Sunday 1/9/22, Prescott, AZ to OPH (Santa Ana, CA)

Sunday 1/9/22, Prescott, AZ to OPH (Santa Ana, CA)

Up at 7:30am, 28 degrees (52-26) sunny in Prescott, AZ.  Today is the last leg of our epic winter trip to spend Christmas and New Years with Erick and Judith and their twin girls in Columbus, GA.  It has been an adventure to remember and this blog will go a long ways in helping me do that. 

Paul and Sandra hosted us last night, we appreciate that.  We couldn't see the outside of the house last night but this morning is a whole different story.  I'm only sad that I did not take more photos of the house.  I put a few in yesterdays post.  Next time.  

It's 11am and we are on the road again.  We stumbled onto a unique cafe in Yarnell, AZ.

They commemorate the 19 firefighters killed a few years ago when the forest fire overwhelmed their position before they could evacuate. Very sad.  

It's like a biker bar but not a bar.  Just food. Eldon had the chicken fried steak with gravy, hash browns and eggs, which also came with a pancake and REAL peanut butter, not Waffle House chips.  He said the steak was definitely home made and very good.  So too the pancake.  I had sausage and eggs and also scored an apple fritter for the road.

 

When we got there it was almost empty and we sat at the counter.  Soon thereafter there were over 25 bikers (males and females) who had called ahead to make sure they could be accommodated. It looks like the place is used to this type of "rush".  We were just glad to get our food order in before theirs!  Pretty neat place.  You could spend a day or more and not read or see all the things nailed to the walls, beams, doors, bathroom walls, etc.  Good food too. 

 

We really didn't steal this bike and tow it back to OPH.  Neat place.

We crossed the Time zone from AZ Mountain time into CA Pacific time at 2pm PT  

Eldon hates these agriculture inspection stops.

There is nothing like a California Sunset to make you feel good inside.  This was from Moreno Valley, CA and still about 1.5 hours left to get to OPH. But sunset over the Santa Ana River gap, with the Santa Ana Mountains (Saddleback) to the left and Puente Hills to the right says that we are almost home.

It feels good to be back home but a bit sad too.  The adventures were great and the people along the way were even better.  I thank all of you for hosting us and helping make the trip a huge success.  

The Alto had a big workout and did great but here it is tucked into its spot at OPH.  Now we need to get it ready for the Next Trip.  We left their house at 11am MT and arrived to OPH at 6pm PT.  The Santa Ana winds were starting to pick up so we didn't do much unloading.  There is tomorrow for that and even more days to do it in.  For now, a dinner of Eldon's frozen beef chili that we drug from OPH to Georgia and back again.  It was delicious and we were thinking that it would have been even better some of those 30 degree nights, but we did not even know it was in the Dometec freezer until we got home and emptied it.  Still, the furnace was off at OPH so it was "chili" enough. It was also very fun to see Moreno run crazy on the wood floors here at OPH.  He was home too.

It's amazing how much there is to see in this great country of ours.  When we last went to Italy I thought I would want to move to that Tuscan area.  Now we are back from this trip and I want to live in Silver City, NM.  How does one pick the perfect place?  Maybe having this travel trailer is the best deal of all.  We can go anywhere in the contiguous US and bring Moreno along.  

To all our friends that we could not get to go to this time, WATCH OUT!!!!  We are out there and we live and travel amongst you:):) We will do the best we can to make trips to as many places as possible.  

Cheers for making our trip a success.

Thanks for those who logged into my blog to keep track of our trip.  I have to find out how to get better wifi access along the way so I can do a better job staying on track with the blog entries.  [Eldon here - it is not wifi, it is her sleeping.] I thank Tom and Wendy King for getting me into blogging.  I have learned a lot from them and Tom has been very patient in teaching me too.  I still have a lot to learn and I am sure I'll be calling upon his help again.  He is way more patient than Eldon.

For now, Happy New Year.  May 2022 bring us all more adventures and above all health.  Stay sane.

Sincerely, 

Clara, Eldon and Moreno

THE END - except for the Epilogue to come.