Back In Austin

I made it back on Wednesday...but barely. I thought I was going to have to go to Dallas instead due to all the heavy rain that had been falling. I made a few adjustments and was able to get into Austin.

The last night in the RV we stayed at a state park in Colorado City, TX. Kasey and Allie finally got to swim in a lake. And man oh man did they stink after that. So a bath was in order. Once they were cleaned up we all went inside to watch a movie.

We were there with one other RV. I was given a code to unlock the gate, in case of an emergency, since they lock the park gate at ten. I was talking with Loretta on the phone and she ever so kindly suggested that it was possible to keep out the psycho's by locking them out....unless...the other RV was the psycho and I am locked in with them...great now I am freaked out. There was a very bad thunderstorm that night, but we got through it and took off the next morning for Austin.

Thank you to everyone who kept up with me and my travels. I will blog on my next adventure, not sure when that will be, but will let you know when it happens.

Palo Duro Canyon

I do have WiFi...how? I decided to stay at the KOA here in Amarillo instead of the state park. I needed to do laundry and wanted to catch up on some things...so we are here safe and sound. So no pictures of Palo Duro Canyon tonight.

What is with all the rain? We haven't hit any yet...but we are driving into it tomorrow when we head to Abilene and the Colorado City State park. My poor girls...I have promised them lake swimming from the beginning and now that we are going to head to the lake tomorrow, they might get rained out.

I will post sometime end of the week after we get home back to Austin Wednesday or Thursday. I can't believe the time is over already. It flew by and we have had a great time.

Kasey and Allie keep expecting to see Loretta come through the door; but I have explained to them that she has gone back home already.

Until later...have a good evening!

The Last Day in Santa Fe

We went to the Friendship Club House to do back-to-back AA/ Al-Anon meetings. While we were there, Angel ran into Cheryl "Pooh" from Dallas. What a small world it is indeed. We caught up for about 3o minutes on each others lives. Cheryl lives in Santa Fe now and is honing her metal artwork skills from a master blacksmith. I have known her for over ten years; but haven't seen her in at least two.

We went to lunch with our new friends from Chicago, Amy and Kelly. They suggested Pasqual's Restaurant which was fabulous. Kelly is an actor and Amy is a queer cast host for the Windy City Queer Cast. Make sure to check out her podcast.

After lunch, Angel had to go make an amends at the Ace Hardware store. Why you ask? Well, Saturday she discovered that she had three loose screws.... No, her mental state is in tact, but her scooter ramp was hanging on by one screw. She found an Ace Hardware that was busy and understaffed. A dangerous combination that didn't mesh well with Angel's state of mind, at the moment. She had a momentary lapse in judgment, slipped the three screws in her pocket and walked out the door. Loretta was talking on her cell phone while waiting in the car. She relinquished the driver's seat to Angel. (In NM, it's against the law to "talk and drive"). Thankfully, Loretta wasn't an accomplice in Angel's "crime spree." Loretta didn't find out about this until they had made it back to camp and Angel confessed. So......Angel went back today and made an amends. The good news is Angel didn't go to jail. The store manager was shocked someone would come back to confess to taking three screws @ 33 cents each. They waved her out the door and said don't worry about it. Whew....love the tenth step - Angel can sleep with a clear conscious, tonight!

This is our last night in Santa Fe. Loretta flies out in the afternoon and Angel is headed for her next destination: Palo Duro Canyon (That means Hard Stick Canyon - hmmm, doesn't sound too glamorous....) Oh yeah, Angel won't have WIFI anymore either. So, this is the last post from Angel's Camping Travels Blog until she returns home to Austin.

Gay Pride Santa Fe Style

Friday night we went to a Lambda meeting..very small but was helpful. We met some girls from Chicago and exchanged numbers to try and go and get coffee sometime while we are in town together. We'll see if that is to happen.

Around 9ish we headed over to Rainbow Vision for the women's dance...we were concerned that we would be surrounded with women who lived at Rainbow Vision; but oh we were wrong. There were around 300 women of all ages, colors, and etc. The dance floor was outside under a tent and they were playing techno tribal music. Laleeenda you should have been here!!!

We danced and met Chris who just moved to Santa Fe from NYC. We met her early in the evening and observed that by the end of the night she appears to be one of us.... we'll save a chair for her in the rooms. As we were leaving, Loretta was headed to the restroom when someone locked eyes with her. She smiled and kept walking. Then, the woman asked "are you from Austin?" Hmmmm. Yes?! Well, it ended up being Terre, another friend of Bill's, who is working on a project in Santa Fe this summer. Wow! It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it!!

Saturday morning, we had breakfast at Harry's Roadhouse - another Santa Fe landmark. We drove to the plaza downtown for the Pride festival and parade, complete with roller-derby girls, PFLAG, boyz in leather, the gay red hat society, the NM gay rodeo assoc, girlz on scooters and a courtesy van from Rainbow Visions.

Angel went to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum today and learned more about one of her favorite artist. It was excellent. I can't believe we only have one more full day left here. The vacation is coming to a close.

Loretta will fly back to Austin on Monday and Angel and the girls will head to Palo Duro Canyon for one night. Then we will head to Colorado City Lake State Park for a day and back to Austin for us by late Wednesday night.

We Needed a Designated Driver Last Night!

First let me start off with...we are still sober. However, there's something in the water at Ojo Caliente Mineral Spring and Spa.

Loretta and I arrived at the spa around 5:30 p.m. and headed straight for the mud pool. We slathered ourselves in mud and noticed it was the darkest either one of us had ever been or will ever be. It had the consistency of liquid chocolate pudding. We would've taken a picture, but our hands were covered in mud.... then we soaked in all the different mineral pools. These pools are warm and one gets thirsty. The only water on site was the mineral water from the earth. The water fountain was even fed with it or one could have it with either lemon or cucumber flavoring . So we drank it. We were thirsty.

Our massage and salt rubs were to begin at 7:00pm. So we lounged in and out of mineral pools until our designated time. My massage therapist was Ryan from San Francisco. He was a great therapist. For me, the salt scrub was almost too harsh, and I had to remind Ryan not to scrub so hard. But I must say I do have some awesome soft skin today. Loretta had the same treatment and we were both a bit loopy at 8:45 pm when we were done. We only had a 30 min drive back to Santa Fe...in the dark. This is where the fun begins.

First of all, Loretta had a goofy grin on her face and was all giggles driving down the mountain until we got to the highway. As she looked at the on-coming traffic she realized she was too impaired to drive. She put the car in park and got out in the middle of the road. So Angel took over, but didn't mention she has night blindness.... Frankly, we were both loopy! We were all giggles, couldn't form sentences and got lost. We did make it home safe and sound! Thanks, HP for protecting drunks and fools, once again!!

Today is Friday and Gay Pride in Santa Fe - and it's not just because we're here. We're going to a Lambda meeting then off to a women's dance at "Rainbow Visions - a GLBT community for "the next 50 years"! Joy Silver, the community's president and founder describes how she came across this concept:

"When I lived in NYC, I passed a residence for the extremely frail in the Village. One night I looked up at the window and saw lights flashing, a mirrored disco ball spinning, heard music blaring, and saw go-go boys dancing. Smiling to myself, I said 'yeah – that’s what I want. I want that party when I get to be that age. Cause if there’s no dancing, I'm not going!' "

We'll keep you posted!!

Santa Fe

Hello! From the wonderful weather of Santa Fe. We made it safe and sound.

They are having a very HOT time here...so the locals tell me. It got up to 92 Tuesday. It was wonderful. I tried to write you guys last night, but blogspot was having issues. The heat of summer here last until July 15. Poor people. Heat from June-July 15. I have no idea how they handle it. Now of course, me up here in winter would be humorous.

Loretta flies into today and will be staying with me and the girls the rest of the week. There is so much to do here that I will need that massage on Thursday for sure.

I decided last night it was time to eat dinner out. So I went to this place called the Bobcat Bite. Small hole in the wall that's been around since the 1950's. It was great. I sat at the counter and met an architect named Bob. He's lived here for 25 years and was very pleasant to talk to and quite a character. Bob was older and kept making fun remarks like..."this is my great granddaughter" or " Can you believe she is trying to pick me up". That one made me laugh loudly. Good dinner companion none the less. Oh to eat...this incredible cheeseburger w/green chiles and home fries. I could only eat half of it.

We slept with the windows open and no noise of the a/c. Just these damn birds that woke us up at 6:00am MST.

I have another story, but it must wait until I get a picture of the place. Until then I am off to go walk in this 60 degree weather. (Am I rubbing the weather in enough yet?).

Carlsbad Caverns Day 2

Greetings from HOT New Mexico. Oh my ...it got up to 103 today. Dry heat my butt.

We started the day by heading into town and stopping by Forrest Tire Company and dropping off the blown spare to pick up a new one later. Up to Carlsbad Caverns we headed. Once up at the top I had a decision to make. I knew I wanted see the Big Room but my dogs were in the camper w/the generator running so I opted for the quick version. I took the elevator down and walked the big room. Lovely 58 degrees. They actually suggested a jacket. I didn't use it cause it felt so good. My pictures didn't turn out great but here are a few from the big room and the view from above.

So after my 1.5 hour tour, we headed back into town to pick up the tire and got to the lake. Unfortunately we couldn't take the RV to the part of the park to get access to water. This was a huge disappointment for me and my dogs. Tonight we will find us a lake around Santa Fe that is dog friendly.

Tomorrow we get to try and put the scooter back up on its ramp and head off to Santa Fe. That's about 268 miles from here. Wish us luck.

Carlsbad, NM Day 1

Greetings from KOA in Carlsbad, NM.


We woke up to a nice cool 65 degrees. The girls and I went over to the dog run to play. They were just a bit tired of being inside a 28 ft RV. They romped and played for a while.

Rest, rest and more rest was most of my morning. After lunch and a short nap I headed out on the scooter to Carlsbad downtown. Ran into the wal-mart for more water and on the way back stopped at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. This is a 1.3 mile loop of desert and animals that inhabit such terrain. I have posted some pictures of the exhibit. I wanted to see the black bear who is now 2 years old. But it was very hot when I was up there and she was in her den with the a/c on...so I am told. She is an artist! I am now the proud owner of a Maggie Oso Original painting. Let me just say...this a is much better souvenir than a refrigerator magnet.

All and all its been a good day. Allie has a bit of an upset stomach..thinking it could be water change. So she is getting chicken and potato's on her camping trip.

Tomorrow we are headed to the caverns and to get a new spare tire. Fun Times.

Driving Day ends with a Bang

Before we take off Allie and Kasey find their traveling spots.

Kasey on left. Allie on Right


Yesterday morning we take off at 7:30am in the rain. As I'm driving I keep stressing over the scooter...is it on tight enough? What if it falls? I finally turned that anxiety making scenario over and drive west. Once we hit I-10 we are doing great!

Did you know that the speed limit is 80mph? Of course I didn't go this fast; but thought how cool it would be do fly down this highway. We stopped at many a rest area. Then we try to take pictures of all of us using the new gorilla tripod dodad.. we need more practice.
Kasey get over here! Allie turn around. "Click"

So we're just tooling along thinking we should get to our destination by 6:00 pm...and we stop in Pecos Texas..WEST Texas...fuel up..don't even ask me how much that cost. I didn't look. I just know it took 15 minutes to turn off. Gas is 3.20-3.25 out here. In the middle of all these oil rigs. Whatever.

Ten miles past Pecos...in the middle of the desert BANG....flat tire. Kasey almost peed herself. Let me just say, that this was not the best place to get a flat. Spotty cell phone reception too. This happened at 4:30 PM. I got back on the road at 9:30 PM. Good news we had a full tank of gas and a generator. So a/c was going. Antenna was up and we watched TV on one channel while we waited. As it started to get darker, I called back to AAA and asked them for a patrol car to bring me some flares. Now keep in mind I am a gay woman in the middle of WEST TX and having to rely on a WEST TX Sheriff. Good thing I grew up in Arkansas and know how to talk this talk.

Damron showed up in all his glory. Dip in his mouth, a belly, and a few interesting words about Austin. "Austin just isn't in sync with the rest of Texas." I'm thinking...please don't see my gay sticker on my scooter. Good thing I didn't spray paint that tag on the side..boys.

Here is a picture of my buddy Damron, who turned out to be a very nice guy, who saw the sticker, didn't say anything and when another good 'ol boy showed up to change my tire...no AAA yet, made a comment about a queer guy at a restaurant, and then apologized to me for the remark. Hmmmm. AAA showed up after Justin had done most of the work. I offered beer money or to buy him dinner, but he declined and just wanted me to have a safe trip. I guess the moral of the story is that two worlds can collide and help each other out.

I rolled into KOA at 11:3o PM. Tired and Cranky. Lets just say...we are putting out to the universe...we have had our bad karma and we are ready to have a fabulous time.
More to come as the day unfolds.

Its Time!

Letha took me early this morning to pick up the RV in Georgetown. We pulled in and saw my "new" set of wheels. The Boys have another nickname for her and my lease agreement doesn't allow me to spray paint it on the side either! (Inside Joke for those of you who don't get this)


Later in the afternoon Robin came by and helped me load my scooter! I have no idea if I will be able to get the scooter off the ramp, and already know I will need help getting it back on there. But I am excited at the idea that I will have it with me to ride in New Mexico. I get to learn how to use these tie down straps that are suppose to be so easy.
If you hear cussing from the west it will be me sometime this week.

I am packed and ready for bed. We are leaving around 7am Saturday morning. The dogs have no idea what's in store for them. Until tomorrow....Angel

Its Almost Time

Greetings from Arkansas!

I am in Arkansas this week to finish up the estate on my Mom's house. I will be going by there today to say goodbye to the house I grew up in. The University of Arkansas Ft. Smith owns it now...and personally I hope they turn it into a frat house since all the drinking and partying spirit will be there...might as well keep that going!

I did change my plans a bit to accommodate the UofA, whom needed to take over the house sooner than expected. I p/u the RV on June 15 and leave for Carlsbad on June 16.

Good news is that I have a friend who will be joining me in Santa Fe. More to come on that part.

Keep looking for pictures. Another friend is lending my her camera..since mine disappeared. Thanks Lisa!!!!