This weekend brought an end to Daylight Saving Time (DST) and a return to Standard Time, giving us an extra hour of sleep and providing the commentariat an opportunity to argue for and against its continuation. We were surprised to learn that we were clinging to a few myths about DST. For example, we had…
Our weekend began a day early, when CJ from Dalworth Cleaning Services told us we wouldn’t be able to walk on our newly cleaned and waxed hardwood floors for 24 hours, so as to allow the wax the time it needed to “cure.” The campsite we had reserved for the weekend wasn’t available on Thursday,…
On this same weekend seven years ago we placed our order for Cloud 9. We traveled to Dublin, Texas, about two hours from Dallas, to Bayer RV, where we had purchased our first Airstream. Because we were repeat customers, we hoped to get a good deal. And we did. We were told that our new…
Sorry not sorry is a sarcastic way of acknowledging that someone might not like whatever you’re saying or doing…but you don’t really care. That phrase came to mind this weekend as we encountered a camper who apologized for opening and closing his car door about 100 times. We said we weren’t nearly as bothered by that…
Anyone who spends time in forested areas throughout North America will have to deal with spiders. Every time we encounter a particularly menacing arachnid, we remind ourselves that spiders are our friends. They eat other bugs, including mosquitoes, so they actually protect us from pests. On Friday, as we were taking our sunset walk, we…
With a weather forecast of cool nights and low humidity, we eagerly headed to Cedar Hill State Park, a gleaming Cloud 9 in tow. Since returning from our Desert Southwest Adventure, we spent several days cleaning the rig inside and out, top-to-bottom, bumper-to-bumper. We’ve pulled the Airstream about 50,000 miles over nearly seven years, and,…
We decided to start our second full day in Flagstaff with a hardy breakfast at Mary’s Cafe, a fixture on Route 66 since 1961. As we’ve come to expect from these old-time roadside diners, the food was great, the service was better, and the coffee kept flowing. After a brief return to Cloud 9 to…
Having left Joshua Tree National Park to bake in the triple-digits, we decided to explore Walnut Canyon National Monument, 10 miles east of Flagstaff. The 20-mile long, 400-foot-deep canyon is home to hundreds of cliff dwellings built in shallow caves between 1125 and 1250 by the Sinagua people. Sinagua is a Spanish word for “without…
In an attempt to escape the searing southwest heat, we headed north to Flagstaff, postponing our visit to Joshua Tree National Park for another time. When we planned this trip earlier this year, we started by checking the average daily temperatures for September at each park. We could not have anticipated the record heat at…
Before setting off for Saguaro National Park, we shared our concerns about the rapid rise in the outside temperature. By 10 a.m., it was already 90 degrees and climbing. Cloud 9 was situated in a site without shade, adjacent to a concrete-block wall, meaning the air-conditioner would struggle to keep the inside temperature in the…
Day 4 was a travel day, as we made our way from New Mexico to Arizona and our next destination: Saguaro National Park. After a relaxing morning, we finally left town and headed farther south and west via US Highway 70 toward Las Cruces, where we merged onto Interstate 10. As we drove within 30…
We began the day with a hardy breakfast at the Waffle & Pancake Shoppe, a 36-year-old Alamogordo institution. The Brockett-family diner specializes in great home cooking and excellent customer service. We were not disappointed! Cliff enjoyed the huevos rancheros, while Jon had a traditional bacon and egg breakfast. The hash browns were perfect! Five stars!…
We departed on our Desert Southwest Adventure eight minutes beyond our target time of 10 a.m., a time we set to avoid the metroplex morning traffic. Despite our efforts, the first 45 minutes of driving proved daunting, as Jon white-knuckled us beyond Weatherford. We eventually settled into our 5-hour journey to the Lubbock KOA, a…
We spent some time this weekend preparing for our Desert Southwest adventure, which starts at the end of the week when we head to Lubbock for an overnight stay en route to our first destination, New Mexico’s White Sands National Park. From there, we’ll travel to Saguaro National Park in Arizona, and then we’ll visit…
To help mitigate the oppressive heat, we opted for the Lakeview Camping Area of Cedar Hill State Park. The road that intersects the G loop has a number of campsites that are situated beneath tall trees, offering a shady respite from the summer sun. We were unaware that it was also the only camping loop…
Garinns on the Go 