A Touch Of Nostalgia (GA3)

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

I’m currently in my 22nd year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

---

The motorhome is parked at the Paradise Casino in Yuma, Arizona. I’m planning to depart here February 12th.

 

Since my RVing life is changing (see above), I’m starting to re-visit previously visited places. So rather than constantly re-blogging past entries, I’ve decided to do something different.

 

In 2012-2013, Mary and I did a 682 day, 12,679 miles in the motorhome and 8,000 miles in the Bronco, circumnavigation of the United States, which I called The Great Adventure. I called it so because other than my oldest granddaughter’s high school graduation in June in Connecticut, I didn’t know where we would be going or when we would be there!

 

So, unless I do something really different and unusual warranting a new blog entry, I’ll be posting entries from that trip.

 

This entry was posted January 28, 2012…

 

 

Yesterday Mary and I drove the about 65 miles from Painted Rocks Historic Park to Ajo, Arizona. Along the  way we passed through Gila Bend, Arizona where we started south on Arizona highway 85 towards Mexico.

 

It was the first time I’ve driven this highway since January 2, 2004…the first day of my 343 day, 16,000+ mile RV trip through Mexico and Central America. Gila Bend, Arizona was our meeting-up and kick-off point…

 

 

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

 

 

 

 

 

That’s me in the blue vest and white hat just to the right of center. 17 people in 11 rigs started the trip. Only two people in separate rigs went the full pre-planned route. Myself and Bud Kuball (then new friend and now good friend) fourth from left.

 

 

 

 

 

As I drove south on Route 85 it was fun to reminisce those days of a little more than eight years ago. We had not a clue of what we would see and experience. It turned out to be much better than my best pre-trip imaginations. A true life experience!

 

 

 

 

 

Here are three photos from yesterday’s trip on Highway 85…

 

 

 

 

A Border Patrol check point…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To help celebrate my nostalgia… (remember these photos were taken with a film camera and developed along the way…)

 

 

If you’ve got the courage and the time…

You can see 468 photos from the Mexico portion of the trip by clicking this link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/Mexico2004

And 60 photos from Belize…

https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/Belize2004

And 208 photos from Guatemala…

https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/Guatemala2004

And 97 photos from Honduras…

https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/Honduras2004

And 117 photos from Nicaragua…

https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/Nicaragua2004

And 41 photos from Costa Rica…

https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/CostaRica2004

And 4 photos from El Salvador…

https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/ElSalvador2004

And 136 photos from Panama…

https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/Panama2004

 

 

We’re parked at VFW Post #3570 and just in time for the chili cook-off today!

 

 

 

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS.

 Yesterday was partly sunny and 80 degrees. Forecast for today is partly sunny and 84 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Arizona. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 700 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://get.google.com/albumarchive/110455945462646142273?source=pwa

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2017

Central America Trip #104

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

---

The motorhome is parked at Mary’s home in Murphys, California. While here I’ll perform routine maintenance and cleaning of both the motorhome and Bronco.

Mary had surgery on her right shoulder April 15th.

I want to assist her during recovery however I can. I assisted her with her left shoulder surgery in 2009. Whenever it’s convenient and I know that she is comfortable, I’ll make my future travel plans at that time.

 

Mary has finally reached the point that she is comfortable. I’ve programmed her phone so she can speed-dial one of her four nearby neighbors should she need a helping hand. I’ll depart here Monday, May 9th.

 

Recently I’ve been running blogs about my 2004 Central America trip. While here, I’m intending to continue those postings while also alternating with this area blogs.

Today, I’m taking you back to my…

2004 Central America trip…

This trip ended up being 343 days and 16,000+ miles through the back-country of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. 11 rigs started the trip, within a week we broke into three smaller groups for ease of traveling. Only myself and one other rig went the full, pre-planned route. All the others dropped out for various reasons. All returned safely to the United States. I’m planning to show these photos, more or less, 10 a day, whenever I’m not doing something else deserving a blog entry. FINALLY, it must be remembered these photos are prior to my switching to digital in 2006. The films were developed during our trip and the lack of quality control sometimes is plainly evident.

 

Today…Mexico (north-bound) 29…

 

We are still in Durango, Mexico.  A number of American Westerns were shot here at two different movie sets in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. They haven’t been used since that time so they were in some state of disrepair. Many famous actors including John Wayne made famous movies here. Wayne’s last film Cahill was filmed here…

 

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Durango soon…

Here’s my trip website link…http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

 Yesterday was cloudy with showers and 59 degrees. Forecast for today is cloudy with showers and 66 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 600 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2016

Central America Trip #103

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

---

The motorhome is parked at Mary’s home in Murphys, California. While here I’ll perform routine maintenance and cleaning of both the motorhome and Bronco.

Mary had surgery on her right shoulder April 15th.

I want to assist her during recovery however I can. I assisted her with her left shoulder surgery in 2009. Whenever it’s convenient and I know that she is comfortable, I’ll make my future travel plans at that time.

Recently I’ve been running blogs about my 2004 Central America trip. While here, I’m intending to continue those postings while also alternating with this area blogs.

Today, I’m taking you back to my…

2004 Central America trip…

This trip ended up being 343 days and 16,000+ miles through the back-country of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. 11 rigs started the trip, within a week we broke into three smaller groups for ease of traveling. Only myself and one other rig went the full, pre-planned route. All the others dropped out for various reasons. All returned safely to the United States. I’m planning to show these photos, more or less, 10 a day, whenever I’m not doing something else deserving a blog entry. FINALLY, it must be remembered these photos are prior to my switching to digital in 2006. The films were developed during our trip and the lack of quality control sometimes is plainly evident.

Today…Mexico (north-bound) 28…

We are still in Leon…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We move on to Durango, Mexico, passing the 10,000 RV mile mark of the trip along the way. A number of American Westerns were shot here at two different movie sets in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. They haven’t been used since that time so they were in some state of disrepair. Many famous actors including John Wayne made famous movies here. Wayne’s last film Cahill was filmed here…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Durango soon…

Here’s my trip website link…http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

 Yesterday was cloudy and 75 degrees. Forecast for today is cloudy with a thunderstorm and 66 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 600 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2016

Central America Trip #102

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

---

The motorhome is parked at Mary’s home in Murphys, California. While here I’ll perform routine maintenance and cleaning of both the motorhome and Bronco.

Mary had surgery on her right shoulder April 15th.

I want to assist her during recovery however I can. I assisted her with her left shoulder surgery in 2009. Whenever it’s convenient and I know that she is comfortable, I’ll make my future travel plans at that time.

Recently I’ve been running blogs about my 2004 Central America trip. While here, I’m intending to continue those postings while also alternating with this area blogs.

Today, I’m taking you back to my…

2004 Central America trip…

This trip ended up being 343 days and 16,000+ miles through the back-country of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. 11 rigs started the trip, within a week we broke into three smaller groups for ease of traveling. Only myself and one other rig went the full, pre-planned route. All the others dropped out for various reasons. All returned safely to the United States. I’m planning to show these photos, more or less, 10 a day, whenever I’m not doing something else deserving a blog entry. FINALLY, it must be remembered these photos are prior to my switching to digital in 2006. The films were developed during our trip and the lack of quality control sometimes is plainly evident.

 

Today…Mexico (north-bound) 27…

 

We are still in Leon…

 

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

 

 

 

Bud’s lady friend Julie dances on the bar…

 

 

 

Bud and Julie enjoy the great ten piece mariachi band…

 

 

 

They made great music…

 

 

 

This pretty lady was selling flowers…

 

 

 

The central plaza…

 

 

 

More large murals about Mexico’s history…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Leon soon…

Here’s my trip website link…http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

 Yesterday was mostly sunny and 77 degrees. Forecast for today is mostly sunny and 79 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 600 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2016

Central America Trip #101

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

---

The motorhome is parked at Mary’s home in Murphys, California. While here I’ll perform routine maintenance and cleaning of both the motorhome and Bronco.

Mary had surgery on her right shoulder April 15th.

I want to assist her during recovery however I can. I assisted her with her left shoulder surgery in 2009. Whenever it’s convenient and I know that she is comfortable, I’ll make my future travel plans at that time.

 

Recently I’ve been running blogs about my 2004 Central America trip. While here, I’m intending to continue those postings while also alternating with this area blogs.

Today, I’m taking you back to my…

2004 Central America trip…

This trip ended up being 343 days and 16,000+ miles through the back-country of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. 11 rigs started the trip, within a week we broke into three smaller groups for ease of traveling. Only myself and one other rig went the full, pre-planned route. All the others dropped out for various reasons. All returned safely to the United States. I’m planning to show these photos, more or less, 10 a day, whenever I’m not doing something else deserving a blog entry. FINALLY, it must be remembered these photos are prior to my switching to digital in 2006. The films were developed during our trip and the lack of quality control sometimes is plainly evident.

 

Today…Mexico (north-bound) 26…

 

We are still in Leon…

 

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

 

 

 

We saw the most beautiful stained glass of the entire trip in El Tempo Expiatrio (Church Of Atonement) in Leon…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Heros’ Causeway Arch…

 

 

 

The Museo Panreon Tourino is a combination bullfighting museum and restaurant/bar. That’s me running away from the bulls…

 

 

 

This bar has the largest number of bottles I have ever seen…anywhere. The interior is built much like a real bullring  and had a ten-piece mariachi band that played some great music…

 

 

 

A famous bull watches over everything…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The waiters portray a bullfight…

 

 

 

More Leon soon…

Here’s my trip website link…http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

 Yesterday was partly sunny and 73 degrees. Forecast for today is partly sunny and 77 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 600 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2016

Central America Trip #100

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

---

The motorhome is parked at Mary’s home in Murphys, California. While here I’ll perform routine maintenance and cleaning of both the motorhome and Bronco.

Mary had surgery on her right shoulder April 15th.

I want to assist her during recovery however I can. I assisted her with her left shoulder surgery in 2009. Whenever it’s convenient and I know that she is comfortable, I’ll make my future travel plans at that time.

Recently I’ve been running blogs about my 2004 Central America trip. While here, I’m intending to continue those postings while also alternating with this area blogs.

Today, I’m taking you back to my…

2004 Central America trip…

This trip ended up being 343 days and 16,000+ miles through the back-country of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. 11 rigs started the trip, within a week we broke into three smaller groups for ease of traveling. Only myself and one other rig went the full, pre-planned route. All the others dropped out for various reasons. All returned safely to the United States. I’m planning to show these photos, more or less, 10 a day, whenever I’m not doing something else deserving a blog entry. FINALLY, it must be remembered these photos are prior to my switching to digital in 2006. The films were developed during our trip and the lack of quality control sometimes is plainly evident.

 

Today…Mexico (north-bound) 25…

 

The RV’s are parked in Guanajuato. We took the Bronco on a day trip to La Valencia where we visited  the…

 

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

 

 

 

Valencia silver mine…

 

 

 

It was once the richest mine in the world and is still active today…

 

 

The main shaft is 40 feet wide, goes straight down for 1,500 feet and at the bottom spokes out into eight separate shafts…

 

 

 

About 490 million tons of silver have been mined in this area and about three-quarters of that came from this mine…

 

 

 

Back in Guanajauto, elevation 6,666 feet and a population of about 141,000, we found a number of tunnels…

 

 

 

Some of the tunnels are as much as one-half mile long with no ventilation for engine fumes…

 

 

 

And very narrow streets. Not an RV friendly place…

 

 

 

We move on to the city of Leon, elevation 6,250 feet and a population of about 1,133,500. Bud’s friend Julie flew in to join us for a bit…

 

 

 

Called El Templo Expiatrio (Church of Atonement) which began construction in 1921 and yet to be completed…

 

 

 

The interior has over 20 altars and also perhaps the most beautiful stained glass we have seen on the entire trip…

More Leon soon…

 

Here’s my trip website link…http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

 Yesterday was partly sunny and 64 degrees. Forecast for today is partly sunny and 71 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 600 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2016