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Once more with wheeling
  • Geezers in Paradise
  • Geezers in Paradise

Once more with wheeling

Our previous journeys brought us to Paradise. Leaving is harder than escaping Devil's Island: instead of guards & guillotines, think friendly neighbors, palm trees, Bocce ball. But adventure & grandkids call. Welcome to "once more with wheeling!" Read more
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  • Trip start
    August 17, 2019
    Geezers in ParadiseOnce more with wheelingTraveler

    Leaving Paradise

    August 17, 2019 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 79 °F

    Since having acquired the geezer mobile in 2013, we had been criss-crossing North America yearly for 2-3 months at a time. Though simply seeing what lay around every corner was the primary agenda, we also kept our eye out for a possible new and exciting place to call home. We did, indeed, find our new home and travels screeched to a halt. When you live in Paradise, it's hard to muster enthusiasm for leaving.

    HOWEVER ... more than a year has passed since we visited our son and family, and the 2 wee grandkids are getting less wee by the minute. Guilt is setting in. Feet are starting to itch.

    Having dusted off the geezer mobile, we leave today for Vancouver, BC and family. We will take a fairly direct diagonal route and spend an extended Labor Day there. We will then meander back home with minimal planning to arrive home the first week of October.

    Forgive us if the posts seem a bit boring in the beginning while we are speeding cross country. (There is usually a disaster or two to report however ... see our previous blogs on this site.)

    We are delighted to share our trip with you. A reminder, you do not have to create an account to view the blog on FindPenguins. But if you post a comment without having signed on, please sign your name so we know who it is.

    So now ... Once More with Wheeling ....

    Heather and Gordon

    PS As you can see from the photo, paradise has decided to help us out, loosening the ties with gray skies. However the palms and Bocce ball are still going on, so we plan to pine appropriately at select intervals.    Read more

  • Geezers in ParadiseOnce more with wheelingTraveler

    Safe Harbor

    August 18, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 77 °F

    It’s taken us overnight to recover. At times we could barely see the road. When it cleared a bit we passed a number of accidents ... a big rig down in the roadside ditch, a car that managed to make it to the side of the road but facing the wrong way, and one car completely up-side-down.

    By the time we pulled into the campground the skies were pretty clear. We passed an uneventful evening and feel restored after a good night’s sleep. There MAY have been a nice bottle of Founders porter involved.

    One camper at the Three C’s is preparing early for Halloween. I think they are dog lovers.    Read more

  • Geezers in ParadiseOnce more with wheelingTraveler

    Are you sensing a pattern?

    August 18, 2019 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 84 °F

    Arrived safe and sound at Parker’s Landing campground in Biloxi, Mississippi. Weather was spotty today but sun breaks when it was important. Gordon is very excited about his well earned beer. I’m more excited about the popcorn. Seriously salt depleted!Read more

  • Geezers in ParadiseOnce more with wheelingTraveler

    The only rest stop on LA I-49

    August 19, 2019 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 88 °F

    Seemed like it, anyway. But it was a nice one. Long paved walks, Beautiful lake surrounded by flowering trees. But if you are a dog, it was the best one EVER. The pet area not only had a tree, but a FIRE HYDRANT! Sweet!

    In the absence of a rainbow, the clouds themselves gave some indication that the floods may be past.    Read more

  • Geezers in ParadiseOnce more with wheelingTraveler

    Carson the snitch

    August 19, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 97 °F

    You may notice that our lovely car is not in the photo. That is because he is in “time out.” As we were driving today, he kept beeping every time we got close to the edge of our lane. This led to interrupted conversations, rudely terminated naps, and embarrassed drivers. He has developed this horrible habit of snitching on us as we avoid large trucks creeping into our lanes, swerving to obstacles in the road, and it seems anytime that he felt ignored. It got so bad today that both of us burst out with “snitch” when he beeped. So, Carson is timing out this evening.

    Oh... Carson? How did he get that name? Might it have something to do with Kit Carson? Or any one of a number of other Carsons listed in Wikipedia? Or perhaps with Carson City or the surrounding features named Carson? Aaaahhhhhhh...... I’ll go ask Heather, maybe she remembers.

    We are now safe and sound at the Shreveport KOA. Thank goodness that our geezermobile has a air conditioner. It is 99 outside and feels like 109. If you get out a magnifying glass you can see the KOA logo in the photo.    Read more

  • Geezers in ParadiseOnce more with wheelingTraveler

    The ants crawl in, the ants crawl out...

    August 20, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F

    ... the ants play pinochle in your snout.

    I should have realized something was up when, in the bathhouse, a teeny tiny ant humming the Jaws theme crawled up and over my foot. As I headed back to the camper I spied Gordon out front, in his shorts and nothing else, furiously beating on a big brown block with our enormous bread knife, This was interspersed with the occasional slap to arms, legs, chest etc.

    I thought perhaps he had invented some new morning ritual to celebrate our close communion with the great outdoors. But NO. He was actually beating our loaf of bread that was COVERED in ANTS! Big ones, little ones, black ones, brown. And that was our BREAKfast so this was serious.

    I left Gordon to his task (he WAS swinging a big knife around) and cautiously entered the trailer. The ants had friends who were swarming the food cupboard and a 3 foot radius around it. I quickly grabbed a flashlight in one hand and my trusty dust buster in the other and whistled a few bars of The Good Bad and the Ugly.

    A half hour later we are (more or less) calmly sitting at the table eating breakfast. You think we’re going to let a few dastardly ants scare us off our ONLY loaf of Gordon’s homemade bread? HA!

    We have refreshed ourselves on some important disaster preventing measures when traveling through the south and Midwest, and have added insect repellant to our shopping list.    Read more

  • Geezers in ParadiseOnce more with wheelingTraveler

    Visiting Skip and Celia

    August 21, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 93 °F

    So great to catch up with my cousin Skip and wonderful cousin-in-law Celia. They live in Fairview, just north of Dallas. We spent a lazy morning chatting and preparing salads for dinner with the clan, all of whom live within a 20 minute radius. (Gordon made brownies. Heather chopped the watermelon from Celia’s garden.) Then Celia practiced piano while Gordon and Skip got the tech situation under control. I made a general pest of myself.

    Celia and Skip are quite the gardeners, and they have made a backyard paradise for themselves, their dogs, and their small grandchildren. I asked Gordon to take a pic of me on the kids’ play set with Skip’s experimental fruit and nut garden in the background. Try to imagine it behind the Wilson Nicoll memorial thumb in the frame. (*damn!*)

    Del Webber’s will appreciate that their HOA not only does not put limits on the number of pots you can have, but also allows sculptures of BUNNIES to remain in full view of your neighbors!!    Read more

  • Geezers in ParadiseOnce more with wheelingTraveler

    Dinner with the Sloans

    August 21, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 95 °F

    Every Wednesday the whole Sloan clan gets together at Skip and Celia’s for a family dinner. We were blessed to have all of the Sloan children, husbands, and grand children that were in town come to dinner with us. Skip grilled his famous steaks. We were replete with good food and fellowship.

    Heather and Chris; Wendy and Aaron; Katie and Heather; Heather With Charlotte and Jackie; Celia, Heather, Wendy and Skip.    Read more

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    Witchita Falls

    August 22, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 95 °F

    We stopped for a light picnic lunch at Lucy Park on the Wichita River. Rumor has it you can walk to the falls, but it was a long walk in 95 degree heat.

    We contented ourselves with sauntering over to find out what those round green things were on the ground. We asked a passing runner (!) if she knew what the tree was, and she said she’d heard them called crab apple trees.

    Right. We know an alien brain when we see one.    Read more

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    The Big Texan Steakhouse

    August 22, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    We’ve eaten here once before, and returned not just for the delicious food, but in hopes of someone trying for the free 72 ounce steak dinner if they eat in in an hour.

    Alas, no one was going for it while we were there, but the food was still delicious. The added bonus was the wandering minstrel cowboy who, at Gordon’s request, sang “The Yellow Rose of Texas.” I believe Gordon had tears in his eyes. Might have been the 2 pints of well deserved brew, though, crafted on site.Read more

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    Now in New Mexico

    August 23, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    We are now in the Southwest, mesas, high altitude, and cooler weather. We are at 4000 feet elevation and the temperature is a pleasant 74 degrees. The road visible in the foreground of the 2nd photo is historic Rte 66.Read more

  • Geezers in ParadiseOnce more with wheelingTraveler

    Our first mountains

    August 23, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F

    We’re about 50 miles outside of Albuquerque, coming down from 7000 feet. We thrill to our first view of blue mountains in the distance.

    Still paralleling old Route 66.

  • Geezers in ParadiseOnce more with wheelingTraveler

    Bernalillo KOA

    August 23, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 88 °F

    There was another Aliner in the site next to ours whose owners we met at the brewery next to the KOA. There we met Dave and Jean. They are from Albuquerque and have had their trailer for less than a year and had come up to the KOA for the weekend just to use the trailer. They are still breaking it in.

    Dinner at the brewery was interesting. The brewery is very much a low budget affair, sort of a low rent place. But the beer was interesting if not good. Heather had duck and cilantro braut with curry catsup. I had the wild boar braut with sauerkraut. Sorry, we were too busy gabbing to remember to take photos.    Read more

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    The road to Cortez

    August 24, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    It didn’t take long to start rising in elevation. Soon the sign showed we were entering the Zia Indian reservation, which at some point morphed into an Apache reservation.

    Gosh, talk about scenery! Unlike my dad, the famous Wilson L Nicoll, who mastered the art of shooting from bus windows at top speed, we were constantly frustrated in our attempts. We are sharing the best we could do, but just know they don’t come close to the drama and color that took our breath away.Read more

  • Geezers in ParadiseOnce more with wheelingTraveler

    Picnic lunch at the Apache Nugget

    August 24, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    Simple picnic lunch outside the casino and truck stop. Lots of ants were running around on the ground. I was more than just a little worried that they were fire ants and a bounty had been put out in my head. But they left us alone and when lunch was done, off we went. Though I do have to say that ever since, we both keep feeling ants crawling on us.Read more

  • Geezers in ParadiseOnce more with wheelingTraveler

    Just entered Colorado

    August 24, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    The countryside is changing to having a background of high mountains. But what really caught our I was a sign at a ranch road that said “Limousine Ranch”. We are trying to figure out how they herd the limousines. Cowboys on horses? Chevrolet Broncos? But the ranch went by so fast that we did not see, and will probably never know.Read more

  • Geezers in ParadiseOnce more with wheelingTraveler

    Cortez KOA

    August 24, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    Is this this a gorgeous location or what? The north side of the Mesa Verde is that cliff taking up the entire width of the photo in the background. It’s huge!

    Our little trailer is neatly tucked into the shade of a very nice tree. The sun is hot, but we are blessed with shade.Read more

  • Geezers in ParadiseOnce more with wheelingTraveler

    Wilson L Nicoll botched shot competition

    August 24, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    You can see what we are up against! I’m SURE my dad never had such miserable failures. But then he had a REAL camera, not a hair-trigger phone that is too big for its britches if only it had some.

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    Mesa Verde

    August 25, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    Mesa Verde is located near Four Corners where Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico all meet. A thriving Pueblo culture lived here for about 900 years. Apparently in this part of Colorado, there are approximately 100 archeological sites per square mile. We had but a single day to try to take in a little bit, but fortunately the park is arranged well for even the most casual or gimpy visitors. We only scratched the surface, and mostly at a distance, but it was still spectacular to see and imagine.Read more

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