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Stampede Tour - On the Road posted by Dakota Livesay

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We’ve relocated from the Glenn Ivy RV Park to Canyon RV Park in Anaheim, CA.  Glenn Ivy wasn’t a bad place, but the RVs were little more than ten feet apart.  When the neighbors were partying, you might as well join them, because the party is at your place also.

Canyon RV is much quieter…especially when I have to do recording for the radio shows.  There is a bit of highway noise, but that follows you wherever you go in the L. A. area.

We had a great Thanksgiving with our children and grandchildren.  Hope yours was great also.

We’re spending a few days at the Glen Ivy RV Park in Corona, CA.  This is the town where our weekly radio show regular, Jim MacGregor, lives.

Jim stopped by last night and we recorded a segment about the Fetterman Massacre.  As usual, Jim brought up several points I had not considered.

Traveling from Williams, AZ to here we paralleled Route 66.  There were signs about Route 66 everywhere.  On the way to the RV park, we drove down Temescal Canyon Rd.  Originally, this road was a part of the Butterfield Stage route that connected the East with the West prior to the railroad.  Unfortunately, I didn’t see anything to indicate its historical significance.

So far (two weeks into the tour) everything is going great with the Chronicle of the Old West Stampede tour…except our email. One day we’re on line, and then the next two days unable to get anything. I’ve literally spent hours on the phone trying to get the bugs worked out. Cross your fingers, I believe everything is fixed.

We spent last weekend in Albuquerque at the Western Music Association annual function. We did conversations with performers before an audience. The picture below is of our conversation with the musical group Sons of the San Joaquin.

After a short stopover to visit our friends at Wild West Junction in Williams, Arizona, we’re headed to California to spend Thanksgiving with family.

This morning we are taking off to Albuquerque and the Western Music Association Festival.

Although it wasn’t our intent, we’ve weaned ourselves over the last couple of weeks from the anchored down life, to a mobile one.  We spent several days staying at a friend’s house while we got our new RV and truck.  Then several days at a local RV park while we got ourselves outfitted.

The last couple of days we’ve had a number of friends stop by to wish us luck and good travels.  Yesterday afternoon our pastor, Tom Brown, came by to bestow God’s safekeeping on our new home, our transportation, and travels.  It was a wonderful thing that he did.

Here is the sight that welcomed Jake and I as we went for our early morning walk.  I am going to miss the beauty of Arizona’s White Mountains.

At the same time, I know there are sights just as magnificent throughout the West that are patiently waiting for us to view.

We’ve just about got everything transferred into our fifth wheel. Still have to eliminate a lot of the stuff we have planned on taking with us.

Doing the radio shows and newspaper at the same time has made it some long days.

One thing that has kept us going is beauty around our camping spot. The first picture is the view from our front door. The second is from the bank of the lake a few yards away.

We’ll be heading for Albuquerque in a couple of days.

Have you ever tried to put ten pounds of potatoes in a five-pound sack? Well, that’s an exercise we’re engaged in at this time.

We sold, gave away or put in storage most of our stuff…and I say “stuff” lovingly. But, despite all efforts, we still have twice as much as we can fit in our new home.

Yesterday I even agreed to leave behind my stovetop popcorn popper. I do love my popcorn. We sometimes have “white casserole” as we call it, as our Sunday dinner. It looks as I’m relegated to microwave popcorn.

We’re still at Fools Hollow Lake in Show Low. I’m looking out to the lake. Unfortunately, the fishing isn’t good…as if I have time to fish.

Will be taking off to Albuquerque in a couple of days.

Well, all of the pieces are together. We’re officially on our Stampede Tour. Here’s a picture of our new Conestoga wagon and the horse we’re using to pull it.

We’re in Phoenix taking care of some business, and quite possibly visiting the state archives to get more material for Chronicle of the Old West.

I’m experiencing mixed feelings. I’m excited about finally being on the tour. But, I’m also a bit apprehensive about going from two homes to a 34’ fifth wheel, and five acres to a postage stamp lot. But, I’ve adjusted to worse.

Sunny, on the other hand, is in total excitement, organizing everything.

We had planned on including a picture of our new truck with this entry. But, yesterday was snowy and rainy, and we didn’t have a change to click one. Since we don’t have a picture, how about a description. It’s a one-ton duelly mega cab Dodge. We got white…although I’m not a fan of that color. We plan on “wrapping” it with pictures of stampeding cattle and our sponsors.

We spent the night in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Always like to see the falls.

Idaho Falls, Idaho

We’re headed up to Kellogg, Idaho to get our new Dodge pickup.  Then we’ll head back down to Phoenix to hook up the fifth wheel.

Over the last couple of weeks, in-between a trip to Tombstone, we’ve moved our stuff into storage.  I swear that I will never accumulate so much stuff in the future.

Our next entry should include a picture of our new truck.