February 21-28, 2011 Sonia’s hometown, Hatfield, PA

We arrived at 9:30pm on Monday night after hitting rain and a little snow around Wilmington, DE—the first precipitation since the Oregon Coast nearly 1.5 months ago. We’ve been fortunate to have cold but clear weather along our travels. Sonia’s hometown, Hatfield, PA is a suburb NW of Philadelphia. More strip malls and more traffic lights have been added and traffic is consistently moderate.

Sonia’s parents, Niru and Mangu, were happy to have their daughter and son-in-law home for the first time since the wedding in June.  In the Indian culture, the sun and moon rise and set on the son-in-law. He can do no wrong and is showered with gifts of good food and plenty of attention. Luckily, Jason is good-natured and takes it all in stride and offers to help out and doesn’t expect the royal treatment. 

We talked late into the night about travel stories and made some tentative plans for our week at home. There are lots of close family friends Sonia has grown up with in the surrounding 5-10 miles and everyone wants to see us….so the week is shaping up to be busy with visiting and socializing. 

Tuesday we wake up, drink chai and clean house=clean Loaf. We take the van apart, wash all the pots/pans/dishes, clean the sink and stove, launder bedding and shop vac the inside.  Jason also took time to do some basic VW maintenance for the second half of the road trip. We putzed around all day. But the outcome was a nice, clean van again—like how we started out. Loafy was pretty happy.


Sonia and Kia having fun

We visited with some family friends for a short bit that evening after dinner, then drove up to Qaukertown, PA to visit friends who recently moved back to PA from Seattle, David, Molly and their 4 year old son, Kai. We arrived late and sat in front of the open fireplace drinking a couple beers and talking late into the night. We had the lovely pleasure of staying in this 100 year old house by our self that night. David and his family live in the pool house just across the way. This property was incredible. 30 acres of hardwood forested property near Lake Nockamixon. There’s a huge frozen pond out back to ice skate on when the snow has been cleared off of it. Plenty of space for kids of all ages to be out and explore—looking forward to that tomorrow.  We slept in a super comfy cozy bed and woke to to a cold but clear blue sky day.



Sonia woke Kai up and was greeted by a huge smile from ear to ear and then a whole lot of talking…and it didn’t stop for the rest of the day. How sweet he is though. We ate breakfast and finally coaxed Kai from his computer game and went out to play. We jumped on the trampoline. Jason and David were shooting a rifle at cans on snow piles. Kai learned a valuable lesson on how to load bullets into a clip…you know just another day in Pennsyltuckey!  (He was not allowed to shoot the gun, however, maybe next year…he’s gotta start with a bow and arrow says his Dad)  We had a great time.



Lee’s Hoagie House for lunch—the best hoagie place around. Sonia grew up eating Lee’s Hoagies and can’t say enough good things about them…they are GOOD! The consistency of the bread, the thin sliced cheeses and of course the special hoagie dressing….it’s just so good!! 


A necessary stop at Lee's Hogie House

That evening, we went to visit Suju, a close friend of Sonia’s who just finished 6 treatments of Chemotherapy for Lymphoma. Suju was in good spirits when we arrived… and she should be—we had a pizza pie in hand!! We sat around ate pizza and conversed for hours about all kinds of things…kids to weather to relationships to chia seeds to cancer to travels to super-tasters, tasters and non-tasters, etc….It was a great night spent in great company. Suju has been staying strong minded and is keeping a positive outlook and it shows. All the best to you Suj—we’ll be thinking of you as you regain your strength and health back.

The following day, Thursday, we went to Washington D.C with Sonia’s parents to show Jason our nation’s capitol. Read more on the blog about D.C.

Friday, Jason and Sonia had a leisurely morning-Fresh hot chai by Sonia’s Dad (we could really get used to this treatment) with a little breakfast.  We ran a few errands around town. After lunch, we went to Acts Inc., Sonia’s Mom’s workplace. People were so excited to see us in person. It seemed like most of the office was following our blog and we were just these two characters telling travel stories with pictures and supposedly the girl in the story was Niru’s daughter.  It was kinda funny- we felt a little like small-scale-celebrities. Luckily, it wasn’t an agro crowd because our bodyguard was taking the afternoon off…haha. It was rather strange but in a good way.  Many said they were envious and wished they could do that themselves. We received lots of good wishes for safe travels home and left feeling really good about our choices and our life. 

That evening we were hosting a small enchilada dinner like we do on Christmas Eve at the Karumsi house—only a mere 20 people this time. (it’s usually 50+ brown people under one roof- all talking louder and louder as the evening progresses. The volume could be understandable if there was a lot of alcohol consumption but there isn’t ….its just Indians being Indians. Sonia loves it and finds comfort and happiness in it…Jason is learning to embrace it-the feeling of a bunch of happy people in one house who are all talking very loudly is slowly becoming more enjoyable…or at least he’s beginning to understand it.  The Loaf was a scenic attraction and the kids and adults alike were fascinated that we can sleep, cook, brush our teeth and drive all in the same van.



Party in the Loaf



We took some of the kids for a short ride just down the street in the neighborhood…only a couple cars on the road and of course one has to be a cop. Small town cops…uh oh!! Niketa and Sonia look at each other a bit panicked and frozen. Niketa is sitting in the back seat holding a 2 year old on her lap and next to her are 3 other kids, 6 and 7 years old-none with seat belts.  Sonia’s co-pilot is 9 years old. Sonia casually made a right turn into the Industrial Park, the street right before where the cop was stopped. The cop turned right, probably thinking where’d this jalopy come from. Luckily, we have tinted windows in the van and as the van turned right, the cop turned right and probably couldn’t really see in. We slowly made our way around the building complex and stalled a bit to allow enough time for the cop to drive up the road and out of sight. We turned left out of the parking lot and drove the speed limit but hurried in to the driveway, turned the lights off, parked and went into home base, safely. Niketa and Sonia high-fived and poured themselves a glass of wine. Let’s just all be thankful that Sonia and Niketa aren’tt in jail, thereby ending the Loaf Love Tour.

Saturday, Sonia's parents and us went to Sonia's cousins, Nikunj and Samir's house in Philadelphia. Samir, Sneha and Rahill just welcomed Ronav to their family. Ronav is a 3 weeks old boy...he slept the entire time we were there, despite the running, screaming and general craziness in the house by the other 3 kids. Nikunj and Hetal have 2 kids, Suraj-6 y.o boy and Simeran-3 y.o girl. It was great to play with the kids and catch up with Sonia's cousins.
Saturday night, we went to Amita and Sunny's for Ethan's birthday party. We gathered around for more food and and brown people and good company. Sonia used to be babysat by Amita and Niketa as a small child. The running joke is why the parents entrusted kids to Amita and Niketa because they once dropped Sonia down the stairs.



Ethan's birthday party

 

A great visit at home again. We always have to pack in all the visiting but it's worth it every time.
Sonia's Mom is an excellent cook and made us lots of great meals. She even packed us up food to-go--cookies, chakris, nuts, dried fruit, etc....good thing we won't starve.  Thanks Mom and Dad/Niru and Mangu for everything. We love you and will miss you.
Take care all. 

Feb 16-18, 2011 Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN and Burlington, NC

Feb 16-17, 2011
After eating a mediocre continental breakfast at the Best Western (there was so much Styrofoam-plates, cups, etc- it was sickening) , we headed back into town to buy a few things we saw the night before. We really wanted to buy a T-Shirt that said “Think Globally, Act Hillbilly”—the shop was closed. Bummer. Sonia wanted to black out the “hill” and add “chum” for Chumbilly´…Leavenworth joke.

We left Nashville feeling a bit dull and crusty from the night before and headed for the Great Smoky National Park on the TN/NC border. We pulled into Cades Corner just after sunset.  The hardwood trees abound here and we both agreed we must visit again some Fall to see the spectacular fall colors. A few evergreens dot the hillsides, but mostly bare hardwoods this time of year. The Little Prairie Creek was flowing and had many small waterfall rapids in the creek and made it very calming and enjoyable to look at. These forests reminded Sonia of growing up on the East Coast as a kid.  It is nice to be among mountainous countryside again. 

The GreatSmoky Mountains got their name from the Cherokee Indians who called it “shaconage” meaning “blue, like smoke”. The bluish fog hangs over the mountain range and presents like large smoke plumes from a distance. The fog is mostly present in the mornings and after rainfall. The fog is a result of warm humid air from the Gulf of Mexico cooling rapidly in the higher elevations of the Southern Appalacia.  Its water vapor not just pollution! 

In 1934, the Smokies were denoted a National Park and it was the first national park assembled from private lands. The states of NC and TN, private citizens and groups, and schools contributed money to purchase these lands for donation to the federal government.  Pretty cool huh? We thought so. John Muir would be proud too.

The Smokies have remarkable biological diversity—more tree species then in Northern Europe, 1500 flowering plants, 200 + bird species,60 mammals and dozens of native fish. We wished we could’ve stayed longer to explore more, but we actually have to be on the coast of NC this weekend to meet friends.  Another time….how many times have we said that already? 

We took a nice walk along the Oconaluftee River and checked out some log homes from the early inhabitants in the 1920s and 1930s. The history lessons on this trip have been so interesting and eye-opening. We have so much to see and learn in this country.  We just love it.  We hope all of our blog followers are intrigued and/or inspired to carve out time to travel. Experience parts of the US for yourself and see what a diverse country we do live in—the people, cultures. Cuisine, topography, plants and animals, etc….it’s all fascinating. We have the luxury of having multiple forms of travel too…RV, car, motorcycle, camping, biking or bipedally….just get out and check it out. You won’t be disappointed…

We are driving along on I-40 East towards Burlington, NC to visit Sonia’s Uncle and Aunt for the night. Looking forward to a home cooked Indian meal.  But first, we must stop and get our brand new rotors checked out—they  are shaking and shimmey-ing…that’s not good.

Feb 17, 18, 2011 Burlington, NC

We drove around the Smokies a bit, on the open roads , and took in some of the beauty and wonder if the Great Smoky Mtns.  Naturally, we wanted to get the best view so we went to the top of the pass at Newfound Gap. Much to our dismay, it was totally socked in and could barely see 10 ft in front of you and certainly not into the valley…. that’s why they call them the Great Smoky Mountains. It was windy and a bit chilly at 5,ooo ft and as we finished our pancake and egg breakfast at home,  the views were opening up and it was lovely. A patchy blue sky with sun breaks, it was going to be a nice day.  We had just the morning to check out the park b/c we had a 4-5 hour drive to Sonia’s uncle and aunt’s later on. We drove down into the valley and it was absolutely beautiful. Sunny, warm, about 65 degrees—just beautiful.

We walked through a bunch of old log homes and buildings from the 1930s when people inhabited these mountains and valleys. It’s amazing how entire families were raised  n these one room cabins.  Why do we think we need 3-4+ bedrooms to raise families nowadays? Back then, people spent most of their time outdoors and were inside to sleep and eat only. We can dig that.  Being inside for us is a bit stifling these days.  We took a nice walk along the river, got the blood pumping and took in the peace and quiet of the Oconaluftee River.  The Smokies see more visitors per year, about 8 million, than any other National Park in the USA!! It was somewhat busy but nothing compared to the high season. 

By afternoon, we drove to Burlington, NC to visit Sonia’s Uncle and Aunt, “Nana and Nani”-she calls them. It means “small”; her Uncle is the youngest in the family and he also happens to be short and thin, therefore he is small—appropriately enough.  One year ago on Feb 16, 2010, her Nana received a heart transplant from a 30 year old man who died in a car accident. Thankfully, he was an organ donor.  Another person received his kidneys. One man dies and saves 2 lives…life is incredible. Nana is now doing quite well and is steadily gaining his strength and endurance. He has a greater and new appreciation for life. A spiritual man, he certainly believes in the power of prayer and in divine intervention. One day, he’s cleaning carpets and carrying on about his day. The next day, he’s going to the ER. He happened to have his initial visit with a local General Practitioner. The MD looked at his EKG and wasn’t going to let him go. My uncle was totally surprised-he felt fine and had no symptoms other then “cold and cough” he went to the doctor for in the first place. He was taken to the hospital and was in surgery that night. The next several days, he was in CCU with tubes, wires, the whole bit…this is serious. He had a hole between his 2 ventricles in his heart. His heart was functioning at 20% and had severe damage to the heart muscle and the only treatment option was a heart transplant. It was touch and go for a few days while he waited for a new heart. The donor team worked diligently and found a perfect match and its time for heart transplant surgery.

Local and out of state family and friends pulled together to manage their motel and business affairs. Cook, clean, babysit, and most importantly standby by the family for love and support. In times of crisis, it’s amazing what community can do. It’s too bad a crisis has to happen to bring people together. (We love Leavenworth for its community every day, crisis or not.)  Friends and family stood by, biting their nails in anticipation of a positive outcome from surgery. He made it. He’s in recovery and things are looking good. He said the very day he got his new heart, he instantly began to feel better. Blood and oxygen are pretty important for the body.   We are glad he’s on the up and up and recovering well. We’d be happy to have him around another decade or 3. 

We had a fantastic home cooked Indian dinner-Idli Sambhar . Yummy!  A nice visit. Thanks for all your hospitality, Nana and Nani. Take care.

The next day we had to wake up early to be at a local mechanic shop to get our brakes looked at.  Turns out they are were under warranty so the work was free, Awesome!!  The nice people at Norris Automotive not only got us on our way quickly but also traded dog and crazy customer stories with us.  The brakes were fixed with a bill of $0.00  four hours later…covered under warranty. Thanks Kandy and Mike at the shop for taking care of us. They were great.  We think Mike was joyriding with the Loaf and that’s why it took an extra 30 min when he was “test driving” it after the repairs. Everybody loves the Loaf!!  We stopped by Nana and Nani’s on our way out of town for a quick bite to eat and hit the highway.  Sonia was sooooo excited to see her longtime friend, Ami…and Neil  too, her husband. Ami and Sonia were babysat as infants together and have known each other for their entire lives. They are best friends and sisters.

We pretty much drove straight across NC to the coast. Sonia and Ami were occaisionally texting with ETAs and giggling already like little girls who were soo excited to see each other. Ami and Neil had a long drive down from NJ-about 8 hours. Sonia and Jason had less mileage, but drove about 8 hours due to the Loaf Factor= top speed 65 mph. As timing worked out, all 4 of us arrived within 30 min of each other!  Apparently, Ami was hightailing it down to get to Duck and they didn’t make any road side stops or anything—neither did we! 

Feb 16, 2011 Nashville, TN

We drove into Nashville by mid-day and decided to check into a hotel, the campgrounds were all about 15 min away and we didn’t want to drive after having a few drinks and listening to music.  The Best Western seemed like a reasonable option. Memory Foam beds and all---which neither of us actually cared much for.  After a bite to eat, we headed out on foot to explore the sights and sounds of Nashville, TN. We walked all over the downtown area, admiring the old architecture and wondering what they were thinking when they built the modern AT&T “Batman” building. It looked like Batman’s hood with the horns on the side—an ugly building in that city anyway.

Tennessee was added as a state in 1796 as the 16^th state in the Union. It is the birth place of Davy Crockett.  Tennessee is mostly famous for the rich music culture.  Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton and B.B King are just a few musicians who got their start here.

Random things about Nashville: There’s a building replica of the Parthenon in Greece and some of the city buildings have a Neo-Greek style architecture. City Hall has a iron statue of Andrew Jackson on his horse, a replica Liberty Bell (Sonia rang it—and it almost deafened both of them).  There were peaceful Civil Rights Protests that took place here in Nashville during the 1950-60s. They were called lunch counter sit-ins. 400 Blacks, typically college students, sat peacefully at lunch counters for hours silently protesting for desegregation. Many were assaulted and many were arrested.  Management would usually refuse to server them  and would often close down businesses because of them. The Black protesters eventually, 10+ years later, won the fight and desegregation was allowed in public businesses. Many were beaten, hauled off to jail, and many even died during the Civil Rights protests here.  Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in Memphis, TN. It’s terribly sad all the suffering Black people had to endure but they fought for a cause knowing this would provide a better outcome for future generations. Those people are truly heros. We could go on and on but we’ll keep it short.

After a few hours of walking around, we were terribly thirsty and working up an appetite. Music was getting started on Broadway Ave. We tried some soul food at B.B King’s Blues Club. Fried Pickles, more catfish and more ribs for Jason. The fried pickles were interesting but not something we wanted in excess.   We had a drink and listened to this excellent Bluegrass/Country band , called Silver Threads, at Layla’s. The stand up bass player was incredible, Joe Fick—We can see him getting picked up by a record company some day. He was dynamic, fast and passionate. The Legendary Rich Gilbert was also playing in this band—he played guitar and pedal steel guitar—also very talented. He was recently on David Letterman and Conan O’Brian too.  We left and ended up coming back later-it was so good.  We barhopped late into the night, listening to country, rock and bluegrass.  For a Tuesday night, Nashville was hoppin! We met 2 young guys who were on a road trip from Baltimore to California—we traded stories and adventures. Fun. We walked back to the comforts of the Best Western Inn and hit the sack. Another fun day adventuring around.

Feb 13-14, 2011 Hot Springs, AR and Memphis, TN

It’s so nice being out of freezing temperatures finally. We can sleep comfortably in the van without a bunch of layers and blankets. We got cleaned up, had breakfast and drove to Hot Springs, AR for a little detour on our way to Memphis.

Hot Springs, AR was Bill Clinton’s boyhood home.  This is a historic town famous for Bathhouse Row that took advantage of natural hot springs.  Its believed that Natives probably bathed in hot springs in the 1700-1800s. In the 1830s, the first makeshift wood and canvas shelters were built straddling individual springs.  The wooden structures eventually collapsed, rotted or burned and were later replaced by private bathhouses made of brick, stone and iron.  During the Golden Age of Bathing, 1911-1939, bathhouses flourished in this area, ranging from simple to luxurious.  The word was out and people were coming here for all kinds of reasons—therapeutic, relaxation, pampering, socializing. 

How are these hot springs formed? It’s not a volcanic region like the other hot springs we’ve visited. It’s heated by a totally different and interesting process. 4000 years ago, a lot of rain fell, about 1 foot/year, into the ground.  As that rainwater percolates downward, increasingly warmer rock heats it up. The water reaches depth of apprx 8000 ft to meet large geologic faults and joints-where it will be forced upward. Due to the rapid return upward, little heat is lost when it surfaces at Hot Springs Mountain in this little town of Hot Springs, AR. Interesting. Modern Day, the hot spring runs below the road under Central Ave and then the Bathhouses pipe in water.

During the Golden Age of Bathing, over a million visitors came through to bathe in these waters. People believed these waters could cure just about anything-from aches and apins to syphilis to jaundice. Doctors were prescribing baths for remedies and treatments. There was a trail built in the hillside behind bathhouse row called Dead Chief Trail. Under physician’s orders , patient’s would walk these trails to build strength and endurance in addition to hot springs treatments…what a concept—a historical form of Physical Therapy!!

The Fordyce Bathhouse was quite exquisite and we took a self-guided tour through the 3 story building. It was huge. Separate bathing areas for men and women. Steam Cabinets which are metal boxes you climb into and your head sticks out the top. Your body is heated up by steam 115-140 degrees to induce sweating and increasing your body temperature and heart rate. They believed steam cabinets could treat rheumatism, obesity and a bunch of other things. A typical treatment at a bathhouse would include a 20 min soak, followed by resting with hot packs on a table where attendents would change your towels as they cooled. That sounds AWESOME!  Leavenworth needs a Bathhouse like that.

The water is safe to drink. Congress first protected the hot springs in 1832 and they intended the water to be used.  “Quaff the exilir” they used to say in the heyday of the spa. The water is about 143 degrees F  and is tested and monitored for drinking safety. People travel from all over to fill up their water jugs to take home. We just wished they were using glass, metal or BPA free plastic jugs, instead of re-using plastic juice or water jugs where the plastic can leach into the hot water. We did fill up our metal water bottles and drank the benefits of natural hot springs. It tasted fine, once it cooled down a bit.

We made another stop at Oaklawn-a horse track. Sonia’s never been, so we had to stop. It’s a beautiful sunny Sunday and the place is filling up with gobs of people from all over. Fri-Sun they have horse races. Jason taught Sonia the basics of Horse Race betting. We looked at the horses, checked out the stats, placed our bets and watched-hoping to win something. We spent $30, bet on 2 races and actually won $128 then we left while we were ahead. Sweet—now we can spend it on food and beer tonight in Memphis.

We pulled in at dark to T.O Fuller Campground, paid for a site and went to Beale St—the famous strip for nightlife. We walked up and down the street, listening to the music coming from several bars until we heard something we liked then went in. We listened to some blues tunes by Dr. Feelgood Potts Band at Delta Blues for a set. Then went to a dueling Piano Bar and were entertained by these 2 funny, talented and crowd pleasing guys. We ate some really good fried catfish there. The last place we went, we ate more catfish, shrimp and Jason had the Memphis ribs from the famous City Café. Another great band was playing. We went home after that. We met a few people that night who were all very nice and friendly—telling us about places to see, eat and things to do on our travels.  We headed back to camp about 10 miles away from downtown in the quiet and peaceful forest of T.O Fuller State Park. Another nice night with temps in the 40s. We’re diggin this weather.

In the morning, we took a short trail ride around T.O Fuller State Park. The bike trail is in need of overdue trail maintenance. We had to lift our bikes over several downed trees, when we weren’t  peeling out on all the fallen leaves. It was good to breathe some fresh air—too bad it smelled like the nearby sewer treatment plant. YUCK!  The wind did eventually change directions and the smell wafted the other direction—wooowee, it was a pungent odor!

Memphis is a very poor city where you see mansions lining one street and the neighborhood behind is the ghetto. Graceland, Home of Elvis Presley, is in a similar neighborhood. It’s safe during the day but wouldn’t want to be wandering the streets at dark. Graceland Mansion was named by the original owners and when Elvis Presley bought it (around 1956), he liked the name so much he kept it. It’s a 13.6 acre lot on Elvis Presley Blvd. The tour of the mansion was spendy, $31/person plus $10 to park. If any of you go there, park elsewhere to avoid the $10 rip off parking fee. They shuttle people back and forth   across the street, give you an audio tour headset and tell you not to touch anything or take flash photography. They are raking in the money there!  The Mansion itself is still decorated with mostly original furniture and décor. It’s very kitchy. Green shag carpet lined the stairway and the ceiling in the jungle room. A 15 foot long white sofa was in the front room. He did have some cool stained glass pieces in the house. The pool room was covered completely in folded fabric imported from somewhere expensive. Elvis must not have been very tall because the ceilings all were so low. Maybe that was before they started putting all those hormones in milk and people didn’t grow so big and tall.  Anyway, Elvis loved Graceland and enjoyed his time there with his wife, Priscilla, and his daughter, Lisa Marie. People were coming and going at all hours of the day and night at Graceland. It was a crazy, busy place once upon a time.

Elvis’s career began as an 18 year old young man who just got out of the army. He always loved music. As a young child, he sang at church and performed for local events.  He quickly gained popularity and fame. He was soon performing 3-5 shows a day and touring in front of large sell-out  audiences. Girls and women were ga-ga over his hip thursting dance moves creating some controversy and waves with public media. At one point, he was aired on TV from the waist up only.  He was a clean cut, generous and well-respected person as well as a musician therefore, he was cut some slack. He went on to produce some major chart topping songs and sold more than 1 billion records during his career—more than any other musician to this day!!  Elvis was a generous man who would donate to a number of charities, friends, or  families in need.  There was a wall in one of the rooms that had a bunch of checks written by Elvis Presley for $1000 each to various organizations. He was also known to give friends cars.  It seems like Elvis wasn’t a greedy man and had good karma. He lived a hard and fast life. He also got involved in acting and making movies during his career in the spotlight…like he wasn’t busy enough.

He owned many fancy cars and has a car museum showing off some of his toys. He had expensive Rolls Royces, motorcycles, go-carts, super trikes, golf carts and his mom’s favorite-the Pink Cadillac. He even had an old snowmobile that was converted into a go-cart thingy.  He liked his toys.

He died at the young age of 42 from heart failure—probably a combination of physical exhaustion, a long time addiction to prescription pill and a diet rich in Soul Food.  He was buried at Graceland alongside his Mother, Father and Grandmother.

Graceland was pretty interesting. Elvis was a talented musician who’s short career broke many records and influenced  the entire music industry.  Thanks Elvis. May you Rest in Peace and catch up on all the rest you didn’t get before.

We drove out of Memphis and free-camped at a TN visitor center to have a down night to catch up on bills, blog stuff and to just chill.

Feb 11-12, 2011 Ft Worth and Dallas, TX

We camped at Fort Richardson State Park last night. Loaf is loving these straight, flat Texas Highways and we drove about 400 miles yesterday. We pulled into camp around 7 pm—all of us glad to be stopped for the night. (We did stop at a road side picnic area and busted out a few sets of jumping jacks, squat jumps and pushups.) There was nobody camping…no surprise there…Texans are hunkering down close to heaters and blankets in these cold temps.

We woke up and headed out to Ft Worth to Tim’s German Auto (recommended from GoWesty.com) first thing –well, after coffee and tea(we still have our priorities)--to see if they could fix our oil drain plug issue. We had a quick and easy hour drive to the shop and were greeted by such nice people. Pat, co-owner, helped us immediately with her good Texan hospitality.  Harlen, another friendly gentleman remembered speaking to Sonia the day before, and was very surprised we made it to Ft Worth all the way from New Mexico in a day. The mechanic , Larry, was able to diagnose the issue and was also able to track down the source of Loafy’s oil leak and fix it!! Luckily, parts were available.  He carved out time on a busy Friday and got to work.  Larry is a gentle guy who appears to be meticulous and methodical in his ways. He diligently worked on Loaf all afternoon to help get us on our way and outta there.  All the people at Tim’s German Auto are/were awesome.  They are more like family then just co-workers.  (It reminded Sonia of her work crew at Mt. Stuart and Balance Point.)  Its lunchtime and Pat decides that she’s not letting the mechanics go out for lunch because there’s too much work to be done. They’ll order sandwiches from nearby Baker Brothers. We put our order in too and offered to go and pick up lunch—even though our schedule is jam packed for the next 3 hours…haha! She gladly accepts our offer and even lends us her little VW Turbo Deisel Jetta to pick up lunch. We believe in reciprocity and happily clean up after being treated to lunch. These are some nice damn folks!!  We both agreed that we are glad to be stuck here--if we have to be stuck somewhere.  They ARE a big family—Pat even knew where everyone likes to sit for lunch—how cute.  We chatted a bit and broke our separate ways. “On your feet and off your ass” as they say around here.

We were told by another office staff person to check out the Leonard’s Museum a few blocks away. (We managed to fit that into our busy schedule.) Leonard’s was a business enterprise built from the ground up by 2 young and very industrious brothers, Marvin and Obie Leonard. It began in 1918 as a small discount grocery store and just grew bigger and bigger by the decade. In the 1960s, when they sold to the Tandy Company it was 7 city blocks large, 2 stories and had its own private transportation system to and from the store. These guys were certainly ahead of their time. They knew how to treat people so their employees would keep working for them and the customers would come back again and again.  Their business model was based on serving volumes of people rather than charging high prices. They would buy overstock items, buy inventory  from trains that couldn’t afford to haul their goods further; Leonard Bros would swoop in and buy it all, whatever it may be-red pants to canned goods to bird food.  They would take those items,  add it to their stock and if there wasn’t a department for it, they’d build a department for it. For example, a local seed store was going out of business. They bought all the leftover inventory and started a garden center to Leonard’s.  They had it all—like a modern day Super Walmart or Costco-groceries, butcher shop, farm and ranch, pharmaceuticals, optical department, clothing, baby, etc, etc.  People would travel for miles and miles, across the state to shop at Leonard’s. It was the place to be. It was a scene, an event—THE event, and not a place to miss out on.  Nearby farmers would haul truckloads of their produce and sell it to Leonard’s. Then they’d fill up their trucks with dry goods, clothes, and whatever else and make the trip back home. A funny story they had in the timeline was about a guy who needed dentures. He heard you could buy them at Leonard’s and drove 350 miles! He got there, tried them in, and found something to his liking and drove home another 350 miles!!  Imagine this, you come out from the optometrist’s examination room and a lil’ ol’ cowboy is standing there trying on dentures and smiling at himself in a mirror. Putting the ones he didn’t like aside or, rather back in denture circulation, and starting his pile of “maybes” ….to ask his wife or daughter or buddy “which ones do you like?”.  You wouldn’t believe your eyes!!  It just paints a funny image in our minds. A lot has sure changed…with germ-phobias and OSHA standards….never could you try on dentures.  But, in all seriousness, these 2 brothers had a very strong work ethic, knew what it takes to make a successful business and went after it. They made record sales compared to other big department stores all across the US.  Stores like Macy’s in New York or Wanamaker’s in Philadelphia fell short of Leonard’s in Ft Worth, Texas. Good for these guys. Walking through this museum and reading the timeline, looking at photos, people were smiling and HAPPY…you can just tell people were treated really well and enjoyed being here to support this business.  It was a cohesive network of people in all departments and workers were treated fairly. That’s what many modern day businesses are lacking that essential costumer service skill. How many times have you walked into a business and the person standing in the Customer Service Department  doesn’t even smile or ask how you are or what can I do for you?  It’s frustrating, infuriating and disappointing. That’s why we like supporting locally owned businesses versus major corporations.  There are advantages and disadvantages to both, but we won’t get into that.

We bought Loaf a new little rug at a not-locally-owned store (in our defense we did look all over AZ and NM for a Mexican rug-couldn’t find the right size or one under $1000). We headed back to the  Auto Shop, its now about 3:00pm…we’ve been hanging out since 10:30am.  By about 4pm, Larry is finished we pay our bill and head out. Warm handshakes, smiles and good lucks we exchanged. We made sure to let them know how much we appreciated their kindness and hospitality and that we’d be sure to post comments on GoWesty to keep up their good business reputation.  This whole experience restored our faith in humanity. There are lots of good people out there.  When the Loaf Love Tour ends, these are the stories we’ll always remember. The kind acts from other people when we were in need. Our sincere thanks go out to Larry and Tim’s German Auto staff. If you ever break down near Ft. Worth in a german rig---limp on in there , they’ll take excellent care of you and your car.

The real reason we were in Dallas, TX was to meet up with Cristen (Jason’s sister) and Rachael (Jason’s neice). They were going to Rachael’s Volleyball Tournament on Saturday and since we were going to pass through—we met up. They also invited us to stay with them Friday night in a hotel room...don’t want to pass up an opportunity to shower without flip-flops!   We got to the hotel—The Element near DFW airport—an Asian Motif claiming to be eco-friendly. A nice place. We all had dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant and chatted. Early to bed so Rachel can get her rest for a big day tomorrow.

Saturday, we spent the whole day at the Volleyball Tournament. A loud and crowded gym full of 12, 13 and 14 year old girls….it was an estrogen dominant environment. We aren’t used to this type of scene and enjoyed watching the people, the games and hang out with Cristen and Rachael. We got Rachel drinking Chia in her water to help keep her strong and energetic all day. She said she felt good even by the end of the day and and was enjoying not having to constantly eat through the day. Her teammates were grossed out by the mold/ fish-egg-looking chia seeds floating in her water. It’s not too hard to grosse out teenage girls, though.  Rachael is 13 years old and stands 6 ft tall! They grow ‘em big in Texas. She’s a blocker and is hoping for a scholarship to college with her Volleyball skills. We think she’s got the potential and it’ll be exciting to watch her skills and love for the game develop over the next few years. Thanks again Cristen and Rachael for sharing your hotel room with us. It was fun to meet up, even for just a short visit.



That"s Rachel getting ready for the kill.



We decided not to go to New Orleans. It was 563 miles away. A lot of driving for just 1 night….we decided we’ll have to do that another time when we have a few more days to explore and soak up some local culture there. Our goal is Texarkana, Arkansas tonight. We pulled into a rest area to sleep just east of Hope, AR-birthplace of Bill Clinton- and called it a day. 

Feb 8-9, 2011 City of Rocks State Park, NM



Can you spot Loaf in there?



City of Rocks was really cool too. 34.9 million years ago a volcano that was 1000 times greater then Mt St Helens erupted. Rocks were forced upward during the eruption and landed here. The rocks cooled and congealed together forming the huge rocks that make up the City of Rocks. Lanes were formed between the rocks where the magma once flowed. This place was such a surprise as we drove through  the high plains of New Mexico , then suddenly boom-ROCKS and big ones, at that!!  Freeze/thaw patterns and wind shaped these rocks. As we explored and walked all around these rocks, we could imagine the formation of this area. Huge grottos, narrow to wide lanes, smooth and rough surfaces of rock were all over the place. The campground was pretty cool too. They’ve created campsites amongst the rocks.  Its worth checking out for sure. We monkeyed around all afternoon bouldering, scrambing around, over, under, through, between these rocks. We watched the sunset while drinking red wine on a big rock—another good day. It was a blustery day and we hoped the wind would settle down by evening. We lit a campfire and tried very hard to enjoy it but wind was swirling around from every different direction and we gave up and went inside. There was only one other car camping in the rocks, but the RV parking lot was 100% full. We only saw 1 other person walking around on the rocks that day!  These RV’ers  stay inside and don’t come out to enjoy the outdoors…they are missing out.

Feb 6-8, 2011 Cochise Stronghold, AZ and Gila National Forest, NM

We left Sahuarita mid-morning and headed East about 60 miles to Cochise Stronghold.  The Dragoon Mountains were inhabited by Cochise and his people (can’t recall the dates sorry). This region provided  reliable water all year and plenty of hunting and gathering for sustinence. Early on the Natives and the Whites were on friendly terms until, one day a young white boy was kidnapped.  The White People blamed Cochise and his people for the kidnapping. Cochise denied it. They didn’t believe him. The battles began.  The White people attacked and killed many of Cochise’s people-men, women and children, still the boy was not found. The land was a natural fortress providing high lookouts and several hiding places. Cochise and his people stayed there to fight. Knowing the lay of the land so well had the fighting advantage. Many people died here. Turns out, a nearby Apache Tribe had the boy all along and Cochise was falsely accused—too late by then, the damage had been done and Cochise wasn’t going to forget or forgive. Cochise eventually fell ill, supposedly with stomach cancer, and was buried here at Cochise Stronghold. He was buried with his favorite horse and dog. What a story. 

Jason and I did our own exploring after reading the interpretative signs and played out our own interpretation of the battle at Cochise Stronghold.  We followed the wash (dry this time of year) scrambling over, under, between and through these huge boulders and rocks. These boulders led us to several little caves, overhangs and hiding places—we can see how ideal a fortress this place would have been.  We had a blast monkey-ing around and of course, we had to make it to the top….”it’s just right there” Jason says. So, we climb up, up and up. WOW—what a fantastic vantage point of the surrounding area. Nobody could sneak their way in without one of Cochise’s people noticing.  We got up top and hung out a short while to catch our breath and take in the view.  Then, back down we went—picking our path back over, around, under and between the huge boulders.  It was so much fun. Kids would absolutely love this jungle gym. Its pretty safe, as long as you’re not trying to do a 5-12 climbing move and peel off the rock.  There are numerous options to negotiate the environment—over, under, around, between, or through. It was a great day. We needed to get out and burn some energy too.

We drove into Southwestern New Mexico to the Gila National Forest the rest of that day. Superbowl Sunday-Green Bay Packers vs Pittsburgh Steelers. We were hoping the Packers would win. Tuning into patchy AM radio as we drove along, we were able to listen to the 4^th quarter. It was an exciting game going into OT.  We tried to make it to the Buckhorn Saloon in Pinos Altos, NM , just north of Silver City, to catch the last bit of the game. If it was open, we would have been able to watch the Packers win the superbowl while enjoying a beer, but it was closed. There was nothing going on in Pinos Altos at that time of night, week or possibly anytime.  The bar looked more like a Historical Exhibit rather than a bar.  It was dark, late and cold.  We camped in the valley at Cherry Creek Campground.  We woke up in the morning and saw the sun shining up above and drove directly to it-- about 5 miles out of the valley. We did our usual morning regimen in the comforts of the sun and then headed for Glia Cliff Dwellings. 

We drove to higher elevations through more beautiful mountains to the Gila Visitor Center for info, maps, etc.  A nice stroll along a small creek and up the hill to the area’s largest Cliff Dwellings.  People of the Mogollan culture inhabited these lands from 1280s to early 1300s.  There were 6 caves that were  naturally formed in these cliffs and used by Natives. After much study and research to find out the whos, whys and whats,  anthropologists have their theories on these dwellings but nobody knows for certain what went on in these dwellings. It’s hypothesized that the caves were used as a place to gather for rituals and celebrations rather than living or sleeping. The native people were highly resourceful and adaptable to the land. They didn’t try to build permanent structures from  materials that were difficult to attain or shape the land that would be convenient to their needs.   Rather, they accepted the gifts from nature and adapted their lifestyles to fit in with the natural world around them. (What a grand idea). Most likely they built temporary pit houses amongst their crops of corn, beans and squash.  Maybe they stored crops in some of the cliff dwellings-out of the weather and safe from animals. Nobody really knows---but it was fun to try and imagine what life would’ve been like as we walk through  little passageways and storage rooms in these caves. We tagged along on a guided tour by a lovely little park voiunteer, Sarah Officer. She was very knowledgeable, animated and loved telling stories and getting people thinking. Cave 3 was the largest cave and the black soot on the ceiling was carbon dated back to the 1280s and 1300s.  It’s impressive to look around and realize all of this was built by hand. These walls have stood for 7 centuries! In this day and age, we have buildings that sometimes don’t last 50 year, even though we have all kinds of resources at our fingertips!  During the early 1800s, cowboys and other passer-throughs looted the caves, destroying many of the structures, breaking left behind pottery and removing tools and other things that may have offered some more insight.  Bummer.

Gila National Park was the first designated wilderness in the USA. We were fortunate to get information on places to see and what to do from Liz, a co-workers of Sonia’s. She definitely guided us to some cool things. Cliff Dwellings and Hot Springs!!  Thanks Liz.

Later that afternoon, we decided to find some natural Hot Springs nearby the Visitor Center. It was a cold afternoon and soaking in some natural hot springs would feel really nice. We packed a backpack and headed out. We only had to do 2 river crossings that were calf deep. It was very cold water, but luckily not swift water or a very wide crossing. A short hike, we rounded the corner and saw the steam rising under a landmark rock overhang and we were there.   2 other people got there at exactly the same time we did—they were coming from the opposite directions. We all got undressed and soaked for a couple hours. It was lovely. A pool of hot water about 2 ft deep with sandy/rocky bottom right on the river’s edge. The hot springs feeds directly into the river. The pool is natural with retaining walls made of sand rocks not mortared together-keeping it raw, natural and beautiful. The water draining in is about 130 degrees F!! Very hot! You simply slow the hot springs by putting a few rocks in the path and then open up some space so the cold river water drains into the pool to find a comfortable soaking temperature suitable to your liking. It felt so good. These hot springs don’t have a lot of sulphur or iron therefore did not smell like rotten eggs. These hot springs are as a result of water pushing upward from magma down in the earth’s crust. This region was formed from previous volcanic activity and there are fault lines all over and therefore are blessed to have several hot springs in the area.

That night we camped at Gila Hot Springs and were able to soak some more-- Like we weren’t prunes already.  It is a privately owned ranch with camping facilities along the river and 3 hot pools to soak in. The 2 people we met earlier at the hot springs were our camp neighbors and came over for a visit around the campfire and hot chocolate that night. Nice folks; the girl grew up in the Seattle Area—small world! After another very cold night, we warmed ourselves in the morning in 3 different pools. 2 were 105 degrees and the other was 102 degrees. There was only 1 other woman in the pools that morning—pretty quiet once again. Gila Hot Springs was a funky, cool place with driftwood structures and “yard art” all around. It was a cool place and cheap, $5/person/night.  Oh and there were baby goats that were only a week old that were so cute. You have to drive past their goat pens on your way to camp.  We wanted to bring a kid home for DeWayne….there was a cute brown one that would’ve matched him and Monty. How Cute. After Soaking for almost 1.5 hours, we were all relaxed and not moving really fast.  We were heading for City of Rocks that afternnon and it was only 2 hours away.

Gila National Forest was beautiful and we could’ve spent a lot more time exploring and hiking ….another time. Thanks again Liz for the great tips.

Feb 3-6, 2011 Sahuarita and Tucson, AZ,

We left Sedona and drove south on  I-10 to Phoenix  then on I-17 to Tucson. We arrived around 6pm to Dave and Candace’s house in Sahuarita, AZ. Dave and Sonia met at Mt Stuart Physical Therapy after Dave broke his shoulder and came in for therapy —they instantly clicked and became friends. Dave, being the devoted father he is, was in Leavenworth helping his daughter remodel her shop for a new business. What a guy—just had major surgery and was undergoing a major remodel…that’s why he had to keep coming in for PT!!  Not knowing these people very well, we were compelled to  visit and were more than glad that we did. Dave and Candace and their 2 dogs, Mack and T-Zer, welcomed us into their beautiful home and made it so comfortable we stayed for 3 nights. The 6 of us got along fantastically and enjoyed sharing good food, wine and travel stories late into the first night.

We are living the life--A comfy bed, our own bathroom, Dave’s fresh Soy Lattes and big smiles in the morning.   Friday, we all went out for a hike on the Bog Springs Trail in the nearby Madera Mountains.  A  cool but sunny day (temps in the 40s).  We are all tromping up the trail, talking and taking in the scenery when suddenly the dogs take off on a wild who-knows-what-chase. T-zer comes back and gets leashed up---but where is Mack???  We call and call and call some more, for about 45 minutes. We all spread out in our search efforts. After a while, we all are thinking thoughts we didn’t want to think---did a bobcat get him? He’s a mere morsel (Jack Russell terrier) to a bobcat or coyote. Suddenly, our search not looking favorable for the little dog.  We begin looking for tufts of hair, his collar, a wounded dog—the images and thoughts have shifted to not so pleasant thoughts. Sonia was dutifully praying to St Anthony-the patron saint of lost things.   Then, just as we were all thinking he’s gone---Candace yells, ”I got Mack”….we all breathe big sighs of relief. They come running up from the bottom of the trail. We figured he must’ve been chasing something, got far enough away, got confused,  then went down to the car (smart actually). So many people were calling from different directions—he didn’t know where to go but to the staring location.  Thankfully we got him back and he’ll now be a leash-dog for a very, very, very long time. One scare like that and that’s it for his freedom to roam. He knew he was gone a long time and was content to be on leash as we continued hiking up to a vantage point on some rocks. We had a snack, a rest and enjoyed the views looking down to the huge copper mine in the valley below.

Finally found the little bugger

We went home and relaxed in the Jacuzzi with Dave’s special Margarita blend. Life is rough.-huh? Homemade meal for dinner and peach pie for desert—we are living the life. We enjoyed more good conversation and good company late into another night. We are growing rather fond of Dave and Candace and their home and may not want to leave!!

Saturday, we had grand plans to hike in Saguaro National Park-East. We left about 11am and decided to check out the Colossal Caves first. These caves were formed by cracks in the earth’s crust. They were discovered by Indians but only explored a short distance into the caves. They were later discovered by a train robber and outlaws, they would flee to these caves for safety after robbing the trains.  Eventually, the word got out where they were taking refuge and were followed  by a posse, one of whom was an Earp Brother. The posse set up camp at the opening to the cave and decided to wait him out…they waited and waited and waited meanwhile the sneaky train robber gang found a way through the narrow passages, crevices inside the cave and made a stealthy exit on the backside of the caves. Supposedly, they hid their loot in the cave and it has never been found. We took a guided tour through this 1 mile long cave with stalagmites, stalagtites, flow columns, and other cave formations.  4 different kinds of bats still roost in these caves in the summer. Another interesting thing about this cave was that it is consistently about 70 degrees and dry. We are used to thinking of caves being cold and damp. Well not this one!  It’d be fun to crawl around some of the tight passages and do some exploring…another time.

We were hungry and went into Tucson to Café Poca Cosa (traditional Southwest cuisine)  per recommendation from Dave and Candace. We shared 2 meals: Chicken Mole-which was good, but the other dish was far better. It was a vegetarian tamale-- best described as a Masa mash with a squash and yellow pepper elote sauce with a light layer of cheese melted on top.  The flavors just blended really superbly and the texture melted in your mouth. A healthy side of greens, fruit, rice and beans to accompany the meal.  An excellent dining choice.



Jason loves his plants



Now, we are ready to go to the desert, finally, its nearly 4 pm. We take a walk right through the middle of the desert. The desert is an incredible place. The different varieties of cactus-saguaro, cholla, prickly pear, barrel cactus, ocotillo, yuccas and some others. Liittle cactus wrens make homes in the giant saguaros. Pack rats nest in the prickly pears. It’s cool to see how the animals and plants coexist in such a seemingly challenging and harsh environment. They got it worked out and the desert is thriving with life. We climbed up some rocks and quietly sat for 30 min while the sun was setting. A nearby coyote was barking and howling for his cronies. Birds were chirping but no javelinas were seen—how sad.  Jason REALLY wants to see a javelina. We drove out and caught a fire sky sunset. Never have we seen such deep oranges and reds as the sun set. We drank a beer and took in the beauty, feeling thankful for our friends, family and the opportunity to experience a desert sunset like this. Another great day.



strolling through the desert



We went home, packed, did laundry, cooked some grains for our road meals, watched some basketball and Mixed Martial Arts (ultimate fighting…another good day.

The next morning, with excitement for new adventures but sadness to leave the comforts of Dave and Candace and their home, we departed by noon to Cochise Stronghold and Gila Cliff Dwellings.

We want to thank Dave and Candace for being such wonderful people- a source of inspiration to live life meaningfully, being good role models for a healthy, loving marriage, opening up their homes to us and making us feel totally comfortable…and not to forget the excellent, healthy food and drink. Thanks so much, we look forward to seeing them in Leavenworth this spring/summer.