On our way back to Show Low after dropping the new issue of the Gypsy Journal off at the printer in Flagstaff yesterday, we took a break to explore the ruins of Two Guns, which was once a Route 66 icon.

There isn’t much left these days except stone ruins, but you can just feel the history of this old place.

Two Guns is sandwiched between Interstate 40 (which replaced Route 66) and Diablo Canyon, a deep, rough chasm with a history all its own. Warring Indians used the canyon as a refuge and to launch ambushes against their enemies. One legend tells of a “death cave” in the canyon near Two Guns, in which a war party of 42 Apaches hid after raiding two Navajo villages. When the Navajos pursuing the war party discovered the secret cave, they set fires at the entrance, sending their enemies to a horrible death by smoke inhalation and asphyxiation.

Early white settlers built a small, short lived community known as Canyon Lodge here, but the town failed before long. Two Guns was built on the old town site.

Two Guns was named for a eccentric hermit named “Two Gun Miller,” who claimed to be an Apache and to live in a cave in Canyon Diablo. Miller operated a trading post and tourist attraction at Two Guns, making a living off the travelers who passed by.  He was a colorful character who billed himself as “Chief Crazy Thunder,” wore his long hair braided, and told wild tales of his adventures to thrill the tourists.

Two Guns was typical of the Route 66 tourist traps that dotted the highway from Chicago to Los Angeles. Miller built a series of stone buildings at Two Guns, including a zoo where he displayed several mountain lions, rattlesnakes, and a collection of other wild animals. Other buildings include a restaurant, Indian curio shop, and a tourist court where road weary travelers could spend the night.

We drove past the ruins of the old mountain lion pens and across an ancient concrete bridge, then followed a dirt road a quarter mile or so to the main ruins perched on the edge of Canyon Diablo. Most of the old stone and block buildings have fallen in, but one turret-like structure still had a spiral stairway winding up the outside of it.

Being careful of rattlesnakes, we walked around the old ruins and wondered about the lives of those who had been here before us. Peering over the edge of the deep canyon, we understood why it was such an important refuge for the Indians who once lived here, and why it was such a roadblock when the railroad came through northern Arizona. 

The road was a bit rough, but our van had no problem getting us back to the ruins. I wouldn’t want to drive it in a passenger car, and in bad weather I wouldn’t attempt it in anything less than a four wheel drive vehicle.

I was pleased to see that, unlike many of the ghost towns I have been too, overall Two Guns is in decent shape. There was evidence of a camp fire, a few broken bottles, but no graffiti or piles of trash laying around.

Two Guns is located on the south side of Interstate 40 at Exit 230, and is visible from the highway. After you turn off the highway, there are the remains of a service station and campground on the hill to your right, but if you go there, you’ve gone too far. The road to Two Guns is an immediate right after you get off the highway. Drive west about 1/4 mile and turn through the fence to Two Guns. 

Thought For The Day – We have enough youth, how about a fountain of Smart?

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I got the new issue of the Gypsy Journal wrapped up yesterday, so today we’ll make a run to Flagstaff to drop it off at the printer. It’s about 120 miles each way, and while we’re in the “big city” we’ll stop at Sam’s Club to pick up some supplies. This is our Eleventh Year Anniversary Issue, and it sure feels good to reach another milestone!

My granddaughter Destiny had her own milestone yesterday, when she turned three years old. We had cake and ice cream, and wondered again where little ones get so much energy! Here’s the birthday girl with her cake.

And here’s a picture Miss Terry took of my daughter Tiffany and me. You can tell that she didn’t get her good looks from her daddy.

We have never liked the day/night shades that come on most RVs, and since a couple of them need restringing, we decided that rather than deal with that, we’d replace them with wooden blinds. Miss Terry has spent a lot of time online comparing options, and over the last few months we had stopped at several home improvement stores to see what we liked and what fit our motorhome.

After we left the birthday party, we stopped at Lowes and placed an order for the blinds, which should arrive in about two weeks.  We chose Lowes because the pricing was comparable to Home Depot across the street, but Lowes gives veterans a 10% discount. I appreciate that, and try to spend my money with stores that support our troops and vets.

When I handed the clerk my credit card to pay for the blinds, it was declined. Huh? No way. I told her that there must be a mistake, so we tried it twice more, and the card was declined both times. That’s really embarrassing. I used a different card, and the minute we got back to the Winnebago, I called my bank to see what the problem was, since I knew I had the money available.

After shuffling me between a couple of different customer service representatives, they told me that yes, my account is in fine standing, but they had declined the charge because our billing address is in Nevada, and this was a “large purchase” in Arizona. “We do this to protect you,” the young lady on the other end of the phone told me.

This has happened to us before, and it really ticks me off. I always feel like telling them that I’m 57 years old, I spent more time in uniform than they spent in high school, and I’m heavily armed to boot. I can look after myself, so stop protecting me!

I pointed out to the young lady that the name on my account includes the words “RV Travel Newspaper,” which might imply that we travel, and that we frequently make “large purchases” from Arizona to Florida to Michigan, and points in between.

Once we got that resolved, we had a quiet evening at home. Miss Terry gave the new issue a final proof reading and I made the changes necessary, then we had a light dinner and I posted a travel story to the RV Net Blog while we watched a movie on the Hallmark Channel.

Thought For The Day – Closed minds always seem to be connected to open mouths.

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Since all I did the last few days was work on the new issue of the Gypsy Journal and feel crappy from allergies, I thought that today I would share a chuckle or two with you, in the form of some of the oddball homemade RVs we have seen, or that others have shared with us.

You have to wonder what some of these people had to have been thinking, to invest that much time and energy into the end result. Some folks obviously have way too much time on their hands!

My friend George Stoltz sent me this photo he took in Temple, Texas of a homemade fifth wheel trailer that started life as a school bus. What would you pull that thing with, anyway?

Here’s an oddball bus conversion that Joyce Space saw in Albuquerque, New Mexico a while back. I guess if you live in a topsy turvy world it might come in handy.

Longtime reader Steve Clarke just sent me this picture of a truck camper turned fifth wheel that he took near Fair Oaks, Indiana.

Now here’s an example of redneck engineering from Lapeer, Michigan. I think if this pulled into the campsite next to us, I’d go sleep at the nearest WalMart parking lot.

I assume this belongs to the best buddy of the guy who built the previous contraption. I don’t want to park next to him either.

Now, if you want to get into those tight camping spots, this custom VW camper might be just what you’re looking for!

Here’s another small homebuilt rig that just leaves me scratching my head and asking why?

Now, some rednecks have more class than others, as this photo Janice Schultz took in Townsend, Tennessee proves.

And finally, this is one I almost have to admire. Somebody put a lot of work into building this, this… whatever the heck it is. Mel and Carolyn Henley took this photo in Hatch, Utah and suggested that if I ever wanted to trade in my Winnebago, this might be the rig for me. Or not.

Have you taken any photos of oddball RVs? If so, I’d love to see them.

I took a break from the computer long enough to let Bad Nick post a new Bad Nick Blog titled You Won’t Sneeze Long. Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day -  Laws should be like clothes. They should be made to fit the people they serve.

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Hindsight is always 20/20, and more than once in my life, I’ve found myself repeating that old saying “I sure wish I knew then what I know now.” Looking back over my life, from today’s perspective, I can see a lot of things I would change, if I had it to do over. 

For example, going back to my high school days, I wish I had spent more time paying attention in typing class, and less time staring at that pretty girl with the long blonde hair who sat across the aisle from me. I’ve forgotten who she was long ago, but as a writer, knowing how to type with more than two fingers would really come in handy. Somebody gave me a touch typing instructional CD a couple of years back, but the habit of a lifetime are hard to overcome.

Speaking of bad habits, anybody who saw the pictures of my daughter in the last two blogs knows that she is the one in our family with the willpower. Tiffany was able to break her unhealthy habits at a relatively young age, while mine are so ingrained that I will probably never lose that kind of weight.

More than once I have wished I had made a career out of the Army. I made rank fast, and I enjoyed military life. It would be nice to have that military retirement to fall back on at this point in my life, and as a fulltime RVer, I’d sure love to be able to take advantage of the Fam Camps on military bases across the country.

Of course, like every RVer, I have my “shoulda, coulda, wouldas,” as my friend Joe Kieva calls them. If I had it to do over again, I’d have done more homework before we started out, and bought a diesel pusher motorhome to begin with.

I would not have invested so much money in an expensive campground membership in our first month on the road. But back then, we had never heard of resale memberships and the bargains they offer.

One thing I would have invested in was an automatic rooftop satellite TV dish. After over ten years of fumbling around with a tripod mounted dish, it sure is nice to just push a button and sit on the couch waiting until the dish locks onto a signal.

I could go on and on – there are roads we should have traveled, and those we should have avoided. There are campgrounds where we should have stopped, and others where we should have just kept right on driving. And there are several dead end streets we never should have turned down! But we’ve all been there, haven’t we?

As a fulltime RVer, there is no doubt that the one thing I would do differently is to have started out years earlier. We were in our mid-40s when we hit the road, and we regret the years and adventures we missed, while we were stuck in our workaholic ruts. I’ve never heard a fulltimer say that they wish they had worked longer, or that they had not started out so soon.

Of course, Miss Terry always reminds me that who we are today is the result of all of the things we have experienced in the past, good or bad. And some of those missteps do lead to good stories to tell around the campfire.  Yes, you really can back up a motorhome with a tow car attached if the street is narrow enough and the neighborhood shady enough to prevent you from wasting time unhooking. You shouldn’t, but you can!

So what about you? What would you do over, if you had it to do again?

Thought For The Day – Sometimes life gives you a second chance.

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In yesterday’s blog, I reported that my daughter Tiffany had lost over 85 pounds. Miss Terry informed me that the actual figure is 100 pounds. I stand corrected! Wow, what an achievement! Tiffany lost a whole person!

Tiffany wanted me to thank everybody for their birthday greetings and kind words in yesterday’s blog comments. You all really made her feel special.

The last few days, I’ve been chained to my desk getting the new issue of the Gypsy Journal ready to take to the printer on Monday, but yesterday we took a break for a while to run into town and take Tiffany and her family to dinner to celebrate her special day.

The dining options here are rather limited; we have a few fast food joints, some mediocre medium priced restaurants, some mediocre higher priced restaurants, and a handful of good places to eat. One of our favorite restaurants here has always been El Rancho in Pinetop.  No trip back to our old hometown is complete without at least one dinner at El Rancho, so when I asked Tiffany where she wanted to go, that was her first choice, and I was only too happy to agree. As always, the service was great and everything we ordered was delicious.

When we went to dinner last night, Tiffany made me promise that I wouldn’t tell anybody at the restaurant that it was her birthday, because if they find out, they plop a big sombrero on your head, sing to you, take your picture, and bring you a dessert of fried ice cream. Her dad may be a ham, but Tiffany prefers to keep a low profile.

I was very good and never said a word, but then just about the time we were finishing our dinner, three year old Destiny told our waitress “It’s my Mommy’s birthday!” Here is Tiffany sporting her new headgear! Pretty stylish, huh?

When I reported in Saturday’s blog that we had opened registration for our Eastern Gypsy Gathering Rally, I said that we had 80 50 amp full hookup RV sites available. It looks like that may have been an error. Bob Patel at Elkhart Campground informed me that a few (I don’t know exactly how many)  of those sites will be rented to other campers during the rally.

Considering the fact that we have taken reservations for 31 of those 50 amp full hookup sites in just six days, if you absolutely have to have one, I wouldn’t want to delay too long in registering.  We also have a lot of 30 amp full hookup sites available for the rally, as well as 50 and 30 amp water and electric sites, so we’ll be able to accommodate almost any need.

I have been searching for campgrounds near Vail, Colorado, without much success. Miss Terry’s son, Casey, is getting married in Vail in mid-July, and so far, the closest parking option we have found is the Elks lodge in Silverthorne, about 30 miles away, which has a couple of 20 amp electric outlets. If anybody has spent any time in that area, we’re open to suggestions.

Bad Nick has been pretty quiet the last few days, but he pushed me away from the computer long enough to post a new Bad Nick Blog titled Cotton For Brains. Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere.

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