Saturday, October 26, 2013

We have arrived in Santa Fe...now what season are we in?

 Last Saturday, October 19th, we left Tuscon with temps in the 90's.  
When we arrived at Buffalo Thunder Resort it was in the low 40's.


As you can see, nothing in the truck moved when we moved... and all was good.

After unloading the truck and having pizza with Luke and Karla,

we headed up into the Sangre de Cristo 
mountains and we found some really nice fall colors.

Not far from the Ski Santa Fe area we also found some snow.
Friday night we left Santa Fe in a thunderstorm.  We actually 
drove through three areas with snow covering the road.


Today, you can see the mountains are covered in snow.
Now we are not sure what season we are in.....

From Rick and Gwen at Buffalo Thunder, Santa Fe, NM

Friday, October 11, 2013

2004 40'TGH Tiffin Phaeton for sale.......


The time has come to separate from the the Tiffin and head to Santa Fe, NM.  Yes... we are now in the process if letting our Tiffin go.  With the new employment offer in Santa Fe, NM  we feel that it is best to send our wonderful home off to a new owner....

If you know of any one looking for a great home and fun adventures please send them our way:

2004 Tiffin Allegro Phaeton 40'6” (40TGH) with only 17,000 miles.           $76,500.00
4-Season Coach on a Freightliner Raised Rail Chassis
330hp Caterpillar Diesel Engine with Cruise Control
6 speed Allison TransmissionHWH Leveling System
- Front 2
Michelin tires NEW in Nov-2012
- Rear 4 Michelin tires NEW in Oct-2013

3 Slide with awnings
Back Up Camera 

Power / Heated Mirrors



Day / night shades with neutral ceramic tile flooring, and beige carpeting with natural wood cabinetry add to the exceptional décor of this GREAT coach!!!
No Smoking and no pets.


Outside Features:
7.5 W Onan Diesel Generator with 44.5 hours
Double Pane Windows
2 A/C and Heat pumps
2- 30,000 BTU propane furnaces (serviced last year)
2 window awnings and 21' Patio Awning
4 newer coach batteries and Xantrax inverter

2 chassis batteries


Living Room Features:
- NEW 39” Samsung Flat LED TV 
with Samsung Blueray and Surround Sound
- Dish Tailgater and VIP211K satellite system, Cable Ready
2 leather Flexsteel captains chairs
Sleeper Sofa 

Leather recliner
Smoke Detector


Kitchen Features:
Corian Counter Tops 

3 burner stove with oven and Microwave hood
Refrigerator and freezer with Ice Maker
Washer/Dryer Combo







Bathroom Features:Corian Counter Tops 

Garden Shower with skylight
2 Sinks each with a vanity


Bedroom Features:
- NEW 22” Samsung Flat LED TV
Walk around Queen Bed with Overhead Storage
Full back closet and storage dresser
Co2 Detector





Basement Features:
Full pass-through storage with a full slide
Built-in Dirt Devil Vacuum
Heated wet bays and storage areas




Our contact info is as follows:
Rick and Gwen Battis, 785-213-7689

Unit is located close to the intersection of Pantano & Speedway in Tucson, AZ



The newer Tiffin that was next to us on Christmas day 2012 in Lawton, OK froze up...  We did not!  Yes we have had may great adventures in this rig and hope that the right folks find it that are also looking for many more adventures.....

Monday, October 7, 2013

Arizona for a week....

 We have landed in Arizona and have been here for the past week.  There have been many projects with opening up the RV, doing various repairs on it, and taking the VW in for a check-up.  We have also had some time to re-explore the area.

We were able to take my parents over to the Dragoon, AZ area.

This is an amazing area with large boulders strewn randomly all over the place.

 There were also some interesting trees.

We have been able to visit some of the State parks in the area.  
As you know, the National Parks, including Saguaro National Park, are closed....

Yesterday we went to Gate's Pass State Park.  It is an really neat area that has Saguaro in abundance.
It also has many other types of cactus, including: 

Pencil Cholla (above) and Teddy Bear Cholla (below).

  Even though Teddy Bear Cholla sound cute and cuddly... THEY ARE NOT!  
They are the option of choice for many desert animals to use as a barricade to protect their dens and home in the rocks.  They make for a great barbed wire fence, but not a nice object to snuggle with.
Why you may ask?

When they come in contact with your skin, it is not fun.  This one started by grabbing my shoe while I was hiking. Then, not knowing that it was already attached to my right shoe, I lifted my right foot to step over another cactus.  I swung my right foot around behind my left leg and OUCH!

 I was able to hike back to the parking lot where Gwen and my parents were waiting for me.  
I  had my multi-tool and about 15 painful minutes later, I had a holey leg minus a cactus.

 I have been finding small spines in my left leg ever since....

Monday, September 30, 2013

The "Best of Juneau" have returned home!!!

We have seen the sunrise and the sunset on many mountains, highways and locations.

Sunrise on Ha Ling peak near Canmore, BC.


Sunset over the Konza Prairie near Manhattan, KS.

We were also able to spend some time with friends and family.

Friends Dale and Korbin on the Konza Prairie.

CAUTION:  birthday cake or bonfire in Minnesota.

Our Brother-in-law and Sister-in-law celebrating their Birthdays.

Happy birthday, Tammy and Othelmo.

I don't think the cake faired as well as the two celebrities did....

I was also able to visit some of my favorite Kansas photography locations.

Ward-Meade Park in Topeka, KS


Konza Prairie near Manhattan.

Some of the wildlife that we were able to see on the way.
Our younger son, Gideon.  Have I seen that pose before?

Our final sunset on the road was in Santa Fe, NM.

Saturday September 28, 2013 at about 4:30pm we arrive back at the RV in Tucson.

All that Gwen could say was, "Home again, Home again, Jiggidy jig"

2 Countries, 8 states, 339 hours, 5,253.9 miles and we are home.
Yes, in my opinion, the "Best of Juneau" has returned to Tucson!


Thursday, September 19, 2013

Why no crosswalks...?

 I just drove part of the Alaska Highway, the Cassiar Highway, part of the Yellowhead Highway and the Ice Fields Highway.  We realized we have driven over 2,000 miles since we left Skagway, AK.

It seemed like every other kilometer we saw Caution signs for Moose. We have now shortened that term and refer to them as "Moo".  Caribou we now call "Boo".  Then, last but not least, Caution signs for Bear.  I was going to call them "Arr" but when you are driving down the road yelling for "Boo" or "Moo" that is one thing.  If you start calling out "Arr", I was afraid a logger or miner with a wooden leg and eye patch might walk out into the road.  I am not sure how many points I would get for hitting one of them?  Plus, a moose rack or caribou rack would look more impressive on the top of the car than a one legged, one eyed miner, I think.

Anyway, the only wild animal that we saw( besides a marmot and a squirrel) was in Jasper, Alberta in a store.  Yep, there was a sparrow in the store...and no Caution sign for it either!

 It flew off into another part of the store. Less than two minutes later we walked out of the store.  What did we see in the front window...?


Yep, it was our buddy, the sparrow, that did not make it out alive.  Maybe that is why we did not see any "Mo" or "Bo".  We didn't want them ending up with their feet up like the sparrow, in front of our car.

My honest conclusion is that by each and every one of those thousand-plus Caution signs we saw, there were no Crosswalks.  There were no marked areas for any of those animals to safely cross through the traffic.  How were they to know where to walk across the busy (most of the time it was just us) highways of Canada?  Every town has them for pedestrians...why not nature's pedestrians?

Well, with that experience behind us, we headed to Banff and Canmore.  We were almost in the clouds most of the day.  The peaks were hidden and the glaciers were barley visible.

When we did arrive in our Canmore hotel, we were told that we were upgraded to the Pullman Suite. 


This is a two room suite with sliding french doors, fireplace, hot tub and TWO sofas.  Gwen has been without a sofa for over five months.  She was almost as excited about the sofa as she was the hot tub.


Then this morning as she was enjoying her sofa again I headed out to capture the mountains... still in the clouds. 



It was worth it.  This area between Jasper and Canmore is one amazing stretch of God's country.




Monday, September 16, 2013

Heading north to go south..? Only in Alaska...

We left Juneau on Saturday at about 7:00 AM on the Alaska Marine Highway, aboard the Taku Ferry.

Just when we thought we were on our own, we found some friends we had worked with this summer! (They work for the bus company that takes all our tourists to their Whale Watching Tours.)
Now we had some Traveling Buddies for the day.  It took the sting out of having to say "goodbye".

Once we left Auk Bay we turned north up Favorite Channel.


Our final destination on the Alaska Marine Highway was Skagway.
The farthest northern port on the Alaska Inside Passage.


Once in Skagway we headed up to the Canadian border.
Up being farther north and up in altitude.


After a night in Whitehorse YT, we headed east on the Alaskan Highway.


Then at about 3:00PM on Sunday we finally started to head south on the Cassiar Highway.
This is an amazing area.  We would recommend the drive to anyone.


However, it was not till Monday that we were finally driving south of Juneau's latitude.
We were just on the opposite side of the Juneau ice fields.

From: Rick & Gwen; heading south.