Our Journey Begins

As for the title of the Blog "Where’s Mini Me" let me explain. For years we had owned a dark green truck that was used to pull our first camper with. Later I had purchased this jeep for fun and to travel to work. Since it was the same dark green as the truck I felt it looked like a miniature version of the truck. I was reminded of the Mike Myers movie "Austin Powers" with the midget "Mini Me". When we began our travels I had decided to try doing a series of photo’s of the jeep in various locations to highlight where we have been.

AND NOW FOR OUR STORY

We left the Globe Miami area on a Monday morning just after 7:00. As we pulled out of the Mobile Home Park where we had stayed for the last four months a rush of emotions filled my head. We had spent our entire life here, owned a home, raised a family, and had made many friends. It was safe here, and we were comfortable with our existence. I can not explain why we would want to leave all of this and start a new life as the dreaded snowbirds. Why would I want to travel from job to job with nothing secure but the first job?

It seemed that we did not dwell on the many chapters of our lives we were leaving behind that day. We did not even stop to consider this would be the last we would see of the area for some time. We were much more excited about what lay ahead us. Besides I had more to worry about.

I had only pulled our trailer twice and only once with our jeep being towed behind it from Mesa and that had resulted in one very badly blown tire on the trailer that day and another to follow later. So we were very nervous as we traveled down to Mesa and the RV dealership for some last minute warranty work on our trailer. I think I pulled a muscle in my neck checking the mirrors for any signs of trouble. The tension I felt as I waited for something, or anything to go wrong was really wearing on me.

I felt an incredible wave of relief as we pulled into the Mesa dealership and completed our first leg of the trip without any problems. We spent a half a day of last minute shopping at the Cabalas Store to relax while our new home was receiving its final touch up. The trailer was ready, so we were set. There is nothing left to do. We had made every preparation for every event we could think of. We pulled out of the dealership and headed north during rush hour for the second leg of our first day.

Now not only did we worry about some unseen problem but also, would our truck be able to pull it as we believed and had planned? Our route took us from the valley of the sun up to Payson over some steep hills to climb and descend. No, they were not long grades but it would be a good test of how the truck would perform for us in the future.

We stopped at a campground in Payson for our first night. We had traveled for four hours total and it felt like ten. From here we were still only two hours from our starting point. Was it too late to stop and back out of this insane journey we were about to undertake? The excitement still had us strongly in its grasp and we did not even consider it that evening. We had done too much planning, too many preparations, too much to see.

This was to be our final night in Arizona for some time. We visited with our youngest family Orson, Trinity and of coarse Amanda. We had a nice dinner with them and said goodnight to spend our first night on the road.

As we left that morning we headed northeast and climbed the road up to the Mogollan rim. I was slowly beginning to relax and starting to enjoy the drive. Everything was working, and the truck was performing by handling the grades as I had hoped.

The plan was to drive up to Monument Valley on the Arizona Utah border. It was one of those places that you know about that is always close by but you never quite seem to go there. I had made reservations for a RV park at the entrance of the valley. The drive that day took longer than I had planned and I even got confused once or twice as to where I was. But, I was never lost.

The stay at Monument Valley was all we had hoped for and more. We both took lots of unique pictures there as we did the self-guided tour in Mini Me. We visited sites where the Duke filmed "A Yellow Ribbon" and other movies. It was obvious why John Ford had picked this area.

While there we decided to take advantage of the time and spent one more day. We head over to Page Arizona to photograph Antelope Canyon. Again it was all I had hoped for. We took the guided photo tour, which cost a little more but was well worth it. Our guide made it more enjoyable as she played her flute in the canyon. The music seemed to bounce off the walls of the canyon making the time we spent in there as almost spiritual. She was able to point out several areas on interest and some recommended settings. Sometime I listened and then again it was time to experiment. Now I enjoyed having the digital camera.

It is now time to leave and continue on our journey to our new life. We left Utah and headed back through Arizona and on to Colorado. We still had a day before we were to report to our new home so we decided to spend the night in Pagosa Springs for the night.

I found a RV park on the Internet that was next to a stream. They were still in the process of opening up so there was not much to the place. I had hoped to fish in the stream that was right out our back door. The winter snowmelt had the stream running so high and fast that I was not able to do anything but watch. We did go into town to look around.

There is some wonderful looking hot springs spas in town but oh what a smell. Lots of sulfur in the water. We found a Mexican food restaurant and decided to give it a try. This was to be the beginning of our realization that we were not in Globe Miami Arizona. The cuisine is not what we were use too. Perhaps in our new home, after all it has the right name.

That morning we arose early and fixed a quick breakfast. We are now four hours from our summer home. The truck had performed flawlessly. Nothing to do now but drive to work and enjoy the scenery.

We pulled into the Buena Vista KOA campground and were immediately greeted by the owners. It felt GREAT to be here.