Italian Adventure

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Day 877 of Lee and Irene’s Most Excellent Adventure

August 12, 2007

Hello from Great Smokey Mountains National Park on the border of North Carolina and Tennessee. We have been here since May 1st working as volunteers in the Visitor Assistance Program. (GSMNP’s version or the Desk Officer Program we were in at Yosemite National Park last year.) We leave tomorrow, having completed our 3.5 months here. I had hoped to get this blog up-to-date before we got here, but obviously I didn’t make it. When I last wrote, I got up to just before our trip to Italy, so if my memory hasn’t failed me, I will recount our Italian Adventure.

On December 16th we left Montey in the care of my sister Barb and brother-in-law Gene, in Yadkinville, NC. Barb and Gene very graciously drove us to Charlotte, NC, for our very early Jet Blue flight to JFK airport in NY where, after a six hour layover, we transferred to Delta for our overnight, non-stop flight to Venice. When the sun came up we were flying over the Swiss Alps and the view from the plane was amazing! We were met in Venice by daughter Jenni and her husband Tony at about 0900. We headed for Aviano, where they are stationed (Aviano Air Base, a NATO facility). They live in a 2-level, 3 bedroom townhouse which is located off-base but is still US government housing. It is quite large and very nice with a view of the Italian Alps. We spent about a week getting to know our son-in-law, visiting with our daughter, and seeing some of the sights.

On Christmas Eve the four of us drove to Venice to pick up our son Chris who we flew in from NYC so the family could spend Christmas together. Even though Chris was very jet-lagged, we all went to “Venice”. We learned that Venice is actually made up of 2 parts. There is the Venice of the mainland, and Venice, the island, that is the Venice people think of when they think of Venice. That is where all the canals are. The only way to get there is either by boat or by train. Once on the island, the only way to get around is to walk or take a boat (there are water taxis and gondolas). I was very surprised to find that there aren’t even any bicycles on the island (at least none that we saw while we were there). We walked for hours and Tony made sure we saw Venice up close and personal. It was very interesting and the architecture of all those extremely old buildings was beautiful. We had hoped to see the Christmas Bazaar but by the time we made our way over there, it was pretty much shut down. One thing I discovered in Venice is that when you are traveling in Europe, always have some 1 euro coins handy because all the public restrooms cost a euro to enter. No euro, no potty.

We attended Midnight Mass at the Base and then opened Christmas presents. It was so great that we were all together. Jenni and Tony did a good job on their first Christmas tree. (Because of a limited budget, Tony had to get quite creative to make some of the decorations using leftovers from a Halloween Party they had in October, but the result was great.) After a very long day we all headed to bed and slept in. Jenni (with a lot of guidance from mom and a couple of recipes from grandma) fixed a wonderful Christmas dinner of turkey, cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, veggies, and coconut cake. The cornbread dressing rivaled her grandma’s dressing. Fantastic!

Tony took us all to visit Castello di Miramare which is fully preserved with all its furnishings. It is an amazing place! Check out the pictures in our Italian Adventure Web Album. From there we traveled a short distance to the city of Trieste where we searched for a place to eat because all 5 of us were starving! Unfortunately, Italians believe in taking 3 hours for their mid-day meal and they close everything down to allow them to go home for their meal, including most of the restaurants!!!! We finally found a mall that didn’t shut down between noon and 3 and we ate at a restaurant reminiscent of an eatery you might find in Texas! We had some questions about the menu, which Tony attempted to ask the waitress in his version of Italian, and she asked him if he spoke Spanish. They ended up conversing in Spanish instead of Italian. It really surprised me that the waitress spoke Spanish but apparently its not that unusual in the service industry in Italy.

On December 30th the 5 of us packed our bags and boarded a train in Pordenone bound for Rome, about 4.5 hours away by train. The train was very nice and the scenery was beautiful along the way. Once in Rome we walked to Hotel del Tre Stella, several blocks from the train station. I had booked 2 rooms thru a AAA travel agent. At the cost of $250 per night per room, I wasn’t expecting the Ritz but I was expecting an average room. What we got were 2 rooms that I wouldn’t have paid $30 a night for. When Lee and I went into our room we were accosted by an odor that made me immediately nauseous. It smelled like a sewer. I immediately called the front desk to complain and their solution was to bring me a can of air freshener. Thanks for nothing. The next thing we noticed was that the furniture wasn’t even half as nice as what I had in my college dorm room. There were 2 “twin” beds and I use that term loosely because they were actually more like Army cots. The bedding was all mismatched and full of cigarette burn holes. The towels in the bathroom looked like the rags that Lee uses when he washes the motorhome. The shower was so small that Lee couldn’t even use it. Since it was New Year’s weekend and all the hotels were full, we were pretty much stuck. We checked with the kids and their room wasn’t any better. Their room didn’t smell bad, but the heat didn’t work and there were roaches.

We headed out in search of some dinner and Jenni did some shopping along the way. We then got on the subway and headed out to do some sightseeing. Our first stop was the Spanish Steps. On our way out of the subway and also at the Steps there were a lot of “illegal” street vendors. Not only is it against the law for them to be selling their merchandise, but it is also illegal to buy it. It didn’t seem to be stopping anyone and even Jenni bought a belt from one of them. I found it interesting that most of the street vendors are from Africa and apparently are set up with a “lookout” to watch for the enforcement police. While we were at the Steps, all of a sudden there was a whistle and all the vendors grabbed up their blankets filled with their merchandise and disappeared in all directions. It was really something to see!

While we were at the Spanish Steps, somehow Chris managed to meet some girls who attended George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. That is where Chris went to school. Now what are the odds of going to Rome, Italy and meeting a group of girls that attend the same college you attended? Leave it to my son.

From the Spanish Steps we walked to Trevi Fountain, the largest and most famous fountain in Italy. Legend says that if you toss a coin into the fountain you will one day return to the Eternal City. You can understand why it is so famous when you see it. It is awesome! It was so crowded, however, that I never got close enough to toss in any coins.

By the time we visited Trevi Fountain it was getting late so Lee and I headed back to the subway and Chris, Jenni, and Tony went in search of the “night-life”.

Back at the hotel, sleeping was another adventure. When Lee and I went to bed, Lee immediately started complaining about the springs coming through the mattress. I wasn’t having that problem so we switched beds, figuring that because I am considerably lighter than Lee, maybe I wouldn’t be as uncomfortable. Well, I was just as uncomfortable and couldn‘t sleep. I ended up folding up the blanket (which was huge) and creating a sleeping bag, with most of the blanket under me to form some extra padding between me and the broken springs. I was so worn out from all the walking that I was able to sleep, but there was no way I was staying in that room for 2 more nights.

The next morning we had our complimentary breakfast, which consisted of 1 donut or croissant and a 6 oz cup of tea or coffee or cappuccino. Don’t even try to ask for seconds. We talked to the front desk and they said that if we could move our stuff right away, we could move to another room before the people who were supposed to have it checked in. In the new room the bed was better and it didn’t stink, but now we too had roaches and no heat and Lee still couldn’t fit in the shower.

Anyway, it was New Year’s Eve morning and we were determined to have a good time so we all headed for the subway and got off at the stop for the Vatican. We had about a six block walk to St. Peter’s Square. St. Peter’s Cathedral is the most fabulous place. The art and sculpture and architecture are breathtaking. We attended Sunday Mass there, which was held in the chapel area behind the main alter. Mass was celebrated by about a dozen priests and bishops from all over the world and just the procession took about 10-15 minutes. There were parts of Mass and the homily done in 6 different languages. It was a truly unforgettable experience to actually attend Mass at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Vatican City.

After lunch we headed to the Sistine Chapel which, we were disappointed to discover, had closed at noon because it was New Year’s Eve. We also learned that the Vatican Museum, which houses the Sistine Chapel, would be closed the entire next day, so we wouldn’t be able to see it at all. Instead, we went back to the hotel to chill for a while before dressing for dinner. We found a lovely restaurant but because it was New Year’s Eve all the restaurants had special “New Year’s Eve” menus with hefty price increases. Dinner for the five of us cost enough to feed a small country, but it was New Year’s Eve and we were in Rome, Italy, so we didn’t complain too much. After dinner we took the subway to the stop for Piazza del Popolo which, Jenni informed us, was “the” place to be in Rome on New Year’s Eve. Her research told her that was where there would be fireworks at midnight. The crowds (and the drunks) were already filling the piazza when we arrived around 10:30 pm. Explosions were reverberating off the buildings as people set off M80s, firecrackers, and what sounded like dynamite. With people tossing the firecrackers, etc, haphazardly around us, I started having a panic attack and Lee and I decided that we should find someplace else to ring in the New Year. We said good-bye to the kids and back to the subway we went. We tried the “Spanish Steps” but it was just as crowded and crazy there so I decided that surely St. Peter’s Square would be calmer with fewer drunks. I was right, but first we had to navigate the six blocks to the square. People were throwing M80s out of windows into the street. It was CRAZY! However, when we got to the square we could hear Mass being said and everyone was holding candles. It was beautiful and moving. After midnight we headed back to the subway, dodging firecrackers along the way. When we got to the subway we were able to actually sit down for the first time since we had been in Rome. The subway was always standing room only when we were coming and going, but because Vatican City is at the end of the line, and everyone seemed to be elsewhere in the city, we actually got seats. When we got to the stop for the Spanish Steps, the platform was packed with people (mostly drunk) and they poured onto the subway. There was a young girl of about 10 years and her parents who were standing right in front of me. The girl looked green and I leaned over to Lee and said she looked like she was going to be sick. Sure enough, mom reaches into her pocket and pulls out a plastic Ziploc bag and the girl proceeds to vomit into it. At the next stop, the one for Piazza del Popolo, it was like a stampede as people forced their way onto the already packed subway. One father had to fight to keep his son from being trampled when the boy stumbled getting onto the subway car. Fortunately for us, most people got off the stop before we did so we didn’t have to fight to get off at our stop. What a night! I must say that I have NO desire to repeat that experience!

New Year’s Day the kids slept in and after having a real breakfast at a little café that we found near the hotel, Lee and I went out in search of a English guided tour. On a regular day it would have been no problem to find one but, because it was a holiday, we were out of luck. No tours were running so we were on our own. We hopped on the subway and went to the Coliseum (which was closed but we could still see it for the most part) and then we walked thru several other ruins. We found ourselves having to pick our way through all the broken glass because, we discovered, one of the Italian traditions for New Years Eve is that you break a bottle of champagne in the street to bring you good luck in the New Year. I suspect that most people drink the champagne before breaking the bottle. Why waste the champagne? After exploring the ruins we went in search of Piazza Navone that Jenni had mentioned seeing the day before, that was near the Pantheon. She said that there was a carnival there. Map in hand, we set out on foot from the Coliseum. We walked for what seemed like an eternity, got a bit turned around, stopped for lunch at a very nice restaurant, then set out again, determined to reach our goal. We found the Pantheon (also closed for the holiday) and then we found the Piazza Navone we were looking for and took pictures of the goings-on and visited the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi. By then I was done with walking so we hailed a cab. The cab driver took us through so many little back alleys that we had no idea where we were. Just when we started to think we were never going to get back, we saw the train station so we knew we were close to the hotel. I have no idea how far we had walked but it was a very long way.

We met up with the kids and set out for the Hard Rock Café for dinner on our last night in Rome. Again, we left the kids after dinner and as it was after 10 pm Lee and I headed back to the hotel to pack and go to bed because we had an early flight the next morning. We had to drag Chris out of bed in the morning. Jenni and Tony weren’t leaving until the afternoon to take the train back to Pordenone. Of course Chris still needed to pack and we needed to walk almost a mile to the train station with all our luggage in the rain. We could have called a cab but were afraid by the time it got there it would be too late so we walked/ran to the station. Luckily we already had our train tickets and hopped on the train just in time. By then we were sweating from our rush to the station and the train was horribly hot and stuffy. The train took us to Leonard da Vinci Airport. Chris was on a different airline, in a different terminal, so we parted there and headed for our gate. Chris had a direct flight to New York, but Lee and I had to change planes at Frankfurt, Germany and then we picked up our Jet Blue flight from JFK in New York, to Charlotte, NC where Barb and Gene graciously met us at about 11 pm. We had been traveling for over 20 hours and were glad to be back to the comfort of Montey after our 16 day Italian Adventure.

It was a wonderful trip (despite the horrible hotel in Rome) and we were so glad to have had time to get to know our son-in-law and spend the holidays with our children. We also realized how much we take for granted here in the USA, which made us appreciate this country that much more.

Until next time…

Lee and Irene Williams
3700 S. Westport Ave #3193
Sioux Falls, SD 57106-6360
Lee’s Cell 703-402-1130
Lee’s Email leonzo@hotmail.com
Irene’s Cell 703-963-4665
Irene’s Email icw1015@hotmail.com

From October 7 to December 16, 2006

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Day 732 of Lee and Irene’s Most Excellent Adventure

March 20, 2007

The sun is shining brightly over Perry, Georgia, where Montey (our motorhome), Lee and I are attending an FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) Convention, which is a giant RV Rally with several thousand motorhomers in attendance. Last week we were at a Beaver Ambassador Club Rally (our motorhome is a Beaver Monterey) with about 70 other Beaver motorhomes, in Moultrie, GA. On Saturday about 55 Beaver Coaches, including Montey, lined up and caravanned to Perry, GA, about 2½ hours north of Moultrie. I have never seen so many motorhomes in one place before! It is amazing! Motorhomers are the friendliest people around so we are making new friends and enjoying our time here. We leave on Friday and then head down to Florida.

In my last update Lee and I were about to fly to Venice, Italy to visit our daughter, Jenni, and her husband, Tony, who are stationed at Aviano Air Base, about an hour from Venice in northern Italy, at the foot of the Italian Alps. Before I get to that trip, I will fill in the gap between our departure from Yosemite, and our trip to Italy.

We left Yosemite National Park on Saturday, October 7th. For a while it looked like we would not be leaving the park because Montey was so tightly wedged between the towering pine trees that it took almost an hour of sweating for Lee to be able to maneuver Montey between the trees and out of the campground. We traveled East over the Tioga Pass and out of Yosemite. Tioga Pass had already gotten some snow but the road was fine. We didn’t get far the first day, only to Fallon, NV, because we got a late start. The second day we spent the whole day driving east in Nevada. The northern part of the state is a lot wider than I thought! We spent the night in West Wendover, NV on the border with Wyoming. We visited a casino and both Lee and I left with winnings, which was nice. Monday, October 9th Lee had to contend with rain and snow as we traveled through the mountains of Wyoming. We spent the night in Laramie, WY. (The western states sure are BIG!) We made it to Omaha, NE the next day and then to Wakarusa, IN on Wednesday. Anyone who has ever owned a Monaco, Beaver, Safari, or Holiday Rambler, motorhome is probably familiar with the Wakarusa/Elkhart area because of the large service centers there. It is also the area where lots of different motorhomes and trailers and fifth-wheels are built.

Montey had an appointment, for a wide variety of issues, at 0700 Thursday, Oct 12 at the Monaco Repair facility there in Wakarusa. As is usually the case when we visit a repair facility, we were there days longer than expected. In this case we had to leave before they were done because Lee and I both had doctor appointments, that we had made a month earlier, that we had to keep or wait another month or more for new appointments. (Such is life in the American healthcare system.) About 1700 on Oct 18th we left Wakarusa and headed east to Virginia, after making another appointment for Montey. (Such is life in the American RV service system.) While we were at Yosemite we had made appointments in Virginia for our annual physicals, as well as Lee’s cardiologist, and the dentist for both of us. We prefer to see the doctors and dentist that we had for years while living in VA. While in VA, Lee also did his annual qualification at the Fairfax County Police firing range, a requirement for being able to carry a concealed weapon anywhere in the country (applies to all retired law enforcement officers). Because we had so many appointments to attend to, we didn’t get to see a lot of the people we would have liked to have seen, but we did squeeze in dinner with our friends Mike and Sheila Bishop, and Paul and Debbie Willemann. Lee went to the Police Academy with both Mike and Paul back in 1979 and we have all been close friends since then. In fact my kids consider them to be Aunts and Uncles.

Because there was a gap between some of our appointments, we took the opportunity to spend a week at our timeshare condo at Massanutten Resort, just outside Harrisonburg, VA. My sister Barb came up from North Carolina to spend the week with us so that she and I could celebrate our birthdays together (albeit a little late). She and I took in a Winery Tour while we were there, visiting Barboursville and Horton Wineries. Virginia has many wonderful wineries and the bus ride was lovely because the countryside was decked out in beautiful fall foliage.

While at Massanutten we also had the opportunity to see our nephew James (Barb’s son) as well as our niece Laura and her son Jackson (Barb’s daughter and grandson), and friend Natalie. We had a great Texas Hold’em Poker night as well as some exciting rounds of Yatzee (a birthday gift to me from Barb). We also had a nice lunch in Harrisonburg with Doug Graves, Lee’s 2nd Lieutenant when Lee was a Sergeant in Reston. All in all it was a delightful and relaxing week, after which we headed back to Fairfax County to finish up our various appointments.

When we were through with all our doctor and dentist visits, we headed to New Jersey so I could visit two of my sisters who live there, Ann Marie and Kate. We also spent a couple of days with our son, Chris, in New York City (Montey had to stay in NJ, he doesn‘t like big cities). Even though Chris is the one who lives in New York, we took him to visit some of the sights (like the Natural History Museum and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, etc) that we have been to but he never has. We also had dinner at a wonderful Italian Restaurant with Chris and his girlfriend, Kelly. Kelly was a waitress at the restaurant so the four of us received very special treatment and had a marvelous time and a fantastic meal. After dinner we headed to Dave and Busters (restaurant and bar and arcade/amusement center) to watch the Rutgers University football game, which was billed as the “game of the century” or some such. Anyway, it was apparently a really big game because they were undefeated and even the Empire State Building took part in the excitement by lighting up in Rutgers Red. After the game we headed for the arcade and had a blast. Kelly gave us a game card and the four of us had fun competing at driving games and trivia games, etc. We pooled the tickets we won and I got a little food processor with the winnings. It is the perfect size for a motorhome. Although our time in the city was short, we greatly enjoyed our visit with Chris. As an added bonus, we got lots of exercise because we walked miles and miles while we were there. However, my feet, hips, and legs did rebel for a few days after the visit.

After our brief interlude in NJ and NY, it was time to head back to Wakarusa, IN to continue Montey’s visit to the Monaco Service Center. We spent another 8 days there and believe it or not (anyone with a motorhome will believe it for sure) we still weren’t done. We couldn’t stay any longer because they were closing down for the Thanksgiving holiday and we were due in Indianapolis for the Williams family reunion/Thanksgiving dinner. Lee’s Aunt Delores and Uncle Len hosted the event and we flew Lee’s mom, Marita, and our son to Indy for the occasion. As always, it was great to see everyone, and dinner was a true feast.

Day 760 of Lee and Irene’s Most Excellent Adventure

April 17, 2007

Sorry for the interruption to my blog entry. As you can see, a month has passed since I started. We are now in Wildwood, FL at the Monaco Service Center because Montey’s dash air-conditioner has quit working. We arrived Sunday, having driven through the storm that turned into a Nor’easter that is still terrorizing the northeastern states.

Continuing…

On the Monday after Thanksgiving we went to an Allison service center (maker of Montey’s transmission) and Montey received a quick reprogramming (which didn’t solve Montey’s chugging issue). We then headed for Milwaukee to visit my brother Kevin and his wife June. We had planned to stay until Friday, but a big storm was headed that way so we left Thursday night and although it started snowing before we got to Chicago (our next planned destination), we beat the worst of it. We had a good visit with Kevin and June and got in some great hands of Spades (a card game for those of you who aren’t familiar) where June and I were victorious over Lee and Kevin.

Some might ask what in the world would possess us to go to Chicago (or Milwaukee for that matter) in December. Well, we were in Chicago to attend the wedding of Lee’s cousin Kim to her fiancé Joel. It was a beautiful and intimate ceremony held at the Episcopal Church that the couple attends, followed by a reception in the Parish Hall. We flew Lee’s mom up from Florida so she could be there, but the ice and snow really frightened her. She stayed in Montey with us, but because the temperature got down to about 3 degrees during the night, the heat couldn’t keep it any warmer than about 60 degrees and poor Marita froze! She couldn’t wait to get back to Pensacola. Lee could definitely have done without having to climb up on Montey’s roof to clear ice off the slide-outs so we could get out of Dodge (Chicago).

As you will recall, Montey was still not done in Wakarusa. The wrong shocks had been ordered when we were there before Thanksgiving and had to be reordered. First thing in the morning (0630) Montey was in the service bay and before noon we were finally finished having all Montey’s ailments cured, or so I thought. Lee decided to stop at Camping World to have Montey’s mud flap replaced. Five hours and $300 later we were finally back on the road. By then it was 1700 (5 pm) and Lee ended up driving through the night to get us back to Virginia. We watched the sun rise as we left Breezewood, PA and a few hours later we were at Lake Fairfax County Park Campground. Lee got in a short nap before we joined our friends the Bishops and the Willemanns at the Bishops house for our annual Christmas get-together.

Thursday Lee was scheduled for one of those tests that all of us should get sometime after we turn 50. It is the one we all dread but the preparation is worse than the procedure (so everyone says - I wouldn’t know personally). Things went fine and we headed to my sister’s house in North Carolina. You will note that we were slowly making our way south, making Montey much happier.

While we were in Yadkinville, NC, at my sister’s house, my brother John and his family joined us for the weekend. Football was the focus of the weekend because the Eagles (Barb’s team) were playing the Redskins (our team). The Panthers were also playing (John’s team) who we could all cheer for because we don’t have a rivalry with the Panthers and they weren’t playing either the Eagles or the Redskins. As you all know, the Redskins lost (but I won money in a football pool I am in). We spent the rest of the week visiting Barb and Gene and then the following Saturday, December 16th, we all got up very early so Barb and Gene could drive us to Charlotte, NC for the start of our all day journey to Venice, Italy.

I am going to stop here. Look for our Italian Adventure in my next blog.

Until next time…

Lee and Irene Williams
3700 S. Westport Ave #3193
Sioux Falls, SD 57106-6360
Lee’s Cell 703-402-1130
Lee’s Email leonzo@hotmail.com
Irene’s Cell 703-963-4665
Irene’s Email icw1015@hotmail.com

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Day 636 of Lee and Irene’s Most Excellent Adventure

December 14, 2006

Greetings from Yadkinville, NC, where the sun is shining and the temperature is a mild 60 degrees.

In my last post I only covered our travels up until we reported to Yosemite National Park on July 1st for our volunteer duties as Desk Officers with the Law Enforcement Rangers. We were at Yosemite until October 7th and then headed east.

We truly enjoyed our time at Yosemite. When we arrived we were given a camp site in North Pines Campground. Getting Montey settled in our site was challenging. The campground is heavily treed with very large pines. It took 2 people directing, Lee driving, and a large shoehorn, to squeeze Montey into his home for the next 3+ months, but 30 minutes later the task was accomplished. The Desk Officer sites were fully equipped with water, 50 amp electric, sewer, and a phone hookup (we paid for the phone service but nothing else). There was even an official sign identifying each of the sites as “Desk Officer Residence”. None of the sites that visitors stayed in had any hookups at all. Receiving satellite TV proved to be impossible with our roof mounted, dome satellite dish because of all the trees. However, much to our surprise and delight, one of the couples who we replaced, Don and Diane, very kindly gave us a free-standing satellite dish. Charlie (who worked with us) gave us the cable we needed, and with 4 guys working on it for about an hour, we were setup with satellite.

There were 3 couples who shared the responsibilities of the Desk Officer position while we were there (Lee and I, Charlie and Gigi from Hampton, Virginia, and Larry and Carol from southern Illinois) and 3 other couples preceded us, working from April until we arrived in July. Each couple worked 3 days on and then had 6 days off, which gave us lots of time to explore the park and the surrounding area.

Yosemite National Park is the size of the state of Rhode Island, but only a fraction of it is developed. We were located in Yosemite Valley, and the nearest decent sized grocery store was outside the park in Oakhurst, CA. The trip from the Valley to Oakhurst took about 1.5 hours each way. The Village Store, which was located in the Valley did have basic groceries, but to do a real grocery shopping you needed to go to Oakhurst. The nearest Walmart and Costco were located in Fresno, about 2.5 hours each way from the Valley. We made only 4 trips to Fresno during our stay at Yosemite.

The granite walls and formations in Yosemite attract rock-climbers from around the world. Two of the most famous formations are Half Dome and El Capitan, both located in Yosemite Valley. Half Dome looked down on our campground and glowed orange at sunset. What an amazing sight! I never got tired of looking at it. You will see in my pictures that Half Dome came by its name honestly because it looks like it was sliced through the middle and then the other half removed. El Capitan is one of the largest granite monoliths in the world. The Merced River runs through the Valley and feeds the Nevada and Vernal Falls. Yosemite Falls, the tallest in the United States, can only be seen from Spring until sometime in August because it is fed only by melting snow, and dries up in August. It was looking pretty good when we arrived but we were told that its grandeur had already been greatly diminished by then. Bridal Veil Fall, also located in the Valley, flows all year, but like all other water attractions in the park, its volume reduces through the summer because Yosemite receives almost no rain during the summer months. In fact, between July 1st and Oct 7th there was a total of only 3 brief showers, and 2 rainy days. The 2 rainy days both occurred during the first week of October. July, August, and September produced bright blue skies every day, with no humidity, and temperatures between 85 and 110 degrees during the day, but comfortably cool most nights. I have to admit that I really enjoyed the low humidity!

A Day in the Life of a Desk Officer at Yosemite National Park

Our work day at Yosemite began at 0530, when the alarm rang and we got ready for “Bear Patrol”. At 0600 we were in the “Bear Mobile” (a beat-up 1987 Ford Bronco), and Lee got on the radio and announced that “Desk Officer 26 is in-service for bear patrol.” Our patrol route took us from our North Pines campground to both the Ahwanee Hotel and Yosemite Lodge parking lots, to Camp 4 (where most rock-climbers camp), to 2 picnic grounds so we could open the gates for the day, then to Housekeeping Camp, Curry Village, the Apple Orchard parking lot, the Wilderness Lot (where people attempting the Mist Trail, John Muir Trail, or Half Dome Trail would park), Lower Pines Campground, Upper Pines Campground, and finishing in North Pines Campground.

Our job during Bear Patrol was to look for damage to vehicles caused by bears and writing reports when damage was found. We were also stopped frequently by visitors and asked a wide variety of questions, the answers to which were occasionally made up by Lee because we didn’t know the real answer. My least favorite task was telling campers that they couldn’t have wood fires in the morning and that they would have to put their fire out. From May until October 15th, fires are only permitted in the Valley from 1700-2200 (5-10 pm). Sometimes people were in the middle of fixing breakfast or were just about to start. I hated being the “heavy” but Lee refused to do it and since it was a rule that had to be enforced, I was stuck doing it.

On one occasion we were in Lower Pines Campground and came across a bear sitting behind a campsite, indulging in a package of pancake mix that she had stolen from an improperly secured “bear box”. We called dispatch and asked for a Wildlife Ranger to respond (who had to be called out from home because she wasn’t on-duty yet) because it was our first week of patrol and we didn’t know what to do. Campers were gathering to take pictures and bringing their children and babies too close to “see the cute bear”. The “cute bear” probably weighed 400 pounds and the American Black Bear can run 30 mph so getting close is a really DUMB idea.

Some of the calls we were dispatched on during bear patrol included: responding to the Court House (yes, Yosemite NP has its own jail and court) for an alarm sounding, helping a woman who had locked her keys in the bear box (Lee used our personal bolt cutter to cut the lock off), helping a young guy who had locked his keys in his car (Lee used his Slim Jim for that task), taking a report from visitors staying in one of the cabins about a bear who had broken out the window of the cabin to get at food the people had left near the window, helping a Wildlife Ranger release a bear that she had caught in a humane bear trap, helping a security guard scare off a bear that refused to leave the roof of a cabin, and helping rangers keep foot-traffic away from an area where a group of coyotes had a mountain lion trapped up a tree.

We were usually done with patrol by 0800 and Lee would get on the radio and announce that “Desk 26 is secure from bear patrol.” We would then have breakfast and by 1000 Lee would be at the Desk Office. Since I was not a “retired law enforcement officer”, I was not expected to work in the office but I would help when called upon to transfer vehicles to or from the garage located in El Portal, about 30 minutes from the Desk Office, or other tasks that required extra bodies. Because I was rarely asked for assistance, I had lots of extra time so I went on hikes or bike rides with the other couples who were on days off. At the end of August I took a job at the Visitor Center Bookstore, which I enjoyed immensely.

Lee would work at the Desk Office from 1000 until 1600 (10 am to 4 pm) where he would take phoned-in or walk-in reports of stolen property, motor-vehicle accidents, and the like. He was also dispatched to accidents or for traffic control, etc. At 1600 he would go to roll call with the Law Enforcement Rangers and would report on the day’s points of interest. On a rare occasion we were called out, or we responded on our own, to a variety of incidents that occurred “after hours”. On one occasion Lee got out of bed at about midnight and responded to a call he had heard on his police scanner of rangers having trouble trying to arrest four disorderly visitors. You know that he LOVED that!

When Lee came home from work at about 1630, it was time to join Charlie and Gigi and Larry and Carol for “Happy Hour”. That was sometimes followed by a Pot Luck dinner with each family contributing something to the meal, or a walk over to Curry Village for dinner at the Buffet. Other times we made our own dinners but then got together at one of the RV’s for dessert. Both Gigi and Carol were pie-makers, sometimes apple and sometimes blackberry made from blackberries picked fresh by Gigi, Charlie, Larry, and Carol along the trails in Yosemite. Since I’m not a pie-maker, I would bake brownies and provide hot fudge, vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream to put on top of the brownies. Of course, there was also the occasional campfire in the evening (of course we had it out by 2200 per the campfire rules).

After shared stories and lots of laughs, our day would end and we would all retire to our beds in preparation for another wonderful day at Yosemite National Park.
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I really can’t adequately describe how wonderful it was to spend 3+ months is such a awesome place as Yosemite. Between the waterfalls, the rivers, the granite formations, the giant sequoias, and amazing vistas, how could anyone ever doubt the power of our God?! Pictures only tell a very small part of the story, but I hope you enjoy them.

While we were staying at Yosemite, we had the chance to travel a bit. We spent several days on the coast and in Wine Country, and we visited Lake Tahoe. Gigi, Carol and I also took a “road-trip” to Lake Tahoe and left the men in Yosemite to work while we played.

Well, on Saturday Lee and I are off to Aviano, Italy to spend Christmas with our daughter and son-in-law, and on Christmas Eve our son will join us there. The five of us will travel approximately 5 hours by train to Rome on December 30th and we will be there for New Years. Chris, Lee and I will return to the USA on January 2nd.

We wish you all a Blessed Christmas and Joyous New Year.

Until next time…

Lee and Irene Williams
3700 S. Westport Ave #3193
Sioux Falls, SD 57106-6360
Lee’s Cell 703-402-1130
Lee’s Email leonzo@hotmail.com
Irene’s Cell 703-963-4665
Irene’s Email icw1015@hotmail.com 

Colorado to Canada to Arizona to California

Day 505 of Lee and Irene’s Most Excellent Adventure

August 5, 2006

Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings again from Yosemite National Park where Lee and I are volunteering with the Law Enforcement Rangers in their Desk Officer Program which is geared to retired Law Enforcement Officers and their spouses. Before I go into what we are up to here in Yosemite, let me catch you up on our travels that eventually brought us here.

On May 23, 2006 we left El Paso, Texas, where temperatures were exceeding 110 degrees each day, and we headed north to search for cooler temperatures. As we traveled through New Mexico, the landscape started changing from brown to green and off to the west we started seeing snow-capped mountains. After spending a night in one of our favorite places, a Walmart parking lot, in Las Vegas, New Mexico, we arrived in Colorado Springs, Colorado. We stayed is a campground south of Colorado Springs with beautiful views of the mountains. We only spent 2 nights there because we had been there several times before, but we did something that we had never done. We rode the Cog Railway to the top of Pike’s Peak. Previously we had always driven to the top. It took over an hour for us to reach the top of the mountain, but we traveled through beautiful country and had marvelous views along the way. Once we reached the top we had about an hour to explore and take pictures, and of course, grab something to eat (like their world famous “high altitude” donuts) and check out the gift shop. It then took another hour to return to the bottom. The trip was narrated and all in all was a good experience, however, the train cars were configured with facing seats and they were so close that we were literally knee to knee with the people in the opposite seat. The close proximity did serve to encourage conversation, so we chatted with a couple who were “on holiday” from England.

Continuing north, we spent a Walmart night in Casper, Wyoming and then we spent 3 nights at a KOA in Livingston, MT. Livingston is about 45 miles from Yellowstone National Park so we spent a day driving around the majority of the park. We had last been there 24 years ago when Chris was a toddler and I was pregnant with Jenni. We found the cool weather we were looking for when we left Texas, but unfortunately, the day we were at the park was very cloudy and while we had lunch at the lodge that is near Old Faithful geyser, a snow shower blew through. Temperatures in the 30’s is a little cooler than I had hoped for when we headed north, but we still enjoyed our day at Yellowstone.

Day 583 of Lee and Irene’s Most Excellent Adventure

October 22, 2006

Sorry about the delay in completing this post. We were so busy during our time at Yosemite that I never got back to it. We are now back on the road and headed East. Anyway, when we left Yellowstone, we continued north to Waterton-Glacier National Park which straddles the Montana and Alberta, Canada border. We had beautiful weather when we were there, which enhanced our enjoyment of this beautiful park. Because it was only May, the “Going-to-the-Sun” Road wasn’t completely open. They were still working on plowing the 25 feet of snow that had accumulated during the winter. 14 miles of the road was open from the East entrance and 14 miles was open from the West entrance. To drive from one side to the other we had to go about 60 miles around the outside of the park. I wanted to go up the road to see the snow pile, but they didn’t let you get close to where the plowing was going on. The next day we crossed the border to Canada to visit the Canadian side of Waterton-Glacier National Park. That is where we saw several bears going about the business of refueling after a long winter of hibernation.

On June 2nd we arrived in Calgary, Alberta to spend a weekend visiting the Nichols family. We met them last year on our way to Inuvik, Northwest Territories, and we also spent some time with them in Dawson City, Yukon. The plan, on this visit, was for us to put Montey in their driveway. Unfortunately, Montey got out of hand and took a chunk out of the gutter on the side of their house and received a gouge in the side in return! Then to add insult to injury, when Lee was getting out of the motorhome to check the damage, he turned his ankle and landed on his butt in the street. Both Lee and I were terribly upset and embarrassed by Montey’s bad behavior (for those of you who are new to “Lee and Irene’s Most Excellent Adventure”, Montey is our name for our motorhome). Holly and William were extremely gracious and wouldn’t allow us to pay for the damage to their house. We spent a wonderful weekend with them. We were headed for Banff and Jasper National Parks and Edmonton, and despite our near destruction of their house, the Nichols invited us back the following weekend.

Our first destination after leaving Calgary was Banff National Park. The snow-capped mountains, the glaciers, the waterfalls, and Lake Louise, were beautiful. We saw elk along the side of the road. For those of you who haven’t seen elk up close and personal, they look like deer, but they are a lot bigger. You definitely don’t want to meet one with your car. After a couple of days in Banff, we headed north to Jasper. Along the way we came across Athabasca Glacier which is part of the Columbia Ice Field. Tours, via large track vehicles, onto the glacier were being offered so Lee and I took advantage of the opportunity to walk on a glacier. We spent a night in a Jasper National Park campground, where instead of bear warnings, we were warned about the female elk because it was calving season and they tended to be nervous and dangerous. After we got set up in our site, along came a female elk. She walked right by our coach and was as big as a horse! The next day we headed for Edmonton to visit the famous West Edmonton Mall. We stayed at a very nice RV Park just a few miles from the mall. The mall was pretty impressive. Along with a lot of stores, it has an indoor water park with a wave pool, a submarine, and a Pirate Ship (which can be reserved for private parties), an ice-skating rink, and a casino.

After our visit to Edmonton, we headed back to Calgary for another wonderful weekend with the Nichols family. The night before we left we stopped at a fabulous gourmet chocolates store (unfortunately I can’t remember the name). I thought that William was buying chocolates for Holly and the kids, but he also bought a wonderful box for Lee and I (which I devoured almost single-handedly). We really enjoyed our time in Canada, but it was time to head south again.

We returned to the US on June 12th and after a couple of Walmart nights, we arrived at Green River, UT and Shady Acres RV Park. From here we set out to visit Arches National Park and Canyonland National Park which are only about 20 miles from each other. The red rock formations at Arches were amazing, and while Canyonland isn’t quite the scale of the Grand Canyon in AZ, it is still beautiful. We did both parks in one day. We didn’t do any significant hiking, but if we had more time, there were some great trails available.

From Green River, UT we took a beautiful “Scenic Byway” that ran past Capitol Reef National Park. Almost the entire drive from Green River to Glendale, UT afforded beautiful views of amazing sandstone and limestone formations. Montey’s brakes got a workout when we drove around a corner and almost into a cattle drive heading toward us on the road! That was unexpected, even though there were signs indicating open pasture cattle grazing. We arrived safely at Bauer’s Canyon Ranch RV Park where we spent the weekend. It was conveniently located between Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park. We spent Saturday, June 17th, at Bryce Canyon, and the next day, Father’s Day, at Zion. Temperatures both days reached over 100 degrees. We were able to drive the car all around Bryce Canyon, but at Zion we had to park the car just outside the park and take a shuttle bus (without AC) to see most of the sights. We could only drive thru part of the park. Shuttle buses are becoming more common at the National Parks. If it wasn’t so hot, we wouldn’t have minded taking the shuttle, but as it was, we were melting! We saw some people rock-climbing at Zion, which, given the heat and the sunshine, I found amazing. That rock must have been burning hot!

On Monday we headed for Las Vegas, NV. We opted against the most direct route because the most direct highway ran through Zion NP and, along with very steep grades and windy road, there was a tunnel that we would have had to be escorted through due to Montey’s size. Instead we went north about 20 miles before turning west and then south. Needless to say, the heat followed us to Nevada where we stayed for 3 nights. (Didn’t win any money, but had a great time.)

On June 22nd we continued south to Phoenix, AZ. Montey didn’t like go up over the mountains in 110 degree heat. After climbing some steep grades, warning lights appeared in the dashboard telling us that Montey needed to rest and cool off. Sheila Gerbarg, a college friend of mine, lives in Scottsdale, AZ, a suburb of Phoenix. We were able to spend a few days visiting with her and her husband Zach at their beautiful home. Our son Chris flew into Phoenix on Sunday and our original plan was to drive north toward the Grand Canyon that day, but we were so enjoying seeing our friends, who we had not seen for several years, that the three of us spent the evening with Sheila and Zach. We enjoyed Chinese take-out and played “Scene It”, which Zach won.

It was hard to say good-bye to Sheila and Zach, but it was not hard to leave the HEAT! We headed to cooler climes at the Grand Canyon where we stayed in a KOA campground just a few miles from the park entrance. We went up to the park after dinner to catch the sunset over the canyon, but unfortunately, there was a fire on the North Rim (we were on the South Rim) and smoke was filling the canyon. The sunset seen through smoke isn’t nearly as impressive as when there is no smoke, but it was beautiful just the same. Lee was wearing one of his T-shirts from the police department and a couple asked if we were from Fairfax, which we are, and they too were from Fairfax County so we had a nice chat with them before heading back to Montey for a game of Trivial Pursuit, which our cocky son won, though his win only survived until the next evening when I won. Then I got to be the cocky one. We spent the entire next day up at the Grand Canyon and it was a little clearer, but not much, so my pictures aren’t the best, but we still enjoyed our time there.

Sedonna, Arizona, was our next stop. It is a really nice little town, surrounded by red-rock formations. We only spent one night in town but we were able to do quite a bit of exploring and catch a beautiful sunset while we were there.

The next day, June 29th, we headed back to Las Vegas. This was an unexpected addition to our itinerary because the original plan. Originally, we were supposed to drop Chris off at a friends house in Phoenix and they were going to go to Las Vegas for the wedding of another friend. At the last minute, that guy said he couldn’t go to the wedding so Chris needed a ride to Vegas. Since we were on our way to Yosemite National Park in California, it wasn’t too much out of the way, and we got to spend more time with Chris.

Lee and I headed west early the next day. (I had been up all night playing blackjack with Chris at Harrah’s casino, while Lee got a good night’s sleep.) We spent the night at the Walmart in Fresno because we were due to “report for duty” the next day, July 1st, at Yosemite. We were scheduled to work as volunteers in the Desk Officer Program (for retired law enforcement officers and their spouses) from July 1st to October 7th. I will talk about our adventures at Yosemite in my next post.

Until next time…

Lee and Irene Williams
3700 S. Westport Ave #3193
Sioux Falls, SD 57106-6360
Lee’s Cell 703-402-1130
Lee’s Email leonzo@hotmail.com
Irene’s Cell 703-963-4665
Irene’s Email icw1015@hotmail.com
 

RV Adventure

Lee & Irene's Most Excellent Adventure began on March 21, 2005 when we accepted delivery of Montey, a 40' Beaver Monterey diesel-pusher motorhome.