We will be attending the wedding of our nephew Max (the son of MFI’s brother Jim) in Rosarita, Baja California, Mexico at the end of April. As such, we needed to work our way west to ensure we’re there in plenty of time and able to reserve a campsite on the U.S. side. With that in mind, we planned an 8-stop, 39-day route from Altoona, IA to San Diego, CA. We weren’t in any rush really, but we wanted to get further south to avoid more winter weather, and stop long enough to see friends along the way.

Stop #1. Offutt AFB FamCamp, Offutt AFB, NE; 150-mile leg via I-80 for 2 nights. We chose this short leg, so we could see our friends Gail and Otis Boyce who lived in Bellevue, NE. We served together at Ramstein AFB, Germany, a time in all our lives when deep, lasting friendships were forged. We met at their house for several hours, shared memories, and caught each other up on our respective adult children and grandchildren. Loved seeing them again! Saw turkeys the day we left and enjoyed great coffee in Springfield, NE.

Stop #2. Holiday RV Park, North Platte, NE; 280-mile leg via I-80 for 2 nights. North Platte (pop. 22,390) was quite the jumping small town. We ate a terrific dinner with wine at The Cedar Room in the revitalized Historic Canteen District downtown. During WWII, the people of North Platte created a canteen, which provided food, coffee, and general respite for soldiers on the troop trains passing through. We also ate at Penny’s Diner located within walking distance of Arthur. That meal was much less satisfying. It’s worth mentioning that the incredibly strong winds we experienced during our travels west were annoying.

Stop #3. Peregrine Pines FamCamp. USAFA, CO; 319-mile leg via I-80, I-76, and I-25 for 4 nights. While on our way, we ate lunch at The Place in Hillrose, CO (pop. 312). Despite their sign, we received no advice or enlightenment, but our meal was excellent.

Primary reason for stopping in Colorado Springs was to visit our friends Bob and Margo Becerra. Bob and I served together in Germany on the beddown of the Ground Launched Cruise Missile at Wueschheim, GE (pop. 311). We joined them at their house for homemade pizza and had a splendid evening reminiscing, as well as, catching up on our respective children and grandchildren. They lived in a beautiful house in Monument, CO, and a tour of their home revealed an incredible amount of interesting art and historic memorabilia. Bob’s father, an American hero from WWII, married a German woman. As a sad result of their passing, Bob and Margo inherited a wealth of furniture, art, housewares, and documents, some with ties to the Nazi regime.

Before leaving Colorado Springs, we were exposed to one more winter event. Again, we froze while packing up the following morning.

Stop #4. Kirtland AFB FamCamp, Albuquerque, NM; 400-mile leg via I-25 for 7 nights. This long leg was a trial run for after the wedding, when we must make a cross-country dash from San Diego to Florida in 14 days. This leg helped us confirm it’s achievable, and will be made easier with early departures and more efficient tear-down and pack-up routines.

We visited the Petroglyph National Monument west of town. We didn’t take the trails along which were hundreds of petroglyphs; however, we scoped out the Visitor Center, and I hiked a loop around three of the monument’s five dormant volcanoes. The wind was brutal and diminished what was otherwise an OK outing.

I took another hike in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains east of town. The wind was still howling, but I was somewhat protected inside Bear Canyon. The Sandia foothills were a haven for hiking trails.

Stop #5. Meteor Crater RV Park, Winslow, AZ; 294-mile leg via I-40 for 2 nights. This drive took us through some beautiful New Mexico landscapes.

We had stayed at this campground previously, as well, and found it to be remote but well maintained. We decided not to drive 20 miles to Winslow for a great cup of coffee at our favorite local coffee shop; and unfortunately, opted instead for free, horrible coffee at the campground lounge. That said, Arthur looked photogenic, my hike west on Old 66 Trail was picturesque, and we were treated to another gorgeous sunset.

Stop #6. Desert View RV Resort, Needles; CA, 264-mile leg via I-40 for 7 nights. We liked this campground very much the last time here, so we returned. Each site was somewhat secluded among mature red and white Oleander bushes; and we were directly across from the clubhouse, laundry, and pool. MFI hoped to work on her “going-to-a-wedding” tan. The mean statistical area (pop. 71,155) supported 69 trails according to AllTrails, 7 Starbucks, 8 casinos, a broad range of restaurants, and just about every other retailer we needed. But to live here means one must weigh the services recounted above against Needles being the city with the hottest monthly temperature in the U.S. at 103.2 degrees F. No thanks, visiting was just fine!

During our stays here, we’d passed numerous times by a series of stone monuments along National Trails Road near the entrance to our RV park. I hiked a route so that I could photograph them and googled the backstory. Jim Nickels, his wife Starr, and a close friend Ron, began building these monuments in 2015 to keep themselves busy. The rock structures were referred to as Needles’ Military Stone Monuments, and the Needles Chamber assumed responsibility for maintaining them in 2022. Maintenance mostly involved replacing the small American flags, which adorn the monuments, and lasted only about a week in the harsh desert conditions. I counted 12 monuments honoring the military and 3 each honoring Jim, Starr, and Ron.

Recently, MFI went to order our second coffees at Starbucks, when I noticed she’d been gone way too long. I was blogging and periodically looked up to see her still chatting with two other patrons. She eventually called me over to join them, and I met Bly and Mike, a younger couple with whom we shared an instant connection. They and MFI, by the time I joined the conversation, had already exchanged respective current life stories. We found them to be wonderfully friendly, interesting, fun, and excited about life. Definitely folks with whom we’ll stay in contact.

Determined to achieve my steps, I hiked 23.35 miles across 5 days. Included here are a few of the better pictures I took; but overall, these desert trails were rocky, dusty, over used by OHV (Off Highway Vehicles), and made all the more aggravating by persistent high winds, which made my hearing aids malfunction. Additionally, I was disheartened by the amount of waste people with no respect for the environment were transporting deep into nature and dumping along the trails. Ridiculous and disgusting! I observed everything from wrecked cars to construction debris.

One of the trails was named “Backway to Oatman.” MFI googled Oatman (pop. 102), and because it was described as a Black Mountain ghost town, our interesrt was piqued, and we drove there to check it out. In the early 1900’s, Oatman was a vibrant and highly successful gold-mining town, but mining operations were shut down at the start of WWII. The town continued to survive by catering to travelers along the historic and nostalgic Route 66; however, when the route through Oatman between Kingman, AZ and Needles, CA was bypassed in 1953 with completion of I-40, the town was nearly deserted by 1960. MFI’s research also revealed that the town was largely famous for the herd of burros that had descended from the bestial ancestors used during the mining days. Today, the burros wandered freely in and around town begging for food offered by tourists. Perhaps only India’s zebu were more revered than the burros of Oatman. Traffic into, through, and out of town stopped frequently as visitors fed and photographed the burros. Because of the tourists, the city has married its old west look with all manner of gift shops, pseudo-historical mining museums, and a twice-a-day gunfight on main street. Once again, we were put off by the phony commercialization and didn’t stop. Nevertheless, I wasn’t going to pass on the opportunity to capture our visit with pictures.

It was easy to understand the attraction travelers had for Route 66 back in the day as it snaked through the Black Mountains. The scenery was sensational around Oatman and was reported to get even better as you approached Kingman 29 miles to the East. Some references described the landscape as extraterrestrial.

Before leaving Needles, we stumbled across the 19th Hole Bar & Grill inside the clubhouse (using the term very loosely) of the sun-baked Rivers Edge Golf Course on the south side of town. We had lunch there and enjoyed it so much, we returned for a second. The place lacked atmosphere, what with a bunch of loud golfers sitting around yaking about their games. The Colorado River was visible through the window behind the bar, but the view wasn’t particularly great. However, the meals they prepared were fantastically fresh and surprisingly delicious. We’ll certainly be back.

There were only two stops remaining on our trip west, and both would be in campgrounds located on the Pacific coast. We planned for a lot of activities in those areas, so I’ll separate them into their own blogs. Besides, this one was has gotten too long anyway.