Dateline May 15, 2013, On the Road Again, Janice Traveling in the RV

We had planned to drive the Roadtrek out to Branson, Missouri for the Roadtrek Corporate Rally. Over the winter, John had become a realtor, and right as we were about to leave, his first deal came in. He chose to stay home and work it. I went without him.

This is Janice writing.

While I was at it, I added a stop that was not exactly on the way. My oldest, dearest friend Marty lives with her husband Jeff in Cottonwood, Arizona. Marty and I have known each other since high school. I had not seen her in too long.

I left Flagler Beach on a Saturday morning around 7:30. The first day's destination was Biloxi, Mississippi, with a plan to camp in the Walmart parking lot. I took the Florida byways instead of the interstate, and the wildflowers along the back roads were in full bloom.

Now, anyone who knows me knows I cannot drive past a casino. About ten hours into the day I rolled into Biloxi, and the Beau Rivage was right there, and I went in for a little roulette. The first few spins were shaky enough that I started to think I was about to feed the gambling gods their dinner instead of the other way around. Then the wheel turned. I left up $100, walked straight back across the parking lot to the RV, and drove the rest of the way to the Walmart.

Sleeping in a Walmart parking lot is supposed to be the quiet, free, anonymous option. Whoever wrote that did not factor in 3:30 AM, when the parking lot cleaning crew and the street sweepers all rolled in at once. By 5:00 AM I was already on the road.

Next stop, San Antonio. Then Las Cruces, New Mexico.

I stayed on the byways. Leaving San Antonio, I had a small adventure: the town I was counting on for fuel had emptied out and the gas station was gone. The next town, fortunately, was still in business. I rolled in with maybe two gallons left in the tank. From then on the rule was: fill up while you are full, not when you are empty.

Out in the desert, you do not see many other vehicles. Mostly Border Patrol. While crossing the Rio Grande at El Paso, I stopped for a long look at the river.

A hundred miles further along, with maybe ten cars passed in either direction, I saw something white in the distance. It looked like a small blimp. As I got closer, I saw the sign: "US Air Force Tethered Aerostat" facility.

I had to look it up. Aerostats are large fabric envelopes filled with helium that can rise to about 15,000 feet while tied to the ground by a single cable. The primary mission is low-level radar surveillance along the US-Mexico border, the Straits of Florida, and the Caribbean, in support of federal drug interdiction. The secondary mission is to give NORAD low-level air-sovereignty coverage. They have been quietly floating up there since the 1980s. A little eerie when you realize they have the ability to zoom in close enough to see your face.

I spent the night in Las Cruces and took off the next morning for Marty's in Cottonwood, still keeping to the smaller roads.

One of the most beautiful parts of the drive was through Tonto National Forest and along Roosevelt Lake.

Tonto is a cactus forest. A beautiful kind of desert.

Both the reservoir and the masonry dam that holds it back are named for President Theodore Roosevelt, who dedicated the dam himself in March 1911. Roosevelt Lake is the oldest of the six reservoirs in the Salt River Project.