.

     From there, it was 3 days in Palm Springs, California, where we met up with my good friend Lesley Gore.  OK, so it was just an autograph session with her after a performance of "The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies," something we would highly recommend you see if you're ever in the area.

     Our Iliad of a trip began somewhat inauspiciously with a blown fuse when I was attempting to plug AB1's air conditioner into our house outlet.  Remember, I'm not exactly "Tim the Tool Man."  Apparently, our 50-amp mobile home was a bit too much for our 16-year old Scottsdale home.

     With super-handyman Diedre Kaye at my side (or more like "the forefront"), a solution was soon found and we were on our way to the incredibly scenic Monument Valley (MV) which straddles the border between Arizona and Utah.  MV, as those of you our age may recall, was the favored site of movie director John Ford and legendary actor John Wayne when they filmed all those scenic Westerns, starting with "Stagecoach" back in 1939.  We stayed at the same campground where the movie crews had stayed all those many years ago.  The resort ran John Wayne movies every night which was a lot of fun. 

We hiked around the giant rock formation, "The West Mitten," our 5th day there; that formation was seen often in "Stagecoach."  The fact that it was a 2-hour hike that had us in the rain the second half did not deter our plucky pioneer spirit.

     One night we met a most interesting young couple, early 50's (I know, I know, it's all relative) from Australia.  They had never been to the U.S., so they were in the midst of a 7-week, Herculean tour that would take them from L.A. to MV to Denver to Chicago to New York City to the Florida Keys to San Francisco to Las Vegas.  WHEW!!  They were so nice that I pledged we'd drive AB1 to visit them in a few years.  Diedre claims there's some problem with that ... whatever.

Alexx always manages to find a ball park no matter where we go!

 We're now on day 3 of 6 in Ouray, Colorado; today's plan is a day-trip to Telluride, Colorado.  From here, we're off to Larkspur, CO, to visit Diedre's brother, sister-in-law, nephew and his wife and kids, and see a Colorado Rockies ball game.

      So, thus far, we're still loving the RV life.  And I'm even managing to do a little work on the road; the publisher of my book, "The Fastest Gun in Hollywood: The Peter Brown Story," emailed us their final printout which the two of us are in the process of doing the absolute final edits.  Hopefully we'll have the books in hand by June 10. (Stay posted by clicking here - you can even pre-order your book!)  Book launch parties in Minneapolis and at Carleton College are (hopefully) in the offing.

     That's it for this edition of "Alexander Adventures."  Hope you enjoy tracking our journey.  We hope to see you soon in an RV park in your area.

     Alexx out.     
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Just a quick note from DK - Valley of the Gods was another day trip that we took while in Monument Valley and we thoroughly enjoyed naming the various rocks sculpted by nature.  This one seemed to be our favorite.  We decided to call him the Teddy Bear and I think that might be a rocking horse by his side.

Some of you wonder if we are getting any time to relax.  Yes indeed!  Check out some of our favorite past times when we aren't touring the areas or hiking...

We love our cozy bedroom and invariably all three cats find their way to join us at night...and sometimes even for afternoon naps!  I finally finished crocheting our afgan which has come in quite handy on some chilly nights.

I'm also continuing to enjoy my cooking and creating delicacies in my kitchen.  While updating this blog, the RV is being filled with the wonderful smells from the oven while I bake my latest grain-free bread that we'll have for breakfast.

You can keep track of our meal plans that are diabetic and heart-healthy friendly on my blog: Diedre Cooks Lo-Carb.  Just click here.

Cocktails at 5:00 PM is our goal and we've found quite a few that are in keeping with Alexx's diet.  Thanks to my buddy Jo, I can still enjoy my martinis on the road as she equipped me with sturdy glasses, Grey Goose, a cocktail shaker and even the onions!

    

Cheers!  Thanks for following our journey!