2017 RV Tour Blog #1

Three Years Already?

Wow, it's hard to believe that this is our third year of RV adventures! As you may recall from our previous blog, we happened upon a fantastic deal for a Minnie Winnebago that we just couldn't pass up. This new vehicle is not a travel trailer, but a motor home offering a big improvement in comfort and convenience. Everything is self-contained and connected to the motor cab, with two big slide-outs for more living space and a full size, enclosed shower. Another plus is being able to tow a car without adding mileage to it.  

Over the winter, Doug bonded with "Minnie Winnie" and enhanced her by installing a new hardwood floor, TV and sound system and then used it as a "man cave". On the other hand, Sue had grown attached to "Conestoga Lite" (the travel trailer) and felt a little guilty about shifting loyalty - that is until the first full day on the road. Can you guess why?

Yes, it is a VERY comfortable way to travel. The large gas tank allows us to run 6 or 7 hours straight on one tank of gas. This significantly improves our travel time because last year we had to stop every two hours when the Honda Ridgeline was pulling the trailer.

We left Pennsylvania on March 26 and headed for Sedona, Arizona. Last year as we headed West, we were taken by surprise around Memphis when we checked into a hotel and found out there were tornado warnings all around us. After that experience, we learned to keep a close eye on the weather. This year was worse than last because waves of severe weather rose up from the South everyday and cascaded across the country. Sue became not only navigator, but amateur meteorologist and we literally planned our day's travel around Weather Channel. Some days were shorter drives to avoid danger zones and other days longer to get past them. For three days in a row, we stayed just ahead of baseball-sized hail and potential tornadoes. Amazingly, we managed to travel in the clear zones most of the way with very little rain except the last day of our journey. After traveling for about two hours in heavy rain followed by strong winds, Sedona come up on the horizon, literally an oasis in the desert and we happily settled in for two weeks at Rancho Sedona, one of our favorite RV parks. Doug's sister Deb and her husband Mike joined us, as they did last year.  

Last year, Doug attended a workshop in Sedona with his mentor, Albert Handell, where he met Michael Chesley Johnson. He is a very accomplished artist who works in oil and pastel and also teaches workshops in the American Southwest, coastal Maine and the Canadian Maritimes. Doug and Michael hit it off and decided to combine their talents to co-teach a week long workshop this year in Sedona from April 2-8. Ten students attended the workshop, which included demonstrations at Gandolfo's Art Studio in the morning followed by a plein air painting demonstration and solo painting in the afternoon. 

Going into the week, Doug and Michael wondered whether having two teachers with different styles might be too overwhelming; however, student feedback was unanimously positive. The consensus was that their different styles complimented each other, proving very informative and worthwhile. Doug and Michael plan to discuss options for teaching together again next year so stay tuned! 

As usual, Sedona and the surrounding area offered unlimited painting opportunities for Doug:

After the workshop ended, we visited Palatki Heritage Site, just outside of Sedona which contains ruins of the Sinagua cliff dwellers who lived there for 600 years starting in 650 AD. No one really knows why they left the area. We were able to walk right up to the ruins and also got a close up view of the dwellings and some amazing cave art.

Another day, we went to Jerome, a historic copper mining town that sits 5,200 feet above sea level. Although the mines were closed by 1953 and most of the population had moved on, starting in the 1960's, it was promoted as a "ghost town" and tourist attraction. Today, the main town thrives with quaint stores and restaurants. We went to Bobby D's BBQ and had the best pulled pork and ribs we have ever tasted. Seriously. We also happened upon a country/rock band that was fantastic. The lead singer and guitar player was in his upper 60's and once played with the best on the road. Now, he played at this local bar for the pure joy of it. Our joy was in the dancing.  

Further up the hill lies the Gold King Mine, which is the "ghost town" part of the original mining town. It has also become a historic collection point for for all kinds of antique junk vehicles and equipment. It is truly a unique place that should be on everyone's bucket list. 

Doug's artistic eye catured reflections of the past being presented by these vehicles:

After Sedona, we went to the south rim of the Grand Canyon, which of course is spectacular to view and paint. It's vastness instantly reminds us of our place in the universe. With the canyon as backdrop, Sue witnessed a rare and special moment between a condor and a raven. For about 20 minutes, the persistent raven taunted the condor by landing repeatedly on the rock and sneaking up to disturb condor's perch. Each time this happened, the undaunted the condor would raise and flap his giant wings, forcing the raven to fly off, only to circle back around to try again. 

  

Meanwhile, Doug was joyously painting the South Rim: 

From the Grand Canyon, we headed to Palm Springs for three days, where the temperature went from between 65/70 degrees to 100 degrees. Doug loves painting in the nearby Native American lands, so he sailed off early the first morning to do a painting. It was already getting warm, so Sue turned on the air conditioning and suddenly all the electric went out. Unconcerned, she figured a circuit breaker on the RV park's panel board must have tripped and went outside to reset it. As she approached, flames started shooting out of the power box. In a split second, Sue noticed the tall hedge right behind box, imagined it bursting into flames and hastily yanked the electric cord out of the box. Just as she was trying to remember exactly where the fire extinguisher was, the fire went out.  
Sue's first thought was: "Oh no, Doug is out of cell phone range!" As sweat began to literally appear on her brow, the second thought was: "It's going up to 100 degrees again today!" Miraculously, Doug's cell phone received Sue's panic call even though reception in that area is uncommon. Even more miraculous was that he answered right away! 

As the trailer heated up by the minute, Doug and Sue found a cute bungalow-style rental to stay in until the electric cord could be fixed. It came complete with a kitchen (to store our refrigerated food) and a private pool. The RV park refunded our money, Doug fixed the electric chord and we thankfully determined that Minnie Winnie suffered no damage. 

Even with all the disruption, Doug managed to complete a painting: 

Our next stop was San Diego, CA, where Doug attended the Annual Plein Air Convention along with 1,000 plein air artists from around the world. Doug enjoys networking with peers and attending the various demonstrations. Next year's convention will be held in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Albert Handell will be the keynote speaker. Of course Doug will be there and encourages all other artists to join us!

Our next destination is the Carmel / Monterey area which is Doug's favorite place, followed by two weeks at Yosemite National Park.