The owner of the Broken Bow RV Park had mentioned something when I checked in that made me open up my GPS mapping software again. I had mentioned that we would leave Escalante in the morning and drive north on Hiway 12, then to Hiway 24 through Capitol Reef NP. He said something like "oh, that way". Huh? What do you mean "that way". "I hope you have good brakes in that thing".

No problem, right? I can handle these.... right? No worries - I will deal with them when I get there. I was on a mission.

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Leaving California is never easy - saying goodbye to family and friends, wrapping up business, swearing at our storage one more time... Always way too much to do before we leave. This departure was also dotted with maintenance on the RV - full lube, some minor repairs. Getting ready for the road ahead.

Leaving California is always difficult in another way - Cali has some of the worst roads we drive on. It is never fun to look forward to several hours of teeth rattling, light fixtures falling, and general "contents WILL shift during flight" issues. However, we did have something to look forward to with getting out of Cali - next stop Moab, Utah!

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I'm not usually a star-geek, but I have read a few things about the Perseid meteor shower this year on August 12th, and it sounds cool enough to pass along!

Picture by Nasa

The Perseid shower is a yearly occurrence and is the result of the debris trail left behind by the Swift-Tuttle Comet. The comet can only be seen every 132 years or so, but its trail can be seen each year.

For information and viewing tips, check out the info on the Nasa site.

--kev

After being at Coyote Valley RV for a month, we moved out to the Delta for a bit. We have been going to Sugar Barge for a few years now, and really like it. So, it was off to the Delta for sunshine and friends!

Friends and sunshine - the Delta brought us lots of both!

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May found us going "home". No matter how much we travel, it is always a great thing to go home again. It is always great seeing the friends and family in San Jose.

The day after we arrived, we had a little gathering for Roy's birthday. Damien and Michelle met up with us and joined in on our whacky family gathering. Above is sister Ellen and my mom in the front, me, brothers Roy and Dave in the back.

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Here is a picture post of our travels from Texas to California.

From New Braunfels, we headed west and north to Denver to see my kids and hang out a bit. Everyone was doing great, and hanging out with them was the best - as always.

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The question presented: How cool can a $200 a month RV park be?
The answer: Extremely.

What started as a week (or so) in New Braunfels, Texas, ended up as almost two months in one of the coolest towns we have stayed. Damien and Michelle called us up when we were leaving Florida and said they had payed for a month at an RV park in New Braunfels. It was close to several of their upcoming shows, so they thought they would just stay there for a month and commute to their weekend shows. Not having anything really planned out, we told them we would stop in and hang out with them for a bit. haha - yea, a bit. After almost two months, we had made some great friends, had great times, and found out that we loved the Comal River.

We have been to many places in our adventures, but never have we been to a place that we met so many cool people, and built friendships like we did in NewB. Having Damien and Michelle was key to this - they are just as outgoing and adventurous as we are (or try to be), and the town opened their arms wide to the four of us foreigners.

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I have always been a big fan of the RV Sani-Con waste system. I'm not sure I would sing from the hills that I am a fan of the pooper pump, but why not. It is a great system, and I do not miss the Stinky Slinky one bit! The Sani-Con allows us to run a 1 ½" line to the sewer so it doesn't look bad, no rinsing and flushing of the big fat Slinky, and I don't have to store The Beast while on the road.

The system has always worked great for me (save the time I left the little green cap on the end and had to do a little "clean up on isle 6"), and I wouldn't be without one. However, I have had MUCH problem with the relay that controls the pump. The relay is used between the power switch and the Sani-Con and is suppose to send power to the pump when the switch is thrown. After about six months of use, the relay started acting up, and emptying the tanks became a challenge. Thus began - Fun With Relays.

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The first week of the new year has evaporated, and it felt like it just wizzed by. Will this be indicative of the new year? Will this one move faster than the last? Everyone tells me that as you get older, time moves by faster. I tend to agree with that, but I am pretty sure it is just because the older you get, the more stuff you have to do. Stuff to do fills in all of the spaces that use to be downtime when we were younger. The downtime is what makes the time move slow.

Not a Snowbird

The first week passing into the new year has special meaning in south Florida. The turn of the year is like the state of Florida goes to Northern People Buffet, and fills up on people. By the end of the first week, the state wishes it would have worn stretchy pants.

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As much of a geek that I am, it is surprising how uninterested I am in my cell phone. The only reason it is being mentioned is because that span of time, that sometimes seems forever, has reached its end, and renewal is upon us.

I got a new cell phone.

I think for normal people, that two years takes forever. For others, the cell phone contract is a span of time that will never occur because they trade their phones in so often that they owe 14 years to cover that crappy phone they have now. For me, those two years go by in a blur, and I usually get a new phone because I am at the Verizon kiosk getting a new headset or something.

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