BACK AT IT! December 12th, 2019

Its been a while since our last post, sorry if we fell off the planet. We could not log in to our account.

But here we are, Back in Florida, currently parked at Woodsmoke Rv Resort. This park has lots to offer, such as a large heated swimming pool, Nice and large Hot Tub, a small but functional GYM, as well as a recreational center.

Walking the park and pond areas will give you some exercise as well as for your pets. The campground itself offers a variety of parking areas/pads, some are on gravel some on concrete, while others are actual mobile homes or park models. Since the last time we were here, they seem to be upgrading some of the older sites with new concrete pads.

Centrally located actually much closer to Estero then Fort Myers, Woodsmoke gives you easy access to Fort Myers, Naples and many beaches via Tamiami Hwy 41.

Parc Entrance is large and easy, if coming from the North take the first turning lane as GPS will make you do a U-turn, which is not necessary.

The Pool and Hot tub.

 They can accommodate most size rigs and they even have what the locals call "Millionaires Row"

What we like about this park is the Location, Price, Friendliness of guests and most staff as well as the amenities!

Enjoy.

Just the 2 of us!

Small towns with big hearts

During our travels we were fortunate to go through some small towns and 3 of the towns that really caught my heart were Williams in Arizona, Jerome, Arizona and Grapevine in TX.

Lets start with Williams in Arizona, from what I have read this was one the last towns to get bypassed by the new highway that replaced the infamous Route 66.

Upon arriving we noticed town folks walking the street in the Pj's and after we set up camp at the Grand Canyon Railway RV park and Resort. We had to go into town to see what all the fuss was all about. Well we didn't believe our eyes. The holiday spirit in this town was second to none. They actually have The Polar Express for the kids to ride all the way to the north pole. Well not quite but close!

The main street was decorated and even though it was still November, they had the Christmas spirit in full swing. In this town you will find the most awesome little boutique shops and restaurants.

 Just one of the Kennelly Family establishments

 They even offer great beer from local micro breweries!

The resort we stayed at was amazing! Grand Canyon Railway and Hotel, Don't get me wrong I'm not a big fan of the open parking lot style Rv park, but this stay it serves the purpose and the Hotel part makes up for the lack of the RV park charm. About 1 hour away from the actual grand canyon, this spot could be used as central location to go see many attractions.

The Next town we visited was Jerome, AZ. This town was once a great mining town and has kept many of its old town charm. After perusing the gift shops and such, we decided to stop for lunch and boy were we glad we did.

How did we choose the restaurant to eat at, you ask? well it was not that hard the owner has done a great job at making the smell of his smokers linger throughout the small town. We stopped in to Bobby D'S bbq house Bobby D's BBQ They offered 4 different Bbq sauces and of course i had to try a little bit of everything. So as we left we gave our salutes to the Chef and left with a full belly!

Jerome is definitely worth the drive up to, as long as you don't mind driving cliff side!!!

And Lastly we ended up driving to the small town of Grapevine in Texas. Although larger then the first and second town. The main street of this town has been kept in a similar state or as original as possible state to its beginning.

When we arrived in Grapevine, we immediately felt welcome. This town had all of their Christmas decorations up and in full operation, also offering a ride to the North Polar Via the Polar express. this town is nothing short of spectacular. From the shops to the restaurants again this town does not disappoint. And yes if you have already guessed it, a town being named Grapevine has many wine tasting shops! Grapevine Texas

As for the Rv park we chose this time, we happened to stumble upon another Gem! The Vineyards Campground and Cabins Situated next to Grapevine lake, this Rv Park offers a true country feel minutes from the town. With large RV sites that can accommodate most big rigs, this park is clean spacious and very well kept! And if you have a boat there is a marina just across the channel.

Thanks again for following our adventures and stay tuned for our next post!

CamelBack Mountain Hike

Just before leaving Phoenix to head to Havasu Lake, we decided to hike Camelback mountain. At the high point Camelback sits just over 2700', what is great about this hike is that it has some technical aspects and some of the crossings over the spine, offer some most spectacular views. See this short video. Summit of CamelBack

Cholla Trail is slightly easier then Echo trail, but both offer a very god challenge. Cholla is approx 1.5 miles long where as Echo is only 1.2 miles long. If you are going to hike this mountain a few things you should know;

Come early, Parking is only on the main roads. Bring at least a gallon of water. Where proper clothing and footwear and most of all have fun and stay within your limits!

Some highlights of the hike.

Good Hiking Y'all!

First leg of our 2016 Western U.S. Trip

Trip Details

Left Orleans, Ontario Saturday Morning the 15th of October, at 4:00 A.M. or 04:00 hrs for our military friends. It was a very bright night with a full moon with a low temperature of 4 degrees Celcius or 39.2 Degrees for our American friends, Still Quite warm! lol The route we chose was

Hwy 417 to Hwy 416, crossing at the 1000 Islands bridge in Gananoque, On., then onto I-81 for a good distance. In Syracuse, NY we the proceeded onto I-90 which brought us to Cleveland! Unfortunately we weren't able to stop in as The Toronto Blue jays were in town paying the Cleveland Indians. Better luck next time Toronto! Outside of Cleveland we took the I-71 to Louisville Kentucky and Hey when in Kentucky you must stop into the world famous Jimbeam Distillery, we took the warehouse tour for $8 each which also gave you 3 tasters! as well we stayed and had lunch which was very tasty, Overall Very impressive. We were getting quite anxious to get to Nashville and so On the road again we went!

During that day when we met Greg and Carol early from the Smokin' Boys n' Hot Grills BBQ Competition Team SmokinBoysNHotGrills on Hwy 75 we travel together for quite some time, its always a pleasure travelling with friends. Feeling a little tired we pulled into the Flying Jay in Walton Kentucky and spent the night.

Getting up bright and early and after having a hearty breakfast at the Denny's, we were on our way
and headed to Nashville. Something must have been going on in Nashville as most Rv parks were booked up, However we were able to find some space at the Nashville Jellystone Rv Park.

We had previously stayed at the Two Rivers Campground and Rv Park the previous year and really enjoyed our stay there, but were glad to try out the Nashville Jellystone Rv Park since this Rv Park was well know for their Christmas parade light show, this year is scheduled from Nov 4th to Dec 31st.

Taking our friends adviced we stayed in Nashville for 3 days 2 nights, and went to town for some ribs and BBQ at Peg leg porker, very tasty too say the least, we  then proceeded to go out the town and walk down the famous Broadway st where the is a bar for everyone and music to fill your boots! We very much enjoyed our stay in Nashville and can't wait to go back!

After saying our farewells to our good friends Greg and Carol, we were on the road once again travelling down I-40. Next stop for an overnight was at Fort Smith-Alma Rv Park, Fort Smith Alma Rv Park this is a smaller park that seems to be struggling, its overpiced for what it offers and the owners were not the friendliest, but all an all was just somewhere to sleep overnight. Our next stop for a few nights nights was the Amarillo Ranch RV Park, Amarillo Ranch RV Park a really nice Park and the most friendly people you will ever meet!

Something I would like to mention is that when coming into Texas from Tennessee, there is a steady inclin and so if your Rig seems to be getting below then average mileage, you are right! I was Shocked to find out at one point our altitude was around 6000'.

The front desk clerk told us about the second largest canyon second only to the world famous Grand Canyon, Palo Duro Canyon Sate Park offers Camping, hiking, Biking and beautiful scenery, we decided to go mountain biking in the state park.  This is a great state park offering camping with services such as Water and Electricity and a dump station. We decided to go mountain biking and took the Light House trail.

This trail offers an above average difficulty level and safety gear should be worn. After a few days of R & R we were back at it going down I-40 which I believe that I have forgotten to mention follows the Famous Route 66 for a good ways. The scenery in New Mexico is absolutely stunning.

Temperatures were abnormally high always hovering around the 100 degrees Farenheit or 38 Degrees celcius. Getting a little tired we decided to pull of in a small town called Grants,New Mexico just outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to our delight we found  the KOA Grants/Cibola Sands. a small but quaint little campground a good distance from I-40 for some quietness and surround by Lava!

What to say about this campground and the folks who run it, Just love it. Everyday the owner cooks up some fresh meals and sells platers, and brings the right to your RV! And I must say very tasty!!!

Finally as leave grants to get to one of our main stays, we are heading down Black Canyon Hwy or I-17 we encounter some delays, we were sad to hear that their was a major accident involving a Semi truck and 23 cars. All traffic was diverted back to where we came from as the Interstate was going to be closed for quite some time. Luckily for us we found a a small turn off where many rigs and Rv'ers pulled off to and stayed for the night. Looking at the positive side we met some new friends Tom and Bev from Manitoba. We had a great time getting to know each other.

The next morning we packed up and left early to head to our first main stay in Phoenix, AZ Desert Shadow Rv Resort. Desert Shadow Rv Resort. Fairly Large resort with many long term live in park model homes and sites for transient travelers. Very Clean, Quiet and friendly! We would stay here again.

Thanks for traveling with us and we look forward to sharing more of our advertures!



Total KM traveled 4330 km or 2690 Miles
We were getting on average 13 miles to the gallon and fuel was on average $2.25/gallon