Wandering Wahls

Mary Claire and I have dedicated part of our trip to “Eating Our Way Across America.” From $2.00 Coney Island hot dogs in Fort Wayne, to Whoopee Pie in Maine, to Key Lime Pie in Key West, we’ve sought out local eateries and delicacies as part of our RV journey. Now, we have a Tempe, AZ location to add to our list. I met with a friend at a local Mexican restaurant called Suzie’s. The food and atmosphere was perfect: great homemade food inside little “joint” on the side of the road, away from the strip malls.

Speaking of malls, I have to admit that I really, really dislike them. I know some people enjoy mall time as a hobby, and I respect that. However, I abhor having to go to a mall (the worst for someone like me was having to go to the world’s largest mall in Minnesota to get my laptop repaired at the Apple store). Anyway, I was struck by the number of malls in the Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, etc. area. If people are experiencing personal economic downturns, it doesn’t seem to be reflected in the malls. I’ll know when the recession has hit bottom when a mall doesn’t have 4 different candle stores, 7 different tennis shoes stores, or 4 different expensive “gadget” stores.

Finally, have a happy Thanksgiving! As our family has traveled the country, we’ve become aware of all the things we have to be thankful for due to my wife’s military career as well as from living in America.

We'll pardon these turkeys...Happy Thanksgiving!

I realize this story is a little dated, but please bear with me. For Halloween, we were in Phoenix to see my family and old friends (from the civilian side). The stay was fun and it was great to catch up with my brother, his family, and my dad for a few days.

Additionally though, our children got a taste of American culture – literally, since it was Halloween. Our friends have three children the same ages as ours; so Sam and Anna traipsed around the local neighborhood and Joe went to a Halloween party with our friend’s oldest boy. All three kids were pretty excited by the events – and the collection of treats (those that their dad did not confiscate).

Joe and Anna also went to school with our friend’s children for a day. They were only supposed to stay for a half a day, but when I arrived to pick them up the two wanted to stay at school. Now, how come we can’t get that attitude at their “road” school?

Phoenix might not be a place on our list of consideration; but, other than the heat, it was a nice RV stop. Plus, the kids had great fun and it was nice to have them see an American school. Tomorrow, Sam gets his turn. We’re in Cayucos, CA visiting my wife’s brother, and Sam will spend a day at school with his cousin.

Before

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-fter!

Now we have the Air Force view. We’ve gone from a $12 a night view of the Fiddler’s Cove Marina and San Diego to a $15 a night view of the Thunderbirds performing. Not bad. We came down to Nellis AFB in Las Vegas to spend Sam’s birthday in a city (he just turned 8). Fortunately for us, we picked a week to spend at Nellis when the Thunderbirds were finishing up their season. They’ve been flying over the base showing off their skills this week. As far as Sam is concerned, the show was put on for his 8th birthday.

For Sam’s big present, we took him and his siblings to the Rick Thomas Magic show at the Sahara on the strip: magic, swords being stuck into women, tigers, and watching his dad being called on stage to strap a women onto a platform so she can disappear: priceless. Next up will be scrambling over the rocks at Red Rock Canyon.

Nellis was our first assignment after Mary Claire and I married. Events like the above sometimes make us nostalgic for Vegas, but then we drive in the traffic, see the pollution hanging over the city, and read about the crime. Time to move on.

From our recent stop at the Grand Canyon at the start of the Kaibab Trail down the canyon:

Tourist: “How often of people fall off of the cliff?”
“Ranger: “Once.”

(By the way, the unlucky tourist was not from our family.)

Nominee for Top Five Most Annoying National Park Tourists: In Zion, a visitor was using her cell phone to take pictures. The phone was programmed so that when she focused the picture, a voice yelled out “Say Cheese” and then there was a loud simulation of a camera click. It might have been cute once, but she repeatedly took pictures from the same spot.

Finally, we recently drove from the Grand Canyon to the south entrance of Zion National Park (the kids are now up to almost 60 Junior Ranger programs). Our timing to arrive early afternoon was good; but we had a little delay in Page, AZ when our trailer tire went up on a curb in a Wal-Mart parking lot. As a result, we had to unhook the car in order to fix things. This delay caused us to roll into the campground in the dark, which we usually try to avoid. In the dark, I am at a loss as to backing into our spot due to the darkness.

So, here we are, Mary Claire and Joe on both sides of the RV with walkie-talkies and flashlights trying to direct me as I backed our 41-foot behemoth into a tight camping spot. We went back and forth quite a few times as we discovered unseen boulders and tree branches. With all of the flashlight action, noise from the walkie-talkies and the “beep, beep, beep” from being in reverse, I’m sure we made someone’s nominee for “Most Annoying Park Tourist”.

Fortunately, a camper came up and showed Mary Claire a bigger spot. We promptly drove to that spot and backed in on the first try.

See, all in one piece still!

One of the biggest challenges of our road trip has been space, or lack thereof. While our Newmar Allstar has a “super storage” below the master bedroom, space is still a premium for a family of five living full time in an RV. The kids are allotted 2 drawers each. They use their top drawer for clothes and their bottom drawer for toys/rocks/Halloween candy, and other treasures that kids collect. Off-season clothes are stored below in rubber bins. We routinely make trips to clothing donation boxes. So where does all our other “stuff” go? Here are a few ideas if you are storage-challenged and interested in this type of trip:

1. Games: Put all game pieces and instructions in separate zip lock bags. Put game boards and pieces in a large rubber bin, and THROW AWAY THE BOXES! (We fit about 15 games in one bin.) For jigsaw puzzles, cut the picture of the puzzle from the box and put that in a zip lock with the pieces.
2. Kitchen items: We have 2 frying pans and 2 saucepans. Everything must have dual purpose to take up real estate, i.e. the colander is my salad/fruit bowl. Corning ware is the only dishware to consider for RVing—plates stack snuggly; they are microwavable, and break resistant. We quickly hand wash dishes after each meal, and they are ready for the next.
3. Electronics (cameras, IPODS, computers): We have 2 laptops. We keep all cords and rechargers in small bins in an overhead cabinet. The printer sits at the bottom of our one and only closet.
4. Bikes: We rigged up hooks in the super storage. We keep the expensive bikes there, and two kids bikes go on the bike rack on our towed car. Helmets, locks, and bike bags are in a bin below.
5. Decorations/knick-knacks/keepsakes: Don’t have them! We visit thrift stores for holiday decorations, and then give them back after use. We do have some small souvenirs in a box below.

I can’t tell you how liberating it is to travel light. We could lighten up more—the digital piano and golf clubs haven’t been pulled out the super storage much! Hopefully we will keep “simple” when we move back in to a house.

On an end note, we do feel like we live simply. I told an Amish person once that we can afford this trip because we live a simple life – me telling an Amish man that “we” live simply…my wife laughed at that.

A couple of weeks ago, PBS ran a series by Ken Burns about our National Park system. As readers of this “travelblogue” (my invented term) know, the National Parks system has been an integral part of our journey. Therefore, I thought I would pass along a suggestion for anyone planning a family trip.

One of our recent stops, and favorites, was Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. Utah is actually has a good number of National Parks (Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef) that are all within driving distance. Plus, there are some of the most scenic state highways that we have seen on our trip that connect the parks (stay off the Interstates!).

Bryce is unique in that you enter and stay on top of the canyon so that one can hike along the rim or down into the canyon. There are nice campgrounds as well as cabins and a lodge for those disinclined to sleep among the stars on hard ground, or in the comfort of an RV.

When we stayed, there was a “Harvest Moon.” We were lucky that on nights with full moons, a Ranger leads a moonlight walk along the canyon rim (talk about not wanting to miss a step). We also hiked down into the canyon a couple of times to walk among the rock formations unique to Bryce – the Hoo Doos. These aren’t witch doctors but are towers of bizarre rock formations that Native Americans thought were people who had stolen from other tribes and turned into these towers by the Coyote when they wouldn’t repent. I don’t want to be around when their term expires.

These formations are fascinating to step on, (our children liked to step on top of a narrow Hoo Doo and call over to us – see our Facebook page, “Family Wahl”), look over, hike through, and walk among; and, would cause the most indoor oriented, Wii driven youngster to take a hike. Thus, if you’re thinking of holiday ideas look to get some of that Hoo Doo magic.

We’ve seen many military friends from all of Mary Claire’s assignments. The last few weeks have been fun because we’ve taken the kids back to where they started their military lives. First, we stopped at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas. Joe was born there 13 years ago this coming December 20. We took him by our old base house and around the hospital. Mary Claire even ran into old friends still working in the clinic where she started her Air Force midwifery career.

A couple of weeks after that, and after our resort stay at Pendleton and Fiddler’s Cove, we meandered into southern inland California to a small town outside of Temecula. There we met up with the Navy midwife and friend (Al Runzel) from Okinawa who delivered Anna and Sam (funny, he didn’t recognize the two).

Another interesting aspect of the visit is that it introduced to a whole new community of full timing RVers. Al is now retired and working at Pendleton and Balboa. To afford the southern California life, he and his wife live in an RV community where RVers buy a plot of land, park the RV, and then build up outside amenities to suit their tastes. Al had a full kitchen and outdoor living room built, as pictured. This trip has exposed us to a whole culture of life in the U.S. that we never knew.

Back to the visits- we knew we’d be meeting up with old military friends on our trip, but we didn’t realize that we’d be able to take the kids back to the people and places involved with their origins. Now, we just have to catch a hop to Okinawa to really close the circle.