On the White Line

We pushed home through the rain and wind to arrive in Cedarburg, WI, just in time to set up for the wearable art show. Thankfully, it was sunny… but still below freeeeeezing.

The frosty weather changed our plans a bit. We wanted to wait until after this weekend to re-winterize the RV, but when I dumped the holding tank on Friday morning, it came out like a sewer slushie. With temperatures in the 20s, we couldn’t risk a full-on freeze.

We took to task draining the water, siphoning RV antifreeze into the lines and dumping the tanks. None of this is difficult, but it’s certainly NOT something we want to be doing after two months of sunshine… and knowing that within a month, we’d be reversing the system again.

Although we’re really close to home, we’re still in the RV and haven’t come home to our condo yet. Now that this show is done, we can regroup, repack/unpack and get things organized.

The Cedarburg show was wonderful again. Lots of people… customers new and old. Lots of our favorite pieces of shard jewelry finding good homes. All the excitement helped us almost forget the 1,800 miles we put in in four days.

On our last day “on the road,” we had an interesting stop at the Pink Elephant antique store in Livingston, IL. It wasn’t a particularly great shop, but they had some fascinating items in their yard… giant old fiberglass promotions. Here’s a peek…

We haven’t seen sun since Tucson. We’ve driven through strong winds, rain and even a bit of snow, but haven’t seen much of the sun.

I guess that’s okay though, since we’re really only looking at a lot of asphalt… 4 days of about 500 miles each is a lot more roadtime than we’d like. Alas, we had a Tucson show on Sunday and a Milwaukee show on Friday, so the miles are required.

Not much to report… we’re passing the time by listening to podcasts from This American Life, The Moth, This Week in Travel, Amateur Traveler, Storylife and Radio Lab.

We left our trackside spot in Tucson yesterday and started our eastward migration. We need to be back in Milwaukee for a show on Friday, so there will be no time for dilly-dallying. In fact, we’ll be putting on about 500 miles each day… waaaaaay more than we’d like.

And this afternoon as we passed through Albuquerque, we hit slush and snow piles on the side of the road. It felt like winter was slapping us in the face, which I guess we deserve after a couple months of sun and warmth.

Last night, we pulled into Elephant Butte Lake State Park in New Mexico. Another great State Park. Tonight, we’re blacktop boon docking in a truck stop parking lot… not glamorous, but we’re on a mission.

I’m worried that our VitaMix has made its last date shake today… it died as I was mixing the ingredients and there was a noticeable burning smell. Sigh, I’ll miss those date shakes.

We're sleeping about as close to the railroad tracks as legally possible.

We had plans to stay in a hotel when arrived in Tucson to sell our wares at the 4th Avenue Street Fair, but on our visit to the vendor parking lot, we spotted a handful of RVs all bumped out and looking as though they intended to stay the weekend. We asked around and got word that we could unofficially stay there… and that unofficial answer came from an official source.

How could we resist? It was close to our booth, on level ground and FREE. The thought of NOT having to drive the RV to and from the show was appealing, but the cost sealed the deal. When we arrived in Tucson, we spent our first morning in the Dodge service department installing a new battery for the RV (just 40 days AFTER our warranty ran out, darn it). It set us back over $300… about the same price as four days in the hotel… we took it as a sign.

Our irresistible situation hasn’t come without some problems. Firstly, this lot was 4th Avenue’s main parking area for St Patrick’s Day, so we’re constantly dodging piles of vomit… let’s hope it’s not as popular over the weekend. The real dread of parking here is that we are right beside the main railroad tracks in Tucson… and I’m talking less than ten feet away. At peak times, the trains roll by every twenty minutes, and sitting in the RV feels more like sitting atop a washing machine stuck in the the spin cycle. And when those trains sound their whistles, holy moley!!! …everything shakes.

So, it’s not perfect, but it’s working for us.

BTW – we just finished day one of the fair and sold enough to pay all our expenses for the show. That takes the pressure off for the next two days. That said, we were hoping we’d do a little better today. The fair didn’t really feel all that busy, and it wasn’t a spendy crowd, so we’re hoping big shoppers come out over the weekend.

Climbing to the top of Picacho Peak was a once in a lifetime experience… because I’m too terrified to ever do it again.

When the ranger said the hike was rated difficult, he didn’t mention I’d be clinging to a cliff edge with a metal cable slicing into my palm and rocks sliding from under my feet. I’m not a heights guy, and I’m not all that much of a thrill-seeker, so this was enough to get my heart racing… and love every minute of it.

Fortunately, my concerns that going down the peak would be scarier than going up were unnecessary. The trip down was slow and methodical, but not as treacherous as I expected. We took the Sunset Trail back to our site… nice ambling path along the slope that has greened up so much in the last few weeks. Gorgeous.

Casualty Report

Casualty number two was my shoes. My mom and dad got me that pair three years ago, and today’s hike really took it out of them.

Casualty number three was Peppa’s arm. It broke when we went to the scary post office yesterday. Fortunately, Peppa is ceramic and a bit of super glue should have her back to hula-ing in no time.

What are the chances that a stop at the Arizona Nut House would lead us to our new favorite State Park… Picacho Peak. Especially since the Nut House shuttered its doors a few days after we visited — I guess those bags of deep-fried in-shell peanuts and fried okra we bought weren’t enough to keep them in business.

We stopped on a whim back in January as we drove between Tucson and Phoenix. This Sunday, we returned for some sun and solitude among the saguaro and chocolate colored rock formations.

As a real treat, a Civil War Encampment settled about a half mile from our campsite. This had been the location of the only Civil War battle in the Southwest. The usual cast of reenacters… privates, colonels, calvarymen, doctors, priests, women and children… pitched their canvas tents and donned their old-style clothes (to various degrees of authenticity) and wandered around the camp chatting with the families and visitors.

Of course the highlight was the cannon show, where the Battle of Picacho Pass was reenacted. The replay lasted about ten minutes… the real battle about 90.

Lots to see and do around here… unfortunately, we’re still in production mode, so sadly, there are no day trips planned.

Here are some photos… we’ll add more later… these are unfortunately low-res at the moment:

An order for one of my necklaces came in this morning… one of my favorite pieces, a shard of brown and pink antique transferware. And it must have been a special gift, because the person buying it requested expedited shipping.

As I was packaging it up, I noticed the wire on the beaded necklace had loosened a bit. I would NOT send a piece out like that, but without any equipment I was in a pickle.

Fortunately, I was in Apache Junction, which might very well be the bead capital of Arizona. I called the AZ Bead Depot and told the guy on the phone about my beading emergency.

His response, “Bring it on in. The wife can fix it up for you, and if needs be, she can restring it for you.”

Twenty minutes later, I was in a no nonsense shop that carried EVERYTHING a beader could need. They even had a map of California and Arizona on the wall showing the sources of the gazillion types of turquoise they carried.

Deb, she must have been “the wife,” took one look at my predicament and said, “That’s an easy fix.” Ten minutes later I was walking out the door with my necklace in perfect condition.

Then it was off to the the Post Office. The customer asked for 2-day shipping, but since their address appeared to be outside any major city, I opted to send it to them next-day. It cost me a bit more, but I think it’s worth it to make sure it arrived on time.

Whew. What a relief that getting that order fulfilled.

Tomorrow, we are set up at the Phoenix Saint Patrick’s Day Faire… It looks like it’ll be a fun event. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there will be lots of new customers in the crowd.

Here’s a pic of our beading saviors…

Luxury accommodations one night and a place called the Budget RV Park another… that’s how we roll.

Going discount has its advantages. I don’t have to worry I might be charged for everything I touch. And no budget place would consider charging $14.99 for 24 hours of internet access. In fact, this RV Park boasts speedy internet… and it’s included.

Heavy Duty Production

Liam and I have been working like wild men trying to get Irish pieces ready for the Phoenix Saint Patrick’s Day Faire. It’s been nearly non-stop production in some form or another for both of us. I think we’ll have have over 75 brand new pieces ready for Saturday’s show – that’s a lot!

Too Good to Be True

On Monday, we took a drive to Globe, AZ. We read about it in one of the magazines, and when we called the casino there, the woman told us they had FREE RV hookups. Like the smell of fresh apple pie, we were lured by the sound of a free, remote area to get some work done.

We should have done a little research before we left. Globe is at 3,500 feet, and we had to drive through a little snow storm to get there. And the area was a bit depressing… what was once a thriving town looks like one condemned building after another. Then, we found out the hookups cost $20… and I couldn’t get the electric to work. While Liam was inside the Quik Mart (yes, you pay at the gas station) trying to sort out the payment and electric problems, I was fighting the wind and rain trying to get plugged in.

It turned out to be such a fiasco, Liam said, “Let’s get out of here.” Back down the mountain an hour and half to the KOA in Apache Junction. Fortunately, the drive was absolutely stunning… more so on the drive down because the rain and snow had stopped. We’ve got the towns of Globe, Miami and Superior on our list of places we’d like to revisit… they’ve got the allure of a ghost town… but right now, we’ve got to stay focused on work!

Our Little Village

Mining Town

Glorious Road

We had the chance to treat ourselves yesterday to a night at the Fairmont Resort in Scottsdale. I’d like to stay we’re regulars at places that charge $380 a night, but truth is, this was a real treat. We call it our Posh Day… our Irish friends use the word “posh” at times like this. I like the sound of it.

We earned the free room by booking 10 nights with www.hotels.com… they’ve since changed their policy, so your free room has to be closer in value to your ten paid rooms. Fortunately, we’re cashing in on the more generous system… a Casita room with a fireplace, patio and enormous bathroom… the bathroom is probably bigger than the whole RV.

Last night we wandered into the Gold Lounge and enjoyed some drinks and snacks. Then spent the evening splashing around the hot tub and pool and lounging by the fire pit. This morning we stopped by the Gold Lounge again, but were told our room didn’t “qualify” us for the lounge (guess it’s good we didn’t ask last night), but the concierge was quick to tell us about the club and then invite us to enjoy the complimentary breakfast. Yes! Free breakfast!

Now, we head back to the RV and reality.

We can add Arizona to our list of places where we’ve set up our wares and sold some shard jewelry.

We were pleased with how things went for us at the Via Colori Festival in Glendale, AZ (outside of Phoenix)… we met a lot of great people and sales were steady throughout the day.

I don’t think many of the other vendors were happy though… the crowds just weren’t there and jewelry seemed like the only thing that was selling. It didn’t help that there were only 30 vendors instead of 150, and most vendors didn’t know this was a first time event in Glendale (we didn’t).

The good news is that we left the park on Saturday saying, “Even if we don’t sell a single piece tomorrow, the show would be a success.” We almost ate our words. The day was a complete washout and vendors were packing up before the show opened… two tents were blown over during the night from the storms too. Fortunately, our set-up was safe, and we still sold $100 worth

Heavy rains at Jim and Betty's

Angel Porn

After we got soaked to our underwear while packing up the tent and jewelry, the sun decided to come out and dry things up a bit… if we had just waited an hour. One advantage to traveling with our house — we were able to change into dry stores and visit some of the antique stores in Glendale.

Liam found some interesting bits for the cottage. For some reason, I just kept finding cherub porn… the weirdest, semi-sexual images of angels I’d ever seen.

Then we headed back to Jim and Betty’s where they fed us well… AGAIN… and we watched the Oscars. Quite a mixed-bag of things.