First day fishing in Aransas Pass

Gary had a great time. He caught a large black drum. Thanks to Wes for the pictures.


Now that's a fish.


Have to return it to the sea as it is too big to keep.


Wes caught a big one too.

Lake Medina, Thousand Trails, Lakehills, Texas

We enjoyed this campground very much. We were here from Feb 13-19. Gary was able to put the porte-bote in the water 2 days. One day he hooked a fish that swam under the boat and broke his line. Gary says it was a large fish.


Gary getting ready to put the porte-bote together.


There were lots of deer at this campground


One day we had ducks on the right and deer on the left of the motorhome.

National Museum of the Pacific War

During our stay at Lake Medina, we decided to drive to Fredericksburg and tour the National Museum of the Pacific War which is home of the Admiral Nimitz Museum. The Museum consists of five sections, the Admiral Nimitz Museum, the National Museum of the Pacific War George Bush Gallery, the Vetrans walk of honor and memorial walls, Japanese Garden of Peace, and the Pacific Combat Zone. The cost of the tour was $7 per adult. They do give discounts to vets and senior citizens. The George Bush Gallery is currently 20,000 sq. feet; however, this section will be closed June 1-Dec 7 of 09 as they are adding onto the museum. We really enjoyed our day and will go back to see all the additions.


The home of the Admiral Nimitz Museum used to be a hotel owned by the Nimiz family.


Midshipman Nimitz with his grandfather.


This is a link from the anchor chain of the USS Nimitz

George Bush Gallery

Wow!!! what great displays in the George Bush Gallery. This is a huge area. They are currently adding more. Gary and I are planning on returning to see the display again sometime next year or in the years following. The order of the displays with the information contained is also great. We could have spent hours here.


This display depicts the raid on Toyoko. This is a B-25 on the deck of the USS Hornet, getting ready to take off as part of Doolittle's Raid.


This is part of the USS Hornet.

These belonged to a survivor of the Battle of Midway.



What a display. This depicts the Japanese attempt to launch midget subs from the deck of a regular sub.

Pacific Combat Zone

We ended our tour of the National Museum of the Pacific War with a tour of the Combat Zone. The tour begins with film clips from the news during the war narrated by Lowell Thomas. On the tour we were able to see PT 309. The PT boats were made out of wood. They had no military use after the war so most them were burned. This PT was in the US at the end of the war and thus escaped being burned.
The tour includes a quonset hut set up as a field hospital. There is a Pacific Island battle ground which depicts what the US forces encounter when hitting an island. Our guide informed us that they have WWII battle reenactments there. The reenactment includes tanks firing their guns and flame throwers which can be seen in the George Bush Gallery. We really enjoyed this tour and would like to be there during one of their reenactments.

This landing vessel was nicknamed the water buffalo. It was designed to get through the coral reefs.


This is a shell for the Fat Boy Bomb. The Fat boy was the atom bomb that was dropped on Japan.


Gary is talking to our tour guide. This gentleman won 2 bronze stars for his actions during the Battle of the Bulge. He served a total of 18 months in Europe.


This is the part of the battlefield. Everything was constructed by hand, just as it would have been during the war.

Saint David, Arizona

We stayed at Saint David, Arizona from Feb 8-11. Gary likes it here because of the fishing. Weather was very cold. We got to camp down by the lake.


Camping spot.


Woke up to a winter wonderland.


View outside our windshield.


Morning of the snow.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Gary and I really enjoyed our visit to the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southern Arizona. We began our tour of the monument by visiting the Kris Eggle Visitor Center. We enjoyed a slide show which featured the animals and various types of cactus that is found in the park. We took both scenic drives-the Ajo Mountian Drive and the Puerto Blanco Drive. The Puerto Blanco Drive is 10 miles while the Ajo Mountain Drive is 21 miles. We stayed at Auggies Quail RV park and drove to the Monument for the day.


Gary is standing in front of one of the large Organ Pipe Cactus that can be found at the monument.


Some of the Ocotillo had bloomed.


We found a few of the Gold Poppies close to the road.


This is the big arch. It is 36' high, 90' wide, and 720' long.

Fishing in Gila Bend, Arizona

Gary found time to fish while we were in Gila Bend, Arizona. It did not take him very long to hook a couple of fish.


This canal is along main street Gila Bend.


Yeah! The canal does have fish.

Yuma 2009

We are camped at Sandbar for 2 weeks. Weather has been great most of the time. We could do without the windy days. We have had a great time visiting the Yuma Market. Great place to buy shirts, Gary only had to make 5 trips to the jeep so he wouldn't have to carry around our "can't live without this" stuff. Vicki and Danny had a great time also. We wondered how Danny would get his of his "can't live without this" stuff home. We enjoy going to eat at the Asian Buffet. Great food. We also got together with some of the o5 class members for lunch. It's hard to believe that our 2 weeks are almost over. Mom and dad will be leaving on Thursday, we leave on Friday. Gary and I went to the show twice, we saw the Grand Torino and Defiance. Of course, since the Cold Stone Creamery is next to the show, we stopped there a couple of times. When we leave here, we will be headed towards Benson and then Aransas Pass, Texas to spend some time with Jan and Wes. Gary is looking forward to the fishing and visiting.

Quartzsite, 2009

We had a great time in Quartzsite. Mom and dad were able to travel with us again this year. Jim and Sherri were with us as well as the wonderful Los Banos group. Weather was fantastic!!!!! Warm days and nice nights. We were able to sit out by the campfire every night. They were enforcing the 14 day limit this year, so we did not get to stay as long as we had planned. We enjoyed shopping at Tyson and of course, The Tent. Gary and I left lots of money in Quartzsite purchasing things we just could not live without. My sister, Vicki, and Danny were able to come this year. We really enjoyed their company. There did not seem to be as many people there this year as in years past. We could actually walk in the tent without rubbing bellies with folks we did not know. They had a great buy on Olympian propane heaters, $45.00. That was the busiest stall in the tent. I believe the gentleman sold out in one day.


We enjoyed watching the moon rise over the mountains.


Just look at what Quartzsite weather did to Gary and Jim's hair. Yes, Gary is sporting pigtails.


I found a great hat. Of course since Gary owns more than one hat, I had to buy at least two.