To Tucson

Our trip so far - you can click on the map and zoom in to see the places we've been.

We made it from New Orleans to Tucson. We made the whole 1200 miles in 2 1/2 days and arrived ahead of schedule.

The Hall's stay in 4-star accomodations!

We spent four nights in Glenn and Karin's driveway. They live in eastern Tucson in a beautiful house that they are working hard to fix up. It's built in the "territorial" style common in town and dates back about 40 years or so. It's very lovely - swimming pool, covered patio for cool evenings, big kitchen and even a tower in back. The original owner built it as an observatory; there's still an 8 inch telescope mounted inside. Tom crawled up the ladder to take a look, but seems that someone cut the electricity to the lights up there and it's pretty dark at night.

Cooper's not allowed in the kitchen

Seems like most of what we did revolved around eating:

we had great dinners at home - stuffed pork tenderloin, pistachio nut encrusted chicken salad, smoked brisket. Yummy stuff. They are great cooks! Sally offered up some calamondin - it substitutes well in a key lime pie recipe. Sweet with just the right amount of tartness.

And we ate several lunches at local restaurants - deli, american diner, vietnamese.

Also, Glenn is working at a wine store, so we had some special wines - especially the last night.

But we saw some sights as well. After lunch on Wednesday, we went out to Sabino Canyon Recreation Area. They have a tram that takes you up 3.8 miles to the head of the canyon. You can walk back (either part way or the whole distance) and get back on the tram at any of the seven stops along the way. The scenery is gorgeous and the stream flowing down the canyon is a big attraction in such a dry area. Karin and I walked all the way to a point where the stream crosses the road and dipped out feet in the cold water off Mt Lemon (sp?).

Karin, Glenn and Sally at the canyon.

Tom the camera-man on the tram...

Thursday, we took a scenic drive to Sonoia, Patagonia and Patagonia Lake State Park on AZ 83 and 82. Lovely scenery again. Think about it - there's a lake in the middle of the desert! Again, lots of people enjoying the camping, boating, hiking and birding in the area. It's home to the Elegant Trogon. Unfortunately, the volunteers in the visitor center said the trogon was not around Thursday. It's too bad since this part of Arizona is one of few places you can see it.

The road to Sonoia

Boaters on Patagonia Lake

That night we ate Mexican (food again!). This time we were joined by another couple we met while workamping in Bethel Maine in 2006. They were volunteering at a BLM location, acting as caretakers for an old homestead. They are also being trained to lead tours at Karchner Caverns State Park (we visited there last year). Hopefully, when we visit Glenn and Karin next time, they will have a workamping assignment close by again.

The BOA workamper outpost at Magaly's

The last day was filled with shopping. Glenn and Tom ran errands to Costco and Camping World, while Karin and Sally hit the secondhand stores. Tucson has some of the best! I found a pair of Papillios (Birkenstocks) for $2! That evening we joined Glenn at a wine tasting at the wine store where he works. Really delicious selections. We enjoy that kind of thing; we frequently stop at local wineries as we travel.

Sally's bargain birkies

After a festive dinner Thursday night, we had to say goodbye to Tucson. Karin researched the filght options - I think they want us to come back. I'd say there's a very high probability!

A festive meal to end a wonderful visit!

Reflections on the last day in New Orleans (for this Spring)

Check out progress at our Google Map

New Orleans is a wonderful and historic city. The French Quarter is not the only thing they have to share. There are battlefields, paddlewheel cruises, professional sports teams and other diversions. Our biggest diversion in town is our grandson Grady. He is a joy to watch. He is now three months old. It is hard to believe that just over a year ago he was a single cell organism. We express our thanks to Stephen and Katie for allowing us to babysit a couple of times.

It's hard to burp a sleeping baby

Grady l-o-o-o-oves Papa Tom.

Grady's winning smile

New Orleans is an old soul. The rich history of downtown is seen in the French Quarter, the street cars and the people who call it home. We took a day and rode the street car (no, it was not named Desire) the entire length. We got off downtown and walked to the French Quarter for lunch. We traveled across the mighty Mississippi River on a ferry.

Carnival leftovers decorate the Garden District

Tom and the St Charles streetcar

Container ship at the dock - New Orleans

This is why they call it the "Big Muddy"

The downtown skyline from Jackson Wharf

We ate all things New Orleans. We ate crawfish and ooeey-gooeey cake at the senior Murphy household and Spiced Braised Beef with Sweet Potatoes at the other. We even had sushi. We thank the Miles and Murphy families for showing us such a wonderful (and weight gaining) time.


Crawfish at the Murphys'

Now we start our summer trip in earnest. We head to Tucson for a couple of days, then pass points near Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Boise before our two month stint near Burns, Oregon at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. It is the birding time of year, so at least one of us is excited. We'll keep you posted!

Away we go - 2009 edition!

It has been a while since our last post. Another year has begun, we are almost past winter (down south anyway) and that means that Tom and Sally are ready to take to the road again.

New Orleans had their snow in Devember, but it appears winter is not quite through this year

Well, actually, we have been on the road in our truck a lot the last few months. We tried to visit everyone, but had trouble managing that this year. The new grandbaby demanded several visits and that cut down on time to spend with other folks.

A pair of Ospreys getting very friendly

We spent five months volunteering at the Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge - helping with the annual quota hunt, answering phones, helping visitors, selling America the Beautiful passes, painting metal gates, picking up trash.... And, more importantly, enjoying the beauty, the rich wildlife and the friendship of the staff there.

We visited Florida - on one visit, all three of the "kids" (Sally's sister and brother) were there at the same time. We got to hear Karl sing as a new member of the Mast Brothers gospel quartet. We visited a very good winery in Chiefland and had chowder in Cedar Key.

The doggies waiting for some treats in Dayton

As you saw in our last post, we came to NOLA to greet the newest addition to our large family. And then headed to Cincinnatti to welcome two more (a wedding this time!) Not to mention sneaking in a visit to Firedogs and IceMonster and the doggie family in Dayton!

Breakfast with the family the morning after the weding

In Atlanta, Tom watched football and played poker with his buddies and Sally enjoyed the company of her friends as well.

We had a great time visiting friends and Tom's family in Anniston. Watching ball games, eating hot wings and just enjoying a good visit. Many thanks to Mark for his hospitality and to he Edwards for theirs.

Our Anniston host

Visiting friends in Anniston

One round of visits was spent celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas - lots of fun and good fellowship.

More family meals - Christmas time in Atlanta

The rest of the crew eating Japanese

Thanksgiving in Tuscaloosa - getting ready for Black Friday

The little ones wait to tell Santa what they want for Christmas

Lots of anticipation

Now we are on the road for the summer - another exciting opportunity. Right now we are in New Orleans getting our last Grady "fix" for a while. Trying to store up enough to last till the fall :D.

Our plans include a stop to visit workamping buddies who have settled in Tucson and two months volunteering at the Malheur NWR (April and May). Then we'll have to practically get the RV to fly to make it to Healy, AK, for a return to the Denali RV Park and Motel for two months. (mid-June - mid-August).

We plan to be back south by September, so there will be another hard drive before we can see all our friends and family down here again.

Keeping in touch should be easier this year. We have joined Facebook - we'll update our location everyday that we have an internet connection. We'll also keep the blog updated (hopefully better this year than last!). We have also created a google map to track our progress. Try this link:

Sally & Tom's 2009 Route

We'll try to keep it available from each post so you can follow along.

Take care, keep in touch (email, facebook, or phone). We love to hear what's going on.

See you on the road!