The Next Great Adventure

We are heading to the Pacific Northwest to sail the San Juan Islands this summer. Our first stop is Pilar New Mexico. Yoli finds her Zen Rock on the River and home is where we park it on the side of the road. All the state campgrounds up the river were closed due to Covid so we went to the end of the road, turned around and found this nice spot above the river and stayed a couple days. It was quite, peaceful, and socially distant.

 Biking the TexRail Trail

Today we take off with Tom & Nan for a bike ride along the TexRail Trail. We do a respectable 20 mile ride and finish with drinks and appy's at a local pub.

 Hang'n in the Hood

We meet up with my new best friends and neighbors, Don & Jaqueta. We have happy hour in the driveway and discuss the last trip and share our plans to head to the Pacific Northwest this summer to do some sailing in the San Juan Islands. But right now, it is wine down time with my new best friends.

 Home Sweet Home

It was a great trip, but Covid pandemic is going crazy, so glad to be home. We covered quite a few miles and several of my favorite places. Yoli was a trooper and we are already planning our next trip. Time to strip down the RV, blow out the dust, and reload for the next great adventure. But first, I think we have some home projects to do. I think I have moved in to stay.

 Amarillo by Morning

It is almost over now as we cross the Texas border and stop for the night in Amarillo. Yoli was a real adventurer this trip being new to RVing, Boondocking, and learning the journey is the destination. She got to drive the RV, Hike Sedona, Canyoneering in Zion, and Dry camp in the desert with my friends. It was truly a great trip. But today, we visit Cadillac Ranch for a bit of nostalgia.

Getting our Zen in Sedona 

On our journey back home, we stop in another favorite place of mine, Sedona Arizona. By now, everything is shut down, no stores are open, only the essentials and the few people we run into on trails, some are wearing masks. Yes, in the middle of the desert, very few around, and they are wearing masks and stepping off the trail to let us pass. The pandemic is in full swing now but we are practicing social distancing by getting in our Zen Zone in the desert. We are boondocking on CR425 just south of Sedona, only a few others around, we have a full moon and clear sky and it was just enchanting with my Yoli.

 My Lucky Horseshoe

As things begin to shut down, we make the turn and start heading back home. We stop in Page Arizona at Horseshoe Bend and again, no one is there. No buses, No tours, no crowds, just us and surprisingly the national park gate attendant to collect our $10 entrance fee. We park and walk the half mile trail to the ledge and no one is home, we have the whole place to ourselves. It was kinda freaky like armageddon had ended and no one but us were left, Adam and Eve of the new era.

 Angels have Landed

After our epic hike up the Narrows, today we climb Angels Landing, my favorite hike. We can't go the last 100 yards up the chains due to Covid (no one to clean the chains I imagine). So we settled for what we got which was pretty cool hanging our legs off the 400' cliff with my new found adventure partner Yoli Canoli now with Canyoneering under her belt.

 Fools in the Narrows

We continue north during the pandemic hoping to get to my favorite place before Covid shuts it down, Zion National Park. It is April Fools day, and the park is still open so we take advantage of the lack of people in the park and we head to the Narrows to hike in the stream up the canyon. We rent full dry suits and booties for the trek. We grab our poles and drive to end of the park since the shuttles were not running due to Covid. Very few people in the narrows today. Normally 100's are suiting up for the 1-20 mile stroll up and back through the canyon creek. We hiked only about 4 miles, but it was slow going due to the muddy water from rain run off days before. It was moderately deep but not higher than our waist at points. It was a lot of fun. Check out the video under our trips of 2020.

 London Bridge

After playing in the desert, we headed north to Lake Havasu where we walked the London Bridge.

 Boondocking in the Desert

We meet up with Mitch and Lori in the Arizona desert just off Plamosa road near Quartzite. We hike, we bike, we walk the dogs, eat, have a few drinks and really learn Yoli in the art of boondocking in the desert. She pot lucks with friends, hits the yoga mat in the morning with Lori, then we go for the daily dog walk in the desert. Life is good, Yoli is stepping up to be a true Glamper in the boondocks.

 Glamping in Tucson

Just to make sure to get Yoli started out on the right foot "Camping", I decide to take her to the Lazy Days RV Park in Tucson with full hook ups, restaurant, pool, laundry mat, pickle ball courts, and best of all, pool side margarita service. She learns real fast to like Glamping over camping. We pick lemons, oranges, and grapefruits right from the trees between the RV spots. We make lemonade and enjoy the sunshine. The real test is when I take her out to the desert and introduce her to Boondocking with my camping friends.

 Our first long RV trip

We pack up the RV and head west out I-20. Unknown to me, Yoli shoots pictures of my license plates and sends to friends if she does not report in, they can call the authorities to hunt us down. Well far from the truth, we were loving the road and the adventure. This is where I find out that Yoli really does like to travel and enjoy a good adventure. Not to mention, Covid is just ramping up into a pandemic during this trip so it proved to be a good social distance excursion into the desert.

 Stroll on Main - Grapevine

I am not a local Grapevine person, so Yoli is showing me her town. She has lived in Grapevine for over 20 years working out of DFW Airport for American Airlines. I had been to downtown Grapevine a couple times but really not much. Yoli and I stroll down town and tour the shops. We make stops at the Oil shop to sample olive oils, vinegars, and other strange things. We then make our way for drinks and appy's at a local Mexican restaurant Esparza's.

 Bonfire Night on Lake Grapevine

I am learning that Yolanda has many friends and loves to socialize. I think Nan is her partner in crime lining up daily and weekly gatherings and events. I also learn that most of the gang is ex airline people as Yoli spent 30+ years at American Airlines before retiring. This night was one of many to come. I met Frank, Bob, Kathy, and others this evening and enjoyed chatting with everyone.

 Live Music in Roanoke

Just back from Cancun, Yolanda and I meetup with Yolanda's friends Tom and Nan for drinks and live music where Michael Lee is playing in Roanoke Texas. It was a fun night and we could not get enough of each other.

 First International Trip - Cancun

Yolanda flew to Cancun for a week long girls trip and we continue to text long distance non stop. After a week, the condo is available so Yolanda invites me down for some beach time. Of course I jump on the next plane and to spend time at the pool and beach with Yolanda. It was an awesome trip and we continued to chat it up and really enjoy each others company.

Click Here for Cancun Slide show

 Movie Night

By February 19, we were hanging out almost daily, I don't even remember the name of the movie we saw, but we did our first movie night together and we are all smiles and giggles again like teenagers in love. :)

 First Date - Frisco Hockey

After meeting online we met up for coffee while I was getting the RV serviced at the dealership in Arlington. We chatted for 4 hours and was an instant connection. Yoli was going skiing for the weekend so we did another meetup the next day Starbucks impromptu "Can you be there in 20 minutes?" kinda thing. We chatted again for a bit then headed to a pasta place in Dallas to pickup some homemade pasta. We chatted all the way floated the idea of joining up on the ski trip but that did not happen. While she was skiing, we text, we talked, we could not stop chatting it up on the phone or via text late through the night. When she returned I picked her up at the airport with flowers and the rest was history. As for the first date? I believe the official first date was with Tom and Nan her friends that I think wanted to size me up and verify my intentions more than anything. We met them in Frisco for a Hockey game and I believe this was the first picture of us together Feb. 10, 2020. Soon later, I got the talk from Nan "Don't do anything Stupid for 2 years!", I don't think she meant like get her pregnant, I think she meant, don't run off to Vegas and get married, give it two years.

 The Adventure Begins

We met online and these were a couple of pics from our profile that got the hearts connecting enough to reach out for a coffee meetup. We first exchanged text on January 22, 2020 when Yolanda sent me a smiley face :)

I am sure what caught her eye was my profile line that read...

I am unemployed and live in a trailer with my mother.

after that, coffee on the 24 and 25th. Then we just could not stop chatting it up daily from there on out.