We finally got to Quartzsite

After reading about Quartzsite ever since we started researching about the RV lifestyle and entertaining the possibility of full-timing we finally visited, although it was only a day trip for the RV Show. Quartzsite has been called "Woodstock for RV'ers" and "The Greatest Show on Dirt" and is about a two hour drive one way from where we are currently parked. We went with our friends Bob and Wilma and their company and the rugged scenery mostly on I-10 made the trip seem shorter than two hours. 

You can read about it but nothing prepares you for your first look at the area. There are RVs everywhere, vehicles everywhere, people everywhere. According to the Arizona Highway Department, as many as 750,000 to 1,000,000 people, mostly in RV’s, converge on this sleepy little desert town every year mostly between November and March. There is an ongoing flea market along with a gem show, an auto show, and the one we were going to, the Sports, Vacation and RV Show during different weeks. The RV show is billed as "The Largest Gathering of RVers in the World". Like Memorial Stadium in Lincoln Nebraska that becomes the third largest city in Nebraska on game days the RV Show becomes the third largest city in population in Arizona during the RV show at over 150,000.

Similar to Branson Missouri which has a small population and then swells with visitors Quartzsite has just over 3000 permanent residents but unlike Branson which has a good infrastructure Quartzsite has only two off ramps on I-10 which can make the traffic terrible. But it was worth it for us because of the RV Show. We have been full-timing since September 2009 and have yet to attend a big rally so this was our first exposure to the vendors that are typically at rallies so we enjoyed ourselves. We spent some money on some items and saw many others that we were tempted to buy. Directly outside of the RV Show tent were other RV related vendors and food vendors. We ate at a Texas BBQ place and got brisket, pulled pork, beans and fries. Not the greatest but pretty good for the setting. After we toured all the RV related booths we walked to the flea market area, and walked, and walked. Man there are a lot of vendors here in the desert. We probably only hit about 1/2 of all the vendors possible but by then it was time to go since we had a two hour drive ahead of us. We went on a brief driving tour of Quartzsite which took us by a McDonalds for a necessity break and some hot fudge sundaes to fortify us for the drive.

To be honest the day tired us out a little and it took us a couple of days but now we are ready to go back again probably next year.


Till next time,


Bob and Jo

Added Google maps

We just added an interactive Google map on the left side of the blog that will show the route that we are currently on (just click the link below the map to see the entire map). We also added links to Google maps of our 2009 and the 1st half of 2010 travels.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Mimi's Cafe and Desert Botanical Garden

In case you have not noticed food is a very important part of a full-timers life, or at least these full-timers, and those that know us from before we were full-timers know that it was important then too. We try to work eating out around our errands and our sightseeing. The first question may be where are we going but the first or second question is always where are we going to eat as we sometimes plan our outings around where we want to eat.

We planned our eating out at Mimi's Cafe this time because of a coupon for free muffins with a breakfast entree. Mimi's has one of the best e-Clubs that you will find. We are always getting 'buy 1 breakfast get 1 free' coupons or '$5 off of a $15 check' or 'free muffins with a breakfast entree' coupons. We eat at Mimi's because the food is great, the pumpkin pancakes are terrific, three or four varieties of Eggs Benedict all of which are good, omelets and breakfast sandwiches are also good. With some meals you get a muffin and the carrot nut raisin is our favorite. All meals come with juice which is a nice touch.

After Mimi's we headed to the Desert Botanical Garden, a 145 acre site that provides education, research, exhibition and conservation of desert plants of the world with emphasis on the southwestern United States bringing to life the many wonders of the desert. We visited about 20 years ago and were amazed at how much more had been added. There is an additional 65 acres under cultivation and new exhibits planned so like the desert the Desert Botanical Garden is always growing albeit slowly. We really liked that a lot of the plants were labeled and we were amazed about how many agave varieties there are. This is a highly enjoyable, informative site that should be on everybody's list that visits this area.

Photos have been added to our set for our current location, Goodyear AZ:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobandjotravel/sets/72157625645802714/

All of our travel photos are at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobandjotravel/sets/

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Paradise Bakery and White Tank Mountain Regional Park

For those familiar with the Panera Bread Co. Paradise Bakery is like Panera on steroids. Same sort of menu and the food is as good or better than Panera but with one added bonus; a chocolate chip cookie with each sandwich. Our favorite sandwich there has to be the turkey cranberry; sliced turkey and cheese with a glob of whole cranberry sauce. Our favorite soup is the tomato basil. Paradise Bakery is mostly out west but there are locations in Indiana, Kansas and Texas. We highly recommend Paradise Bakery so if you get the chance do not hesitate to eat there.

We then went to the White Tank Mountain Regional Park which has a size of 30,000 acres and offers approximately 25 miles of shared-use trails. Most of the park is made up of the rugged and beautiful White Tank Mountains on the Valleys west side. The range, deeply serrated with ridges and canyons, rises sharply from its base to peak at over 4,000 feet. Infrequent heavy rains cause flash floodwaters to plunge through the canyons and pour onto the plain. These torrential flows, pouring down chutes and dropping off ledges, have scoured out a series of depressions, or tanks, in the white granite rock below, thus giving the mountains their name.

We visited the Nature Center and walked the Waterfall Trail which is about 1 mile one way. There was some water from a recent rain but not enough for a waterfall which would have been here. There was another trail where some of the plants were identified. This park is so close we may go there again.

Photos have been added to our set for our current location, Goodyear AZ:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobandjotravel/sets/72157625645802714/

All of our travel photos are at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobandjotravel/sets/

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Time can get away from you

Time is relative, we do not care what anybody says. When were were kids the three months of summer vacation flew by but it was forever from one Christmas to the next. When we were working and as we got older time started to speed up. Then we retired and it sped up again but time really went into warp speed once we started full-timing.

Because time can get away from you when it is traveling so fast we are glad Bob is still task oriented. We got to think about this when we wished some friends of ours a happy anniversary and the friend replied we must have had that on our task list. Those that know may be surprised when they hear that it was not on his task list he just happened to see the event on his calendar. We thought about it more when Bob recently scheduled all the maintenance items for this new year.

What he uses the task list for is mainly the recurring maintenance items like the once monthly 'exercising' of the generator and the checking of the smoke and LP/CO detectors. When it comes due on the task list Bob swears that it was just done last week but that would be incorrect. Maintenance items that happen every three months like cleaning the refrigerator and water heater vented areas at first thought were just last month until the task list is checked.

Without the task list maintenance items that need to be done regularly would be done less frequently so the lesson learned is that there always is a place for a task list and calendar even when you are retired and full-timing.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Added current location to blog

To make it an easier experience to follow along with us as we traverse the country and to keep tabs on our current location we have added our current location to the left pane of our blog via an AccuWeather.com widget.

We hope everyone has a great and fulfilling New Year!!

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Tortilla Flat, Arizona

Tortilla Flat is allegedly the nation's smallest recognized 'official' community with just six residents located east of Phoenix nestled in the midst of the Tonto National Forest in the Superstition Mountain Range. Tortilla Flat was established in 1889 and became a stage stop in 1904 on the historic Apache Trail surviving fires and floods through the years. We drove along the very scenic Apache Trail with our friends Bob and Wilma to get to Tortilla Flat.

Arriving in Tortilla Flat we first walked the boardwalk to first the gift shop that had the usual touristy stuff but some very unique items as well and then to the Superstition Saloon for lunch. Walking in we saw real saddles serving as bar stools and the unique wallpaper which is really dollar bills and other currency from visitors world wide. After eating there we have to say that the Superstition Saloon is the best place to eat in Tortilla Flat, maybe because it is the only place to eat in Tortilla Flat :-) We sampled a hot dog, chicken sandwich and a burrito and the food although good would not be worth the drive, you go on this drive for the scenery.

We drove a little past Tortilla Flat and when the pavement turned to gravel we decided to turn around since it was a little rough in a 1 ton pickup. This was also where Bob dropped our brand new camera. When you think Phoenix you may think desert but let us tell you there are hard rocks there also and of course the camera with the zoom lens extended hit just right on a very hard rock and will no longer retract. We sent the camera off to be repaired or replaced. The road to the Tonto National Monument was closed but one day we would like to drive up there and see the cliff dwellings, maybe after the road is open and we have our camera back.

If you are ever in the Phoenix area a visit to Tortilla Flat is highly recommended, just remember to not drop your camera :-(

Photos from this trip have been added to the set for our current location at Flickr.com.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo 

You can subscribe to this blog posts and/or comments by making selections under 'Subscribe To' or you can join the yahoo group which will notify you whenever a post is made,

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bobandjotravelblog/

You can also signup to be a Follower of this blog.

NOTE: See our photos from places we have visited at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobandjotravel/sets/

La Piazza Al Forno in Glendale AZ

If you are going to the "Glendale Glitters" holiday light show extravaganza we highly recommend eating at the La Piazza Al Forno which is located right across the street from the event. We got there before sunset and was able to park close by and then walk to the restaurant and then to the "Glendale Glitters".

La Piazza Al Forno, or loosely translated, "Piazza's Oven" is a brick oven pizzeria and italian kitchen that serves great food. We have eaten there twice and from the Linguine and clam sauce to the baked spaghetti pie to the 4 cheese ravioli everything has been excellent. But they are best known for their pizzas so be sure and give one of them a try.

Fans of Diners, Drive-Inns and Dives will want to try this place as Guy was there in October 2008.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Nothing says Christmas quite like a Palm Tree!!

We went with our friends Bob and Wilma to the "Glendale Glitters" held each Christmas season in historic Downtown Glendale. The area comes to life with the addition of about 1.5 million multi-colored twinkling holiday lights located throughout a twelve-block area that includes the Old Towne and Catlin Court Districts. This has been voted Arizona's Best Hometown Holiday tradition and the lights shine brightly from 6 to 10 p.m. every night.

We got a new camera and took a lot of pictures of the Glendale Glitters so we put all the other photos are on Flickr.com. If you ever get the chance to be in the area during the Christmas season we highly recommend the Glendale Glitters.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Merry Christmas!! (our 2nd Christmas full-timing)

Last year we were moving from place to place so we did indoor decorations only. We blogged on this previously which described and showed some of those decorations. Since we are more stationary this year we added an outdoor Christmas display. Nothing elaborate when you consider that we need to be able to store everything when next year rolls around and we need to put everything away but still enough to get us in the Christmas spirit.

We also increased our indoor decoration by adding our Christmas stockings that Bob dug out of storage, some battery powered votive candles and a lighted snowman.

We may kick it up a notch next year and buy a tree for the outside and decorate it and then donate the entire kit and kaboodle to charity.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night,

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Geminid meteor shower

The Geminid meteor shower is an annual mid-December rain of meteors that occurs when Earth passes through a stream of space rock debris. As these small rocks fly through the atmosphere, they burn up, creating shooting stars. We went to the deck above the park office and sat and watched shooting stars for awhile until our necks gave out. We are getting a new camera so hopefully for the next meteor shower we will have some pictures to post.

When we were kids we both were interested in stargazing. As we got older and life got more hectic we did less and less. Now that we are retired and living the dream we find that we are able to renew our passion for stargazing. From meteor showers to planets close to the earth and finding our old friends like The Big Dipper, The Little  Dipper, Pleiades and others. When we started full-timing we said we would be able to catch up with old friends but we did not realize they would also be of the celestial variety.

We are looking forward to the lunar eclipse on December 20th.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

We finally get it!

Before we came to Arizona a couple of times and experienced a 'winter' here we just did not understand why people kept coming back year after year. There are people in this park that have been coming back for 20-30 years and we wondered why but now we get it. The 'winter' weather here is pretty much ideal and comparable to the best fall days back in our old stomping grounds of the Kansas City area. But unlike the good fall weather that maybe lasts 2-3 weeks in a good year the good 'winter' weather here lasts for 3-4 months. To us an ideal day is 70 degrees and sunny and overnight fall back to 50. Now imagine that every day for as long as you are here and that is what we are talking about. It is hard to believe it is 'winter' time with weather like this but we always have the news to show us snow and ice to remind us.

That is not to say that the occasional cold spell does not affect the area. In late November the high temperature was 57 here and it was warmer in Kansas City for example than here. But shortly thereafter we were in the 70's here and KC was in the 30's. And it can also be warmer than normal as we are currently dealing with above average temperatures of 80 degrees which for those that know us know that is almost too hot, we know we won't be getting any sympathy for that. Even though we are in the desert there can be an occasional shower but it doesn't last long and a quarter inch is a big accumulation. Most of the time we are dealing with 70 and sunny.

All this good weather has caused us to possibly rethink our winter strategy. When we started out we thought we wanted to see what Florida is like (yeah weren't they just in the 30's), the coast of Texas (didn't we freeze our asses off last year), the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and the Hill Country of Texas and the Palm Springs California area and other places. As we watch the weather we realize that the best weather is right here in Goodyear Arizona. We thought we might spend next winter in the Hill Country of Texas but now are leaning towards part time here in Arizona and part time in California since they are so close to each other.

One thing is for sure is that as full-timers we have no definite plans, we just try to go with the flow. We'll keep you posted.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Cutest cat ever!

 We know that we will get flak from others owned by a cat but Sandra has to be the cutest cat ever. Here she is sleeping on Bob's laptop and on a chair. We have a ton of cat pictures which we will someday put on flickr.com with our other photos. We also plan to have blog entries on full-timing with cats, a multi-part series on the challenges and fun of not one but three cats in an RV.

We got Sandra from Wayside Waifs Kansas City's largest no-kill animal shelter. We got JJ at the same time as Sandra and Tiger later on which we will discuss in future blog entries.


Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Personalizing our RV

With its limited square footage and countertop space and wall areas the modern RV offers limited options for personalizing but enough for your house on wheels to really feel like a home for the full-time RV'ers. We started out with gifts that we received when we began full-timing; the pillow that is the new main blog photo and a trailer cash bank. We then added a crucifix to remind us that everything we have is a gift and then a calendar to remind us the day of the week. After a few months we realized that we just were not using the calendar so we removed it. Luckily we are using the Command wall hangers and we just peeled it off the woodwork with no damage.

There really is only a couple of places to hang anything of size so being cat lovers we added a wall hanging of cats on the side of the pantry. We had to hang to hook high enough for the slide to pass and we take the hanging down each time we move. We can change the hanging piece throughout the year to match the seasons if we can find suitable hangings.

Next came a piece Bob's sister made for us a long time ago, a counted cross stitch of Four Seasons of Cats.











Because it is 4 seasons we will be able to showcase the work year round. We also take this down each time we move. Both of these tasks are on our departure checklist which we make sure we use each time we depart after the issues we had when we did not use the checklist.

We also have replaced the cheap RV mattress and love seat recliner that came with the unit, both of which have increased our comfort. Feeling more at home and very comfortable we continue our adventure.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving wishes to all!!

We cannot believe it is already our second Thanksgiving full-timing. We guess it is true that time really does fly when you are having fun!!!

We have so many things to be thankful for; family, old friends, new friends that we met on the road, we live in a great country where we are free to roam, the food across this country is amazing, and health wise we are OK.

We are living the dream while realizing that everything we have is a gift from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus the Christ.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Pantries - we got pantries!

When you full-time you have to be ingenious when it comes storing items. In addition to the 'official' pantry with 5 slideout drawers provided with our unit we have many cubbyholes where we place things and have come to these cubbyholes our extra 'pantries'. Following is the list of the extra 'pantries':

Oven Pantry - great for chips and bread. The rare times we use the oven it is easy to just empty the pantry and then fill it back up when the oven cools.

Den Pantry - the cabinet in the entertainment center, great for popcorn, coffee, pancake mixes, biscotti and hot chocolate.

Basement Pantry - a plastic bin on our cargo tray dedicated to food, great for extra cans of soup and cake mixes and bottled water and pop.

For non-food pantries we have:

Closet Pantry - the side wall of Bob's closet (you didn't think it would be Jo's closet did you?), great for toilet paper and Kleenex.

With a little imagination and a cubbyhole here and there you can greatly improve the livability of your RV by providing ready access to some of the more commonly used items. Although Wal-Mart becomes your home away from home maybe you don't have to visit there everyday :-)

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Does anybody really know what time it is?

Does anybody really care?

As full-timers we really don't notice the time that much. We go to bed when we are tired, we sleep until we wake up, and we eat when we are hungry which is pretty much all of the time :-)

We have two DVRs so we hardly watch a television program live anymore. We do try to catch the local weather wherever we are. That is when we recently started noticing the impact of the time changing on us. We were in the Central Time Zone when Daylight Savings Time went away. The very next day we crossed over into the Mountain Time Zone and we have been screwed up time-wise ever since. Usually after the local weather was watched Bob started his going to bed routine but now he can barely stay awake long enough for the weather. You would have thought we would have adapted by now and although it is getting better we are still getting tired earlier than we usually did.

Daylight Savings Time is one of the few areas where we have a difference of opinion. Bob feels that we should not mess with time and quotes an Indian Shaman who said, "Only the white man could think that by cutting off the bottom of the rug and sewing it to the top that you end up with a longer rug". Jo feels that the clocks should never be turned back so that we are on Daylight Savings Time all the time. Neither one of us will get our way so we guess we will just have to deal with yet another big government intrusion on our lives.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Making good progess

We arrived yesterday in Holbrook AZ so we are well ahead of the pace that we like to maintain. Our route to Goodyear AZ takes us through Flagstaff AZ so we have been tracking the weather since it is higher in the mountains and although it will be cold there is no precipitation mentioned for our travel day through the area. One forecast had snow a couple of days after our planned driving day so we sped up our pace and went to 2 nights at each place instead of 3 or 4. We plan to leave tomorrow for Goodyear and after a chilly night here it should be in the 40's and sunny through Flagstaff and then in the 70's in Goodyear.

Moving at a faster pace has meant very little sightseeing although we have been able to make new friends and catch up with a few old friends and of course eating at some of our favorite places. Shortly after we arrived in El Reno OK a brand new 2011 Carri-Lite fifth wheel pulled in next to us at the KOA park. If you have been to this park you know that we really mean 'next' to us as we were jammed in there. We met and talked with the owner, Bob from Washington, and he was the nicest guy. We took tours of our 5ers since both are made by Carriage. Our Cameo is the entry level model from Carriage. We saw a lot of similarities in both units but Bob from WA had a couple of options that we thought about getting that being a dishwasher and a fireplace. We can add those options later if we want so we have some thinking to do.

Our next stop was Amarillo where we spent a couple of extra days since it was the weekend and we like to eat at Abuelos, Famous Dave's and Rudy's while there. We did have some of the best pulled pork that we have ever had and it was not at a restaurant. Bob used to work with Ed and they invited us over for supper. Ed put the pork in the smoker for about 18 hours and it was wonderful. Diane fixed beans, cole slaw and to die for potato salad. Bob made a pumpkin ribbon cake for dessert. We then spent the rest of the evening just catching up, all in all great food and great people. On our last day there who should pull into the park but Bob from WA. We had told him about the park we were staying at and there he was. Had a nice chat with him comparing the winds driving and the effect on the mileage.We also got a great picture of a sunset and you know how we like sunsets.

Our last day in Amarillo was when we got the forecast that snow could happen in Flagstaff so we picked up the pace. We only stayed two nights in Albuquerque but were still able to eat at a couple of our favorite places there, La Salita and the Range Cafe. Bob also had lunch with TC another friend that he worked with for many years. While in Holbrook we were able to eat at the Turquoise Room at the La Posada Hotel in nearby Winslow. We have written about this place before and it was as good or even better than we remember. Sometimes you can build up a place so much in your mind that when you finally visit there again you are disappointed. This does not happen for the truly great places of which the Turquoise Room is easily on that list.

Picking up the pace made us realize that we have quite a few travel modes; 

'mad dash to get there' - every two days, 

'need to get there' - every 3-4 days, 

'enjoying the road' - every 1-2 weeks. 

We also have the 'take up residence' mode which means we will stay longer than a month or two which we will do in Goodyear AZ this winter since our experience last winter traveling around was not so great. In extremely rare cases we may have the 'emergency' mode which would be every day in case we needed to avoid weather or for other reasons.

It will be awhile before we get to the 'moseying' mode which will be to stay at a each place for a month. Right now we have so much that we want to see that the 'moseying' mode just won't work for us now. Whatever the mode we know realize that we do better if plan on 200 miles driving a day with 250 miles a day our maximum.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

You would have thought we were rookies today

We got a little overconfident today during our preparations for departure. We first noticed it when we went outside and luckily looked at the roof and our satellite dish and TV antenna were both still up. When we let the slide out so we could get to the satellite controls we noticed that the printer was still in the overhead cabinet above the couch. We then realized that the baby locks on the cabinets had also not been put on.

We finally got that straightened out and put the slides back in and locked the door and stowed the stairs yet again. Bob noticed a tremendous lack of power while trying to leave the park. If you have followed closely you probably have figured it out by now and no it wasn't the parking brake, it was that the rotochocks where still between the tires of the fifth wheel.

You would have to think that this is the end of the story but you would be wrong. When we got to Amarillo and setup we realized that we had left the switch for the electric water heater on. Like we said we were overconfident since we had worked on this routine twice before in the last few days. The big difference is that we used our printed checklist on those two departures. We guess we felt we just didn't need them this time, boy were we wrong.

That checklist will be used every time we depart from now on.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Now that's what we were talking about!

When we first started talking about the full-time RV lifestyle we vowed that we would have nice cool days eating at truly unique places to eat and visiting neat places. Well today was one of those "now that's what we were talking about" moments. The day started out a little chilly but warmed up nicely to 70 with clear blue skies.

We went to lunch at Sid's Diner in El Reno OK. We saw this diner on a 'Man Versus Food' episode on the Travel Channel. We wanted to try one of their famous onion burgers and man were they wonderful. The onions are fried to perfection and then melded to a great burger. The buns were toasted on the flat top making this one of the best burgers we have ever had. The fries were fresh cut with the skins on and although very small in cross section they were cooked to perfection. Unless you want to eat about 5 pounds of potatoes get the 1/2 order. Jo and I split the 1/2 order and it was enough fries. As we were leaving the owner Marty asked where we were from because he didn't recognize us. We had noticed that Marty knew everybody on a first name basis so this did not surprise us. He told us that he has been running this place for 40 years and that he named it after his father. The place was decorated with old pictures that we swear were taken of our families all those years ago, it was really neat. We signed his book and put a push pin in the map on the wall where we were from. We are already planning on stopping here on our way back from Arizona to the KC area. This is a great small town 'dive' that deserves a visit. In fact Marty told us that a couple of guys from Wisconsin flew down to eat there and then kill a little time and then eat at Cattlemen's in Oklahoma City before flying back. Both places were featured on 'Man Versus Food'.

After lunch we went to historic Fort Reno which was named in February 1876 by General Phil Sheridan, in honor of his dear friend Major General Jesse L. Reno, a Virginian, who was killed in the Civil War in 1863 at the Battle of South Mountain in Maryland. We had no idea of the historical significance of this place. From the conflicts with the Native Americans to WWI to being a prisoner of war camp for German soldiers from North Africa. Horse lovers will also get a kick out of this place. In 1908, Fort Reno became one of three Army Quartermaster Remount Stations for the military, a role which it served through 1947. Specialized horse breeding and training of pack mules became the central focus of activity at Fort Reno.The sire of Seabiscuit was at Fort Reno and Black Jack, the spirited riderless ceremonial horse used in the funeral processions of  Presidents Hoover, Kennedy, and Johnson, and General MacArthur was raised and trained at Fort Reno. Right now you can only tour the Visitor's Center and the Chapel but this is still a worthwhile stop, admission is free although a donation is greatly appreciated.

After over a year of full-timing we realize that we will not always have days like this but when they do happen it makes them even more special.

Till next time,

Bob & Jo

You can subscribe to this blog posts and/or comments by making selections under 'Subscribe To' or you can join the yahoo group which will notify you whenever a post is made,

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bobandjotravelblog/

You can also signup to be a Follower of this blog.

NOTE: See our photos from places we have visited at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobandjotravel/sets/

New "States visited while full-timers" map

We have added Kansas to our States visiting while full-timing as shown on the map in the left pane of our blog. This is a momentous occasion since this is the first state added in 8 months.We have big plans to add more states next summer and fall but one thing we have learned in this lifestyle is that you really can have no definite plans because things can change so quickly. Reminds us of the Yiddish proverb, "Man Plans, God Laughs".

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

On the road again!

After nearly 7 months in one spot in the Kansas City area we are now en route to Arizona. Our idea of travel is from 10a to 2p and between 200-250 miles and then spend 3 nights so that both us and our three cats can recover. We have a reservation in the Phoenix area on November 15th so that is our target.

We are currently in Wichita Kansas and are leaving today for Oklahoma City. We can confirm again that Abuelo's is a great place to eat as there is one in Wichita. One of the best chile rellenos that we have had. We were planning on going to the Zoo but it was too cold and windy so we went to our home away from home, Wal-Mart for some shopping.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Sunsets

When we look at a sunset in awesome wonder we are filled with joy and peace. We love taking sunset pictures across the country. Here are a couple of our favorites.

Concerts

Continuing our role as tourists in our old hometown we recently saw a couple of concerts in the Kansas City area; the America's Got Talent Tour and Michael Bolton. The AGT Tour was at the Midland Theatre in downtown Kansas City MO built in 1927. In 2008 the theatre was renovated to make it more multi-purpose. What that meant for us the concert goers is that the seats on the main floor were removed along with the tiered floor. We had the misfortune of being in the last row of one of the flat sections on the man floor and it seemed like to us that it sloped upwards making seeing the stage difficult at best.

This reduced our overall enjoyment especially for the acts that you would want to see the whole stage, Patrick and Anna the young dancers, Michael Grasso the magician, and the dance troupe Young Beast Society. This was billed as the Top 10 finalists from the show and we only bought tickets since we thought Jackie Evancho, the 10 year old girl who sings opera like an angel, was going to be there since she finished 2nd. During the intro neither one of us saw Jackie on the screen but we thought we must have missed her due to all the people getting seated late. So we go through the whole show expecting Jackie to be next and then the show ended with no Jackie and we were disappointed. We enjoyed the show and not to take anything away from all of the acts because Christina and Ali, Fighting Gravity, and Michael Grimm were excellent but Jackie was the main reason we bought the tickets because we wanted to hear her in person.

We next saw Michael Bolton at Yardley Hall, the auditorium at Johnson County Community College and the differences were striking. We paid much less for the tickets and parking was also a lot less. We could have chosen to park for free but we are glad that we paid because there were a lot of students at evening classes and the free parking was quite a hassle. The acoustics were also better than the Midland. Michael sang a wide range of songs from his early ones to Sinatra tunes and vintage ones like 'Sitting on the Dock of the Bay' and an opera song "Nessum Dorma". It was an incredible concert and we were glad we went. It also made us even more disappointed that Jackie Evancho was not at the AGT Tour performance.

So caveat emptor if you are planning on seeing the AGT Tour and if you get the chance to see Michael Bolton on his tour you will see an excellent concert.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Being a tourist in your hometown

Surprisingly one of the toughest things we have found to date in our full-timing lifestyle is how to be a tourist in your hometown. The surroundings are so familiar that we easily fell into our old routine instead of our on the road routine where we research the area before we get there and then gather info once we get there.

So we recently decided to treat the Kansas City area like a stopover on our journey instead of our home town. We may be in our home town but we have more time to see some of the sights now than when we were working. That is not to say that we have not visited the sites in the area as we have been to the Truman Presidential Library, the Kansas City Museum, the Zoo, the Steamboat Arabia and others but we haven't done much this extended visit.

With that in mind we decided to return to the Zoo to see the new polar bear exhibit at the Kansas City Zoo, The Polar Bear Passage. We watched as the polar bear named Nikita swam in his 140,000 gallon 65 degree pool and explored the 10,000 square feet exhibit space. We were amazed at how close we were and how active he was diving underwater and then putting his paws on the glass right in front of you and pushing off and back stroking. We also saw feeding time and watched as Nikita ate some of his 25 pounds of food each day.

We hope to do more sightseeing before we head in mid-November to Arizona for the winter. For more details on what to see, eat and do in the Kansas City area you can read our blog entry, Kansas City 

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Changes to 'Our Favorite Things! (Food)'

Sadly the Main Street Inn in Grandview MO has closed after over 50 years in business due to the bad economy. We feel like we have lost a good friend as we have been going there for over 30 years. The food there was amazing, the best tenderloin and the best filet from our list but everything was good. We have to do some research to find contenders for best tenderloin and filet.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

We just voted!

As full-timers we like every American are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". To make sure we live in a country that is free we exercised our right to participate in our Republic by voting. It was a fairly easy process. We accessed the form to request a mail in ballot online. We printed it and filled it out and then mailed it to Polk County Texas. In a few days we received our ballots. We filled them out and mailed them today.

So in the last year we have switched our residency to Texas and our new Texas driver's licenses. We obviously registered to vote at the same time. Jo has already been called for jury duty but a phone call explaining that we were full-time RVers currently out of state removed her from the jury pool list. Finally we were able to take part in the 2010 Census.

Even though we are full-timers we still have the same routine happenings that we had when we owned our sticks and bricks.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

One Year Anniversary of Full-timing

September 10th marks the one year anniversary of our full-timing. We cannot believe it has been a year since we first moved into our new home and spent the first night there with the cats. We started out with 2 months at the Peculiar Park Place RV Park south of Kansas City to get used to our new digs. We then spent 5 months on the road and arrived back in Peculiar in early April. What was supposed to be a couple months stay has since turned into a 5 months stay due to medical issues.

One might think those are some discouraging statistics; 7 months in the same spot and 5 months traveling, and we do have to admit that at times we got a little disappointed and sometimes it did show. The most frustrating thing was that it was so unknown. Just when we thought we might be leaving Bob would start looking at the route and then BAM we would be staying for another month. This we are leaving, nope we are staying, cycled a number of times throughout our stay. But through all that we were much more worried about the medical issues than anything else. We were in a park that was close to friends and family and doctors and some of our favorite eating places so it could have been much worse. Plus we have the added flexibility of once we get the all clear and decide to leave we can leave the next day.

Throughout our one year stay we have to say that our new home, our condo on wheels, has performed very well. We have endured temperatures as lows at 17 degrees and as high as 105 with a heat index of 121 and yet we have been comfortable while inside. We have endured winds as high as 50 mph while driving and 70 mph while parked and yet we have felt stable. We have been rained on and yet we have stayed dry. We have yet to be snowed on but we are sure that happen.

We have to say that we jammed a lot of sightseeing into 5 months of travel. We walked on the deck of an aircraft carrier that was the same class of carrier that Bob's dad served on in WWII. We saw a 6' scale model of the ship that Jo's dad served on in WWII at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg TX. We visited the Alamo and some great small town museums like the Luna Mimbres Museum in downtown Deming NM. We visited the site of the only ground invasion of the United States after the War of 1812 and that was Pancho Villa's raid on Columbus NM. We toured the Fulton Mansion in Fulton TX which was built strong enough to survive hurricanes. We also saw great natural wonders like National Wildlife Refuges and National Parks.

With all this crammed into 5 months we are excited to see how much we can fit into even more time traveling the next 12 months.

Till next time,

Bob & Jo

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NOTE: See our photos from places we have visited at

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In-N-Out versus Five Guys

We recently ate at our first Five Guys burger place and we have to say it reminded us a lot of the In-N-Out burger places that we have eaten at. In-N-Out started out in a single location in Baldwin Park CA in the 40's and instantly became a hit. The owners were reluctant to expand because they wanted to ensure a quality product. The first 200 locations were all within a days drive of the headquarters. As they get close to 250 locations that restriction has eased a little and locations are currently planned in Texas.

Five Guys started out 40 years later in Washington DC and has a more aggressive expansion plan and is already at over 600 locations. To us diehard In-N-Out fans our first impression was that Five Guys copied a lot from In-N-Out. Both offer a very limited menu with only fresh hamburger that is never frozen. Both offer fresh cut french fries. While you could see the potato station at In-N-Out the sacks for fresh potatoes were evident at Five Guys. Five Guys does offer free toppings and that includes all the toppings they offer from the usual suspects to jalapenos and A-1 sauce. Five Guys also offers hot dogs.

In-N-Out offers both inside and outside seating while Five Guys only offered inside seating at the location we ate at. We have to give the nod to In-N-Out as far as seating goes. The entire inside of Five Guys was sound reflecting material which made for a very noisy dining experience. When there were more people behind the counter than customers it was still incredibly noisy with music that really was not that loud. As the place filled the noise became unbearable and we finished our meal with another couple and then went outside so we could finish our conversation.

OK enough already for the minutia how was the burger and fries? Five Guys offers a very good burger but in our opinion In-N-Out is better. Bob felt strongly that In-N-Out was better and Jo was on the fence (BTW Jo feels that the burgers at Culvers may be even better). Not sure if it is the bun, which is better at In-N-Out, or the meat or the cheese but In-N-Out was still better. Five Guys has a lot of posters stating best burger in a lot of locations but if you pay close attention most if not all these places do not have an In-N-Out to compete with. As far as the fries goes we are not sure which one is better than the other. For those interested the best fries we have had is at Sneads BBQ in Belton MO which is a suburb of Kansas City.

We are talking that since we will be wintering in the Phoenix area and both franchises have locations there that we will do a lunch one place and supper the same day so we can really give a good evaluation. This is purely for scientific reasons only :-)

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

Whole lotta eating!!!

August is Bob's birthday month and no we won't tell you how old he is! Through the years we have signed up for a lot of frequent quest programs or e-clubs at various restaurants. As Bob's birthday approached the emails started flowing in with offers of free food. The nice thing about these programs is that by joining them Bob got a free entree or money off just for signing up..

So far we have eaten at McCormick and Schmicks which gives you $30 on your birthday. Of all the offers this is the only one you have to pay to join but the fee is immediately refunded in a dining certificate of the same value. Bob joined this program while he was still working and traveling a lot on business. The program used to be a lot better but the bad economy has forced them to stop giving the spouse a free birthday gift.

All the other e-clubs are free to join and the offers received include a breakfast at First Watch, a stir fry meal at BD's, a dessert at Fridays, $10 off a $20 check at Mimi's, coffee or tea at Borders, and a free buffet at Ryan's.

We recommend signing up for the frequent quest programs or e-clubs at these restaurants and we are sure there are more. It is a great way to save a little money which is a good thing and an excuse to eat at some of our favorite places to eat which is a great thing.

Till next time,

Bob & Jo

Amarillo 2010 Stopover

Catching up on some of our visits from earlier this year as we trekked from Arizona to Missouri. We hope to have all of the stops covered before we leave Missouri, whenever that will be. We then hope to be more current in our posting. We could probably have a separate post on how much time we spend on blogs, both on working on ours but reading the blogs of fellow RV'ers. There are so many blogs that offer unique perspectives on traveling, living in an RV, and dining. We have just added some of the blogs we are reading to the main page of our blog if you are interested.

Both of us have traveled to Amarillo on business before and we were both amazed at how different it was. And by different we mean better. There are more restaurants that you might recognize, some good local ones and this time we actually had time to do some sightseeing. We were able to get our Rudy's Country Store and BBQ fix for some of the best leanest brisket we have ever had. Along with that we sampled the bread pudding at Famous Daves which is on our 'best of' food list. We also ate at a Taco Bueno for the first time in 5 months.

We ate at Abuelo's for the very first time even though there is a location in the northern part of the Kansas City metro area and we wanted to eat there for awhile. What is it about traveling that makes it easier to eat at places that also happen to be in your area? We both got the chile relleno and definitely want to eat here again at maybe one of their many locations across the country including the Phoenix area where we plan to spend this winter.

For sightseeing we visited Palo Duro Canyon State Park which is located in the Texas Panhandle near Amarillo. The drive is about 25 miles and it is what you would expect, flat nothingness as far as the eye could see. We we wondering if we were on a snipe hunt because we never saw anything that would indicate that a canyon was nearby but then WHAM we were right on top of it. The Canyon is 120 miles long, as much as 20 miles wide, and has a maximum depth of more than 800 feet. Its elevation at the rim is 3,500 feet above sea level and is the second largest canyon in the United States. We thought it was neat that you could drive through the canyon all the way to the bottom and back up. Early Spanish Explorers dubbed the canyon "Palo Duro" which is Spanish for "hard wood" in reference to the abundant mesquite and juniper trees.

Our last sightseeing adventure we kept seeing from the road as we went from our RV Park (more on that later) to town. There were always cars parked on the frontage road and stubby things sticking out of the ground in the nearby field. Turns out it was the 'Cadillac Ranch', a collection of assembled used Cadillacs representing the "Golden Age" of American Automobiles (1949 through 1963). The ten graffiti-covered cars are half-buried, nose-down, facing west "at the same angle as the Cheops' pyramids." There is no charge and the use of spray paint is not discouraged.

While in Amarillo we stayed at the Oasis RV Resort and we really liked the park. It was everything that we like; full hookups, paved roads, concrete pads, clean and well maintained. The price was very nice also, pay for 2 nights get the third night free. At the clubhouse food was catered in for breakfast and for supper at a reasonable price. The only thing we did not like about the park, and it is something they have no control over, and that is the wind. If you remember the recent post on our new bird feeder it was real windy and that is one thing that has not changed since we have been coming to this area.

In closing we would like to say to all of our old coworkers who happen to read this blog do not hesitate to go to Amarillo for a business trip or a vacation, give it a chance.

Photos from this brief visit have been added to flickr.com.

Till next time,

Bob & Jo

Albuquerque NM 2010 Stopover

We have blogged about our love for New Mexico and specifically the Albuquerque area before, http://bobandjotravelblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/albuquerque.html, so this will be a brief entry. For more details you can refer to the earlier post.

This was a brief stopover. We camped at the Stagecoach RV Park which has an excellent view of the Sandia Mountains and was the recommendation of our friends Ed & Diane Heath who incidentally were in town on a business trip so we were able to meet up with them at one of my old time favorites in the area, Sadies. We say old time favorite because when it was in the bowling alley years and years ago it was our favorite in the area. It still is good but not our favorite.

Our favorite now would have to be La Salita where Bob met an old friend TC Hobson for lunch one day and we went back for lunch another day. The chile rellenos there are some of the best we have ever had. A close second on the favorite list is the Range Cafe in nearby Bernalillo. Bob had a green chile cheeseburger with green chile mac-n-cheese which were excellent. Another favorite there is the Range Chicken. You cannot go wrong with the food in Albuquerque that is for sure.

A couple of photos from this brief visit have been added to flickr.com.

Till next time,

Bob & Jo

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NOTE: See our photos from places we have visited at

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New bird feeder

The observant reader will notice that we have a new bird feeder. We got the first one for the cats but we are getting as much or more enjoyment than the cats. We have seen American Goldfinch, Indigo Bunting, Chickadees, Tufted Titmouse, Woodpecker, Oriole, Cardinal and others since we have put up the new feeder when we arrived in the Kansas City area. Yes we are still in the same place due to Jo's slow recovery from her surgery. Only Jo could have a successful surgery but still have the same symptoms as before :-(

What was supposed to be a two and a half months stay has turned into at least a five month stay and some of the hottest and humid days we can ever remember and we lived in the KC area for many years before we started full-timing. The weather though has not dampened our spirits that much since we are used to summers in this area and we have a well insulated fifth wheel with two air conditioners so we are comfortable even in this heat. If either one of us ever needs a convalescing period we hope it is in this area because we have friends and family and our regular doctors. We are most discouraged by Jo not feeling any better than she did before the surgery and want to head somewhere as soon as we can but not before we know for sure.

We have a new bird feeder because the old one was destroyed by the high winds in Amarillo. You have to have been in Amarillo to truly understand because man it is real windy there. Bob was trying to put the bird feeder up and it slipped out of his hand as he tried to balance himself on the ladder in a particularly strong wind gust. The feeder hit the pavement and then did cartwheels as it slowly broke apart. It must have hit the pavement at least ten times before coming to rest in a number of places. Then the pieces kept getting blown by the wind as Bob reached down to pick them up. When finally all the pieces were in hand Bob triumphantly beat the remaining carcass against the dumpster in defiance. Another lesson learned to not try to hang the bird feeder in high winds :-)

The bird feeder in the picture is actually the second bird feeder purchased to replace the original one. That bird feeder did not hang very well from the ladder so it is now full of seed hanging from a branch outside the rear of the fifth wheel near the one in the picture. The Cardinals and the Buntings like that one while the Goldfinches like the tubular one. The Tufted Titmouse and Chickadees use both feeders. The final addition to our backyard bird habitat is a hanging suet feeder. Bob was working on our storage unit and came across it so it is now hanging from a branch just past the other two feeders, all visible from the back windows.

We know the birds are going to miss us if we can ever leave because the feeder that the Cardinals like needed cleaning and refilling. While doing this we got some uncomplimentary chirps from one of the female Cardinals. That's all Bob needs is another female to tell him what to do next, isn't a wife and two female cats enough :- )

Till next time,

Bob & Jo

121 comfort index

121, that was the 'comfort' index just recently where we are currently located in the Kansas City area. If it is over 120 shouldn't it be the 'discomfort' index?

Luckily we bought a second air conditioner for the bedroom and we are glad that we did. Along with that we have the dual pane windows and the astro foil insulation. In the 10 months we have owned our Condo on Wheels and have been full-timing we have seen temperatures as low as 17 degrees and as high as the aforementioned comfort index and have been comfortable in all extremes. We also have been in some noisy parks that we know the dual pane windows have helped cut down the noise. Plus they reduce the condensation insideNow we when we started out full-timing we PLANNED on daytime temps in the 70's and overnight in the 50's and you can see how well that worked out. I am sure you have heard the old Yiddish Proverb, 'Man plans, God laughs'!.

Now we when we started out full-timing we PLANNED on daytime temps in the 70's and overnight in the 50's and you can see how well that worked out. I am sure you have heard the old Yiddish Proverb, 'Man plans, God laughs'!

Till next time,

Bob & Jo

Holbrook, Arizona 2010 Stopover (and Winslow, Arizona too)

We cannot believe how much activity we jammed into this short stopover visit. About 20 miles away is an entrance to the Petrified Forest National Park on Route 180. Taking this entrance will allow you to see the Petrified Forest first and then the Painted Desert which we guess technically is part of the Petrified Forest National Park.

At this entrance Jo was able to buy a Golden Age Passport which for $10 got both of us into that park and all parks in the future. Add to that a discount on RV campgrounds and considering it would have cost us $10 just for a day pass that day it is a really good deal. Bob commented to Jo that she was becoming even more attractive and that maybe, just maybe, this marriage might last :-) We got a chuckle out of that and for those keeping track we just celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary and 22 years of knowing each other.

We spent a day going through the Petrified Forest National Park/Painted Desert. The next day we went about 30 miles to Winslow AZ because we had good things about the restaurant in the La Posada Hotel. All we can say is WOW this is now one of our favorite places to eat and was the reason for an earlier blog posting about a so-called weather delay (http://bobandjotravelblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/weather-delay-kinda.html) that really was an excuse to eat one more time in the Turquoise Room. You cannot go wrong with Arizona Green Chile Eggs or french toast or the corn maiden. Whatever you do do not leave the place without trying prickly pear bread pudding. We also did some time 'Standing on the Corner in Winslow Arizona" at a site dedicated to the Eagles song. This is definitely a place we want to visit again. For more detailed information read on.

Petrified wood was formed over 200 million years ago when logs washed into an ancient river system and were buried quick enough and deep enough by massive amounts of sediment and debris also carried in the water, that oxygen was cut off and decay slowed to a process that would now take centuries. Minerals, including silica dissolved from volcanic ash, absorbed into the porous wood over hundreds and thousands of years crystallized within the cellular structure, replacing the organic material as it broke down over time. Sometimes crushing or decay left cracks in the logs. Here is an interesting fact, P\petrified wood at Petrified Forest National Park is almost solid quartz, weighing in at 168 pounds per cubic foot. It's so hard, you can only cut it with a diamond tipped saw!

Petrified wood was used by the ancestral Puebloan people for tools like arrowheads, knives and scrapers. But they also used it as building material. Be sure and visit Agate House which is a small, eight-room pueblo once built with blocks of petrified wood laid in a clay mortar.

The colorful layers of the painted desert formed in the triassic period when meandering tropical rivers deposted layers of mud and clay. Some of these layers are due to volcanic ash choking up the rivers and altering to clay.

The La Posada Hotel, the “last great railroad hotel,” was built in 1929 for the Santa Fe Railway, La Posada is truly one of America’s treasures. La Posada embodies the visions of both Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, the hotel’s renowned architect, and Allan Affeldt, its current owner. But the story really begins with Fred Harvey, who “civilized the west” by introducing linen, silverware, china, crystal, and impeccable service to railroad travel. (He was so legendary that MGM made a movie called The Harvey Girls starring Judy Garland.) Harvey developed and ran all the hotels and restaurants of the Santa Fe Railway, eventually controlling a hospitality empire that spanned the continent.

In the 1920s, Harvey decided to build a major hotel in the center of northern Arizona. “La Posada”—the Resting Place—was to be the finest in the Southwest. Construction costs alone exceeded $1 million in 1929. Total budget with grounds and furnishings was rumored at $2 million (about $40 million in today’s dollars). They chose Winslow, then (as now) the Arizona headquarters for the Santa Fe Railway. Winslow was ideally situated for a resort hotel since everything to see and do in northern Arizona is a comfortable day’s drive. They asked Colter to design the new hotel.

Colter worked for the Fred Harvey Company from 1905 until her retirement in the 1950s. Although famous for her magnificent buildings at the Grand Canyon, she considered La Posada her masterpiece. Here she was able to design or select everything from the structures to the landscape, furniture, maids’ costumes, and dinner china. Many people consider this the most important and most beautiful building in the Southwest. We really enjoyed just walking through the hotel.

This is definitely a place we will visit again, in fact we plan to on our way back to the Phoenix area for winter this year. We will probably stay closer to Winslow since the Turquoise Room will be visited time and time again along with the Canyon de Chelly National Monument and Meteor Crater.

Photos from this visit have been added to flickr.com.

Till next time,

Bob & Jo

Goodyear AZ 2010 (Phoenix area)

Our time in Goodyear Arizona just west of Phoenix was where we really enjoyed our lifestyle change for an extended period of time. Living in the RV was never the issue thankfully. We already have posted on how wonderful the weather there was and to be honest that contributed greatly to our feelings. An El Nino year is not recommended to be your first year of full-time RV living is all we will say here. We also enjoyed a Hawaiian Luau and we posted on that, it was hard to imagine it was winter time when we were outside in shorts and sweating by the pool and palm trees. We also already posted our exciting day at the Cactus League, we had so much fun and the weather was so good that even professional baseball was enjoyable : )

Being there for a month and a half we did not do as much sightseeing as you would think. We mostly enjoyed the good weather, it was nice to sit outside in our lawn chairs and read and just relax. We drove up to South Mountain Park which is the largest city park in the world to get a panoramic view of the area. We love zoos so we went to the Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium which was neat. We saw some old planes and learned some history at the Commemorative Air Museum. We toured the Arizona Cardinals Stadium which is officially named the University of Phoenix Stadium and saw how the playing field is brought in for games and rolled outside after. We also visited the Hall of Flame Firefighting Museum where we saw an incredible collection of firefighting vehicles dating back to 1725 and other firefighting gear.

We are not sure whether to call this next place a sightseeing stop or an eating stop, Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa AZ. Has to be a sightseeing spot because it houses the world's largest Wurlitzer Theater/Theatre Pipe Organ which is played throughout the day but it also serves some pretty good pizza. We found some new all time favorites to eat at while in Goodyear. The one most visited is TJ's Homestyle Restaurant and mostly for breakfast. Paradise Bakery was the next most visited place which serves a menu similar to Panera Bread but maybe a little better. Diners Drive Inns and Dives led us to Giuseppe's and La Piazza and they both were excellent. Mexican food is pretty good in the area as you can imagine. The best was probably in the deli at the Food City grocery store although Garcia's and Manuel's were also good. We also ate at some chains that we really like. Among the chains in the area are Cracker Barrel, Old Spaghetti Factory, McCormick and Schmicks, and In-and-Out to name a few.

This is definitely a place we will visit again, in fact we plan to winter there this year.

Photos from this visit have been added to flickr.com.

Till next time,

Bob & Jo

You can subscribe to this blog posts and/or comments by making selections under 'Subscribe To' or you can join the yahoo group which will notify you whenever a post is made,

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You can also signup to be a Follower of this blog.

NOTE: See our photos from places we have visited at

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You gotta try this!

We know we have not blogged for awhile but things have not changed too much for us. We are still in Peculiar MO in the Kansas City area. Our next big blog entry will probably be about the Phoenix area and it will be a big post and lots of pictures on Flickr since we spent a month and a half there.

What you have to try is the Memphis Chicken at Bob Evans. We know that some of our readers don't like chain restaurants but what they fail to realize is that the chain restaurants started out small and grew bigger because the food was good. We are not the diehard BBQ police either as we don't care how the preparation is, dry rub or wet rub, hickory or mesquite, etc. nor do we care if a chain restaurant, basically our mantra is if the food is good we go.

For a limited time Memphis Chicken is available at Bob Evans. You can get $1 off the regular price on Monday for what they call Memphis Mondays. We have been there for the last two Mondays, that is how good it is. As good as the chicken is Memphis Chicken is served with some of the best mac-n-cheese and sweet potato fries we have ever had. The portions are also huge, both times the two piece meal was both breasts. The first time we ate there we swear the breasts were from a Capon or a very large Cornish Cross. Needless to say we get at least two meals out of each order.

For those interested Capons are castrated roosters that are allowed to grow to almost turkey size and have very tender, flavorful meat. Bob used to raise Cornish Cross chickens when he was a youngster because they are so versatile. At 2-3 pounds they become the cornish hens you buy in the store. At 8 weeks you can butcher them as fryers at between 4 and 6 pounds. If you wait until 12-13 weeks they will weigh about 10-12 pounds. Then hens are great egg layers too, for about 6 months straight 48 hens layed 49 eggs a day we kid you not.

We also found out a tidbit about chain restaurants that we did not know. About 5 years ago Bob Evans bought the Mimi's chain which we also like to eat at, especially for breakfast. The midwest is the dividing line so far, Mimi's are found west of here and Bob Evans are found east of here. The Kansas City area is one lucky area where you can eat at both places but head first to Bob Evans if you like chicken and BBQ because you gotta try this and it is only available for a limited time.

Till next time,

Bob & Jo