In January we did a 3 day weekend trip with our Harley's Owner Group (HOG) to Tombstone. During this trip we went for breakfast to a ghost town called Lowell just south of Bisbee. After breakfast we went to Chiricahua National Monument. Here is the link to the pictures from this trip.
Last week in January we went on a road trip to Padre Island, Texas. It took us 2 days to get there. We had rented a vacation rental with balcony facing west on the intracoastal waterway. We had a a great week of relaxing vacation with lots of fresh seafood. The sand on the beach is very fine and perfect to drive on. See pictures. Here is a little video from my drone.
End of March we went camping for a week in the White Tank Mountains.The White Tank Mountain Regional Park is a large regional park located in west-central Maricopa County, Arizona. Encompassing 29,271 acres (45.736 sq mi; 118.456 km2) of desert and mountain landscape, it is the largest regional park in the county. The bulk of the White Tank Mountains range is located within the park's boundaries. There are plenty of hiking trails within the park. Here are some pictures from our camping trip.
You are probably wondering why there are no pictures from a vacation in 2020 on the website by the end of February. Instead of going on a vacation we invested the money in a new patio. The old stained concrete patio didn't look good anymore and we found a company at the Home and Garden Show in Phoenix. They did a great job rejuvenating our patio. See pictures in the photo album of the backyard.
Beginning of March we went for one week camping in the Saguaro National Monument west of Tucson. During this trip we visited Old Tucson Studios. This was one of the first movie towns build in Arizona. Many movies have been filmed here. On another day we went to the Sonora Desert Museum.
With Covit-19 there will be no vacation trips this year. If there are any I will post an update here.
With the money we saved during the quarantine, no travel, no eating out, etc. I bought myself a new toy. A DJI Mavic Mini drone. The drone arrived on Thursday and I did some tests flying around in the house. That is possible because the drone came with propeller guards. I bumped into the wall only once. Today (29-May) I flew the drone for the first time. We went to our park in the morning and took off on a soccer field. Here is the link to the video from my first flight.
Over the summer we took our travel trailer and moved to the Juniper Ridge RV Resort north of Show Low, AZ. Show Low is at an elevation of 6,000 feet (ca. 2.000 m) and a lot cooler than in the desert in Phoenix. We did a lot of motorcycle rides with friends in the White Mountains of Arizona and in the neighboring New Mexico. Not too far away from our RV resort there is the Petrified Forest National Park. An other trip we visited the La Posada Hotel in Winslow, AZ. La Posada was the last of the great Fred Harvey / Santa Fe railroad hotels. It opened in 1930 as a masterpiece of Mary Jane Colter. La Posada is on the national nd state registers of historic places.
2020 is coming to an end and we wish all our friends and family a Merry Christmas and a better 2021.
We did a Caribbean cruise in January. Pictures can be found here. In Cozumel we tried something new. We did helmet diving. Check out the pictures and video from our helmet dive. Back in Florida we did an airboat ride in the Everglades.
We had a great spring with lots of wildflowers in the desert.
At the end of may we went to an UFO conference in Palm Desert, CA. It was our first trip to an UFO conference and probably our last. Here are some pictures from Contact in the Desert.
In July and August we moved with our travel trailer to Juniper Ridge RV Resort. This active adult resort nestled among the junipers, at 6,100 feet (2.000m) in the White Mountains of Arizona. Juniper Ridge RV Resort offers its residents a cool summer home. This beautiful gated community is heaven for its "55 and Better" active adult residents. The Resort features 528 privately owned lots, and includes both RV’s and Park Models. Here are some pictures from our stay at Juniper Ridge. Including pictures from our motorcycle trips during our stay.
For Gerda's birthday we went on our motorcycles to the Hatch Chile Festival in New Mexico. A couple of days later we went with friends to Almont, CO. were we rented a cabin along the Taylor River.
It already became a tradition for us to visit the Chuck Wagon Festival in Chandler. At this festival crews hold up the old tradition of cooking in cast iron Dutch ovens. Every team has to prepare 50 meals including dessert.
Middle of October we met 3 friends from Austria in Las Vegas and went on a National Park tour with them. We visited: Zion National Monument, Bryce Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Monument Valley and Grand Canyon. At the end we had a nice evening at our house in Phoenix.
Helmut was busy with a couple of business trips to Brazil and Panama in November and December.
We are already into 2018. Gerda and I went to Mexico for a week by the end of January. Here are links to the pictures from the Moon Palace hotel, Chichen Itza and Rio Secreto. Rio Secreto was an experience of a lifetime. We felt like cave explorers exploring a cave for the first time. If anyone of you comes into this neighborhood I can only recommend this tour.
Since we have our travel trailer we are going camping on a regular basis. In February we went camping in Cave Creek. and in March we went to McDowell Mountain Regional Park.
In spring we went for 3 month to Europe. Here are some pictures from our trip to Austria. In July we went with friends to Colorado and did some white water rafting.
Over the Labor Day weekend we went with the motorcycle and some friends to Williams. We made a day trip to the Grand Canyon and another day trip along Route 66.
In September we went on a HOG Rally to see the fall foliage in Colorado. We went from Phoenix to Winslow. Stayed at the La Posada hotel. We continued to Santa Fe where we stayed 2 nights. From Santa Fe we took the "High Road to Taos". We visited Taos Pueblo and made a day trip over the "Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway" . From Taos we went to Denver where the HOG Rally started at the Mile High Harley Davidson dealer. From Denver we went over the Independence Pass to Glenwood Springs. From Glenwood Springs we took the Grand Mesa Scenic Byway to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. From there we went back to Denver where the HOG Rally ended with a celebration at the Mile High Harley Davidson dealer. it took us another 3 days to drive back from Denver to Phoenix. All together we drove 2,762 miles (4.445 km) in 12 days.
2018 is coming to an end and we wish all our friends and family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I don't like advertising on my website, but Google owes me some money. Google will not send me a check unless I have earned $100.00 in ad money. Therefore please click on the ads in the lower right hand corner and check out these advertisers.
We are already into 2017. Gerda and I went to San Diego for a week by the end of January. Here is a link to the pictures from San Diego. Since we have our travel trailer we are going camping on a regular basis. In Wickenburg we experienced the Gold Rush Days. There are some pictures from our desert spring flowers. With our motorcycle club we visited the Titan Missile Museum south of Tucson. We went camping with some friends to the Buckskin Mountain State Park on the Colorado River and in the White Tank Mountain State Park.
We spend the summer in Europe. We spend most of our time in Vienna. In Vienna we visited the National Library. We made a short trip to Budapest. We did a Danube river cruise with some friends. We visited family in Tirol and Salzburg.
Back in the USA we had our house painted. Check out the before and after pictures at the bottom of our "Home in Phoenix" folder.
We did a short trip to Los Angeles and visited Disneyland in December. Disneyland before Christmas is beautiful decorated.