Moving our blog to Facebook

We have decided to move our blog to Facebook (Rick & Y's Travels). We hope this will make it easier and quicker to post pictures and updates, and since our children use Facebook, it will make it easier for them to keep up with our full-timing RV travels.

If you would like to continue to follow our blog, please click here then click the Like button (requires that you have a Facebook account).

Thanks and hope to see ya'll down the road,
Rick & Y

Home For A While - Bastrop, Texas

Since we need to be in Smith Center, Kansas in early June, we adjusted our travel plans and returned to Bastrop for a visit with family and friends. Chris & Megan now have hookups, so we are set up next to their house.

Trailer Maintenance - Tucson, Arizona

On our previous Excel trailer (2002 33RKO Limited) we suffered major water intrusion over the large slideout in 2007. The Excel Service Center had to replace the large header board above the slideout opening. The service technician said the problem was caused by failed caulking. They explained what to look for and how to fix it. At that time, we swore we would never let that happen again.

A few months later, we took delivery of our 2008 Excel 33TKE Limited. Each time I washed the rig, I would check for any failed caulking. A little over a year and a half passed and we were back at the Excel Service Center having the floor of our bedroom slideout replaced...due to water intrusion and wood rot. No failed caulking was found and the service technician was unable to determine the location where the water intruded. The bright moment of the trip to the service center...John and Terri Prather walked in later in the week. We had met them the previous year at the service center. We caught up on our respected travels and made plans to meet later in Custer, South Dakota. Over the last couple of years, we have visited and traveled with them, including this winter in Tucson.

So where is all of this going, you ask? Last week John and I began installing Eternabond over several of the locations on our trailer that pose a threat of water intrusion. John had performed this preventative maintenance on their trailer last winter. We installed the Eternabond on the street-side and roof locations of the trailer without finding any signs of water intrusion. As we began to prep the curb-side of the trailer, we notice several rusty screws. We then pulled the dining room slideout in and examined the screws surrounding the inside opening...more rusty screws...&%@$%#. We checked all around the slideout opening and everything seems solid. But, I am not taking any chances based on our previous experiences. We stopped the prep and called the service center for an appointment. Our appointment is June 13th. As a precaution, John and I removed and replaced all the caulking surrounding the slideout. After finding a few more places where the caulking was failing (loose), we removed and replaced ALL the caulking on the trailer. A four-day project! I feel better now about the integrity of the trailer and hope the service center only finds minimal damage. We had already planned to wash and wax both trailers, so that was our next project. We finished today. It is great having good friends...thanks John! I don't want to forget the ladies, Y and Terri kept us well fed during our week and a half long project.

Indoor Skydiving - Eloy, Arizona

Indoor skydiving, that's right! SkyVenture operates an indoor wind tunnel in Eloy that allows the participant to experience skydiving without jumping out of an airplane. A group of us decided this would be fun. After spending a little time with the instructor (learning body position and hand signals), we "suited up" and it was off to the wind tunnel. It is powered by (4) 400hp motors that suck air up from the bottom, through the tunnel, and expel it out the top. Body position is everything. The slightest wrong move and your are spinning or bumping into the wall. Check one item off the Bucket List.

The Group

Y flying with the instructor

Rick - going it alone

Where Did the Month Go? - Tucson, Arizona

Wow, where did January go? We arrived back in Tucson, from our holiday visit with the kids and grandkids, with sinus infections. Y went to the doctor before leaving Bastrop and started her medication regiment on the trip and I went to a clinic here in Tucson. It took most of the month for us to recover.

We have met several Exceler (Excel 5th Wheel Owners) couples this month: Ralph & Cheryl Schey, Larry and Billie Eberle, Bruce and Jenna Brod (first met last year) and Tom and Donna Clapham. It's rare to have so many Excels in one place, outside of Smith Center, Kansas (factory).

We have discovered a local dive, call Tiny's, that has great hamburgers, ribs and wings. It's 'bad' when you walk into the restaurant and the waitress recognizes you. John and Terri found a small, Mexican restaurant that has great tamales...the size of burritos!

After talking with several other couples about their experiences, we have decided, along with John and Terri, to make a trip to Alaska in 2012! We are gathering as much information as we can. Ralph and Cheryl and Bruce and Jenna have loaned us DVDs to assist us in our planning. We can't wait!!!

Christmas 2010 - Bastrop, Texas

This year we decided to leave the trailer and truck in Tucson and drive the Jeep to Bastrop for the holidays. The drive was fairly uneventful, except for a stretch with headwinds that cut our fuel mileage significantly.

We stayed with Tonya, Eric and the kids. We did most of our shopping online and had the packages sent to Tonya and Eric's house, so we didn't have to fight the shopping crowds.

Chris, Megan and the kids came over to Tonya and Eric's house for Christmas Eve. All the kids have grown since we last saw them, especially the twins. There were many presents, and I believe everyone was happy.


Toward the end of our stay, the twins were sick and Jaxon had to spend a night in the hospital for respiratory problems. We stayed an additional day so that Y could see the doctor. She was diagnosed with a sinus infection and I had congestion and coughing.

On our trip back to Tucson, we were met with high winds, dust, cold temperatures and some snow/ice. We arrived in Tucson around 3:30pm and John and Terri graciously had dinner waiting for us. The weather forecast for Tucson is cold nights (below freezing) for the next couple of days, then a warming trend. It's good to be back and hopefully, Y and I can beat this sinus and coughing problems?

Local Site-Seeing - Tucson, Arizona

Today, John Schindler (a fellow RVer that we met in Eagle Nest) picked us up for a tour of some of the local historical spots. John has a home here in Tucson and travels during the hot summer months.

We first went to the Mission San Xavier del Bac. The mission was founded in 1692 by the Jesuit priest, Fr. Euseblo Kino and the present was built under the direction of the Franciscans in 1783. The church is still used today as the parish of the Tohono O' oldham tribe.

We stopped at a local 'dive' called Tiny's for some great burgers. Next we visited Saguaro West National Park and drove over Gates Pass.


John told us that he first visited Tucson in 1952 when he attended Air Force Flight Training at the Marana Air Field. Later in the evening, we had dinner with one of his former flight training classmates at a restaurant they frequented in 1952. We had a great time, and look forward to additional site-seeing after the holidays.

Happy Birthday, Y - Tucson, Arizona

Today, is Y's birthday. She turned ?? years old. We enjoyed an early dinner with John & Terri, followed by a nice evening of cards.

Settled in for the Winter - Tucson, Arizona

We arrived in Tucson this past Monday, after a short drive from Casa Grande. We were met by our friends, John & Terri Prather (fellow Excel owners and previous travel buddies). We got set up and later met over at their rig where Terri had prepared dinner. We played several games of Pegs & Jokers, while getting caught up on the latest family news.

Visiting Friends - Casa Grande, Arizona

We are ending our visit with friends, Lee and Connie, and heading for Tucson tomorrow. We have enjoyed our visit, which included: a visit to the St. Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monastery in Florence, a gigantic flea market in Apache Junction, numerous games of Pegs & Jokers and Shanghai, good food and great conversation.

Warmer Weather - Albuquerque, New Mexico

We are ending our week in Albuquerque and leaving for Deming in the morning. We met up with Bruce and Bridgette for dinner the evening before their flight to Florida. The local Jeep dealer replaced the steering control arm, that was making a clucking noise when hitting sharp bumps. We made two trips to Camping World, for items we thought we could not live without. We visited the Albuquerque Bio-Park (aquarium and botanical garden) and generally "hung out"...enjoying the warmer weather.

Headin' South - Eagle Nest, New Mexico

Our stay in Eagle Nest is coming to a close. The weather is definitely getting colder. This morning was 18 degrees. Bruce and Bridgette are closing the park for a few weeks and flying to Florida for a cruise with their family. We are planning to leave tomorrow and head down to Albuquerque for a week. We have an appointment to have a couple of items checked on the Jeep.

View of Touch-Me-Not Mountain this morning.

From Albuquerque, we will head west and meet up with Lee and Connie (the other camphosts from Eagle Nest) in Casa Grande, Arizona. We will spend a week in their park, then plan to arrive in Tucson on November 15th.

Making a Movie - Eagle Nest, New Mexico

For the last couple of days, a movie company has used the RV Park as their base of operations as they shot parts of a movie in the area. Half of the lower level was taken up with office trailers, restrooms, dressing rooms, prop trucks, a kitchen trailer and a lunchroom trailer. Most of the crew parked up on the upper level where our rig is parked. Several vans were used to shuttle cast/crew back and forth between the RV Park and the shooting locations. It is surprising on how much equipment and crew are needed to make a movie. I was told by one of the crew that this was one of the smallest crews he had worked on, many were much larger.


The final scene shot in the area involved the main character in a car chase (truck). Below is a picture of the camera boom truck that films the moving vehicle. The red truck in the background is driven by the actor.


By 7:00pm, the entire crew had left and the park was quiet. During the exodus, one of the trucks had managed to run over and break one of the water spigots. More plumbing duties!

Oh, the main actor...Sean Penn.

Weekend Visit - Los Alamos, New Mexico

This weekend we drove to Los Alamos to visit Rick's sister, Joanne and her husband, Jay. We had a nice easy weekend, playing games and visiting. Their house in on one of the canyons with a great view. On the way home, we enjoyed the color change in the Taos Canyon...fall is here! Sorry, no pictures. It was too late in the evening.

View from the Joanne & Jay's deck.

Empty Nest Part II - Eagle Nest, New Mexico

Today, the last of the camphosts will be leaving. We have thoroughly enjoyed working with Lee & Connie, these last few weeks. We plan to visit them in their winter haven, Casa Grande Arizona, on our way to Tucson.

The aspen trees are beginning to turn yellow. A sure sign that winter is approaching. There is still a number of items that need to be done, before winter, at the RV Park. We still plan to stay a few more weeks, unless the weather turns too cold.

Empty (Eagle) Nest - Eagle Nest, New Mexico

This morning, five workcamper couples left the park to continue their travels. It's pretty quiet, only eleven rigs in the park. Y and I have decided to help out at the park for the remainder of our stay. Bruce and Bridgette (park owners) have a long list of things they would like to get done before the winter. We will stay in Eagle Nest until it gets too cold, then begin our travel towards Tucson for the winter.

Goose Lake - Red River, New Mexico

Today we took the 7-mile, 4wd road up to Goose Lake with friends from the RV Park, Charley, Chanda, Gary and Sandy. The road wasn't too bad and took about 1.25 hours to reach Goose Lake. We spotted some mountain goats on the ridge across the lake. We walked around a little and found a spot to have lunch. Y brought some leftover nuts to feed to the chipmunks. On the return trip, Y spotted a doe and fawn.

Goose Lake (elevation 11,500')

Mountain Goats on the far ridge.

The local "moochers"

Local flora

Alpacas - Mora, New Mexico

Our weekly excursion was to the Victory Ranch of Mora, to learn about and feed the alpacas. Alpacas are related to camels and llamas, and are raised for their fiber (fur). The fiber is very soft and warm, and is highly sought after for socks, gloves, coats and scarfs. The alpacas are very friendly and like to eat from your hands. They have no upper teeth, so you don't have to worry about them biting your hand. The alpacas are protected from predators by several Great Pyrenees dogs.

Rick sporting one of his favorite shirts.

Y and friend.

After leaving the Victory Ranch, we drove into town for some great Mexican food at one of our favorite restaurants in the area...Hatches. All meals are followed by a basket of freshly-made sopapillas...with honey of course!

Geocaching Frenzy - Eagle Nest, New Mexico

Today we went on a geocaching frenzy. We drove the Enchanted Circle (85-mile loop from Eagle Nest to Red River, Questa, Taos, Angel Fire back to Eagle Nest) and picked up 12 geocaches! One cache was placed by a clever person. It was designed as part of a gas meter. See pictures below.

Greenie Peak - Red River, New Mexico

Today, we took a ride up to one of our favorite spots...Greenie Peak (11,240'). The road was pretty good, although it requires 4wd and high clearance. From the top you can see Eagle Nest Lake and several of the surrounding peaks.

After Greenie Peak, we headed down toward Midnight Meadow. The road was fairly narrow and full of mud/water pits. One pit was about 2/3rds up the Jeep's wheels.

One of the meadows along the way.

We then headed over past Midnight Mine to pick up a geocache. We had to park the Jeep about a third of a mile from the location and hike the rest of the way. It was a very steep decent down to the location. That meant it would be a VERY steep incline on the way back. Once at the location of the geocache, the GPS pointed toward a steep hill...about 300' straight up! It was very difficult climbing up to the cache, but I made it. The hike back to the Jeep was similarly difficult. The 1/3 of a mile felt more like 2/3 of a mile...with the steep ascent.

View from the cache location. Notice the steep climb.