A Year Devoted to Exploring Our Great United States

By James Angerman

How many times have you worked with or met then asked someone, “Have you been here or done this?” Many have said that they’ve lived all their lives where they were born, or only eighty miles away, have never seen the ocean! We decided, with no children, only our cat, to spend our savings to get in our VW camper van and see what the great outdoors of the United States have to offer. To our surprise, it was the opportunity of a lifetime! Each season and each state has history, splendor, and events to spend time to enjoy. We now own and operate a small bed-and-breakfast on the Oregon coast. On the wall of one of our rooms is a map of our conquest. It’s engaging to hear from guests that we were ten miles from their hometown, why we didn’t go to their area, or that, wow, isn’t that a great place to visit! Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to go abroad. But there is so much to see and do within our own boundaries, also so many kind, generous, and friendly people to meet and share stories with. As an executive chef in California and Oregon, I have included delicious recipes represented by that state and pictures that we took along our journey. So as a favorite author of mine, Stephen King, said in one of his books, “SSDD!” If same stuff different day happens to you, get out and explore our great United States of America!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 31, 2017
• ISBN: 9781640278127

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A YEAR DEVOTED TO EXPLORING OUR GREAT UNITED STATES

A Volkswagen Camper Van

A cat

And a year to remember

James Angerman

Copyright © 2017 James Angerman

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

New York, NY

First originally published by Page Publishing, Inc. 2017

ISBN 978-1-64027-811-0 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64027-813-4 (Hard Cover)

ISBN 978-1-64027-812-7 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Jim and Katie’s Journey Begins

We were married in January 1982. We have enjoyed camping and exploring new areas around California and extended trips to Washington State, Nevada, Utah, and Montana. Our marriage was not blessed with the joy of children, so we are very close to one another. I am an upcoming executive chef and work many hours, which is sometimes hard for our time together. Katie currently works Monday through Friday, and that is a busy time for someone working in restaurants. When we are off, we love to cook and entertain. I love teaching about the many wonderful things about cooking and the joy of eating what you cook.

That is how our planning began for our journey across the United States, to not only see the sights but also collect recipes from each state and learn new ideas for cooking other regional foods.

We started letting our friends know what we were going to do, and actually, most of them thought it would be a great adventure. There are always a few skeptics.

One obstacle would be to get our ten-year-old cat Babe used to living in a 1974 Volkswagen Van along with ourselves. I started working on the van to get everything in tip-top shape. We found out that we must be very organized to fit everything we were going to need for this yearlong trip of living off the land and making this van our home. We purchased a carrier for the top of the van to hold clothing we wouldn’t need till the weather turned cold along with other things that just wouldn’t fit inside and things we’d pick up along the way. Talking to our vet they had said to sit with Babe for a little time each day in the van to get her familiar with it. Eventually we started the engine while sitting in the driveway, then started taking small little trips. Babe was adapting well and was on board with the journey. We rented a storage space to store the furniture and household items we would need when we returned to California. We set up Katie’s sister Dee with checks to pay any bills we might have due while we were on the road.

We had done our research to determine our starting point and collected travel books and maps from the Automobile Club. We would also go to the state information centers when entering the state to find out any festivals that would be going on while we were visiting, and points of interest.

We gave our notice to our employers and said our farewells to family and friends.

April 30, 1987

Week 1, Arizona

This is the first leg of our adventure. Anxious to get out of Costa Mesa, we got up at 4:00 a.m. It was raining. But passing through Barstow, California, the sun came out blazing.

The last two days in the hotel while tying up all the loose ends have been very hard for Babe. To help her through it, we had to give her a quarter of a kitty tranquilizer. Today she is behaving great, and no kitty tranquilizer is needed.

On the radio nearing Needles, California, we heard that thirty-mile-per-hour winds were due and might close Highway 40 and 15. Our route was Highway 40, and if anyone knows about Volkswagen’s vans, they don’t like the wind. We started saying a prayer that we would make our first stop Lake Havasu, Arizona. The last hour the van weaved all over the road, but she is running like a top.

It was ninety degrees when we pulled into the Crazy Horse campground. We got the camp set up and Babe all situated then dove into Lake Havasu. We took our bikes off the back of the van and rode out to check out the London Bridge. Living in the city we don’t see lots of open spaces and animals. So at sunset we sat and watched a couple of bunnies, a small snake, lizard, black birds that laugh—not caw, and a quail.

Lake Havasu is a happening place on weekends with boaters coming from surrounding cities to enjoy the lake. We decided to get up early, take a bike ride, get a few supplies, and found some handmade tortillas, and cactus that is eaten as a vegetable around here. The remainder of the day we enjoyed watching the boaters. One of our family members had given us a small five-inch television for our trip. At the time, we didn’t know if we would use it. But tonight we watched Miami Vice, a nice way to end the day. We’re planning an early start tomorrow heading to the Grand Canyon. Katie was so excited. She had never been there. Babe was coming outside a few minutes at a time, so that was a wonderful sight.

It was pretty noisy this morning while making a quick breakfast, then off to the Grand Canyon. We left our camp about noon. On our way we drove through many rock formations here in the desert. Babe had figured out this was going to be home, so she sat on the floor upfront while we drove today.

We were about seven-hundred-feet elevation, so it was quite a difference from yesterday’s heat of the day. We had heard it would get to be about thirty degrees at night. We had a portable propane heater, which we planned to keep handy.

The morning was cold, but off we went for the 4.5-mile hike from the South Rim practically straight down to Indian Gardens. The requirement is to hike in with at least half a gallon of water per person. It was frightening to see the people on their return trip up looking extremely exhausted. When we got to the canyon campsite, we were at five thousand feet, so we had gone down two thousand feet and not looking forward to the trip up. But the view of the Grand Canyon is beyond words. The rock formations with hues of red, brown, gold, and orange with their shadows and sparse clusters of trees and shrubs, and then there was the floating clouds drifting past with a perfect blue sky that was breathtaking.

We rested thirty minutes and, getting into the afternoon, the hottest part of the day, thought it wise to head back up. All total of a nine-mile hike, and we stunk just like the mules we saw along the trail! God was in a great mood when he made the Grand Canyon. It is beautiful from every outcropping.

Up early, we are headed for Tuba City. According to our Let’s Go travel book, it was recommended as having the best Navajo tacos. Along the way we stopped to admire the Little Colorado River with all its ruggedness and colors. Fry bread with chili, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and chilies. How can you go wrong!

We headed off to Flagstaff afterward, passing booth after booth of Indian jewelry stands along the way. The city is full of fast-food places and hotels, so we kept driving. We went through Oak Creek Canyon and admired the gorge clustered with trees and streams running throughout and pillared rocks much the same majestic colors of the Grand Canyon. Sedona is nestled in the center of it all. A must-see, but with our budget it was a little expensive, so we chose to keep going toward Montezuma’s Castle. Of course you get what you pay for. The campground was barren with thorny scrub brushes. But at night the sky is huge.

We got to Montezuma’s Castle in the morning, and it is an amazing site to think that a tribe of Indians had built a village tucked under a cliff outcrop. You can’t hike up into it, but it is remarkable to see. One thing we vowed to do was to avoid the main highways. And that is what we did. We drove toward the pines of Lake Roosevelt, and it is strange that within an hour’s drive you can go from dessert to forest.

Trading off driving after two hours seemed the fair thing, and Katie got the bad end of the road. It curved and twisted worse than a snake and periodically was chewed up. Then it was twenty-eight miles of dirt-gravel road. But as it wound to the dessert of Tortilla Flats, the cliffs and river were dynamic. We made it to Canyon Lake and took a break for a swim and lunch. Then it’s off to Tombstone passing Tucson along the way and Katie losing a flip-flop shoe at a rest stop. So needless to say, Tucson was a good place to get another pair of flip-flops.

Woke up to howling winds, perfect weather to bike it one mile to Tombstone. Only the ride is uphill! First stop was Boot Hill graveyard. Strange to see that most of the markers listed death as stabbed, shot, or hung. We visited the courthouse, the OK Coral, and Crystal Palace for a cold beer. It was ominous thinking about how it was living back in those days. A storm was blowing in as we biked back to the campground. We brought out the lawn chairs and watched the thunder and lightning. One of the brightest and loudest storms I had ever seen. Don’t know if it’s because of the dry elements, but it was very impressive. We had to lower our pop-up as the wind picked up even more, and I was in fear that the van would blow over.

May 7

Week 2, Arizona

We find it informative to stop at the visitor’s center when we enter a new state, and as we entered New Mexico, we stopped and got brochures on attractions we thought we might want to see. There’s quite a lot of desert, so we’re on a mad dash to get to El Paso. We did try and find a side trip to a winery along the way. According to a flyer it was only three miles off the beaten path. But after twelve miles, we spun around and found a campground that had a bitchen swimming pool. So needless to say, it turned out to be a great day. One noteworthy piece of information, we bought Babe a spill-proof bowl for her water so it didn’t fly everywhere when we hit a bump. But she was afraid of it. So we tried her on a cereal bowl, and sure enough, she used it. Hooray!

This morning we parked in El Paso just opposite the Juarez Bridge to enter Mexico. We were asked if we wanted to pay $22 for a tour, but we insisted on walking on our own across the border. We wandered around and found ourselves in a local marketplace with the smell of ripe fruit mixed with taxi and bus fumes, which we found almost overpowering. So we didn’t get turned around, we paid a taxi to take us to the souvenir gringo market. By this time Katie’s nerves were shot, too much Spanish translation and not enough understanding. So we found a café and ordered a couple of beers and wanted something to eat. But they didn’t have menus. We asked for tacos, and what a great choice! Tortillas made to order and flavors only found in Mexico. Afterward we shopped a little and found out we could get a case of beer each to take back across the border. Katie got her Tecate and me Corona. Carlsbad is only a three-hour drive, so off we drove. It’s a desolate flat drive, and the campground advertised three hundred trees. I don’t know about three hundred trees, but at least there was a pool to cool off. What do you want for $8.50 a night!

We packed a snack this morning for our tour of the Carlsbad Caverns. It has changed since my parents took me here years ago. It’s now a self-guided tour. You rent headsets for $.50, and the caverns are described with all the history and names for the formations you marvel at along the way. Luckily you can pause the tape, so you can go at your own pace. They now only use white lights, so you see the true beauty of the caves as you make your way through all the chambers. It is so magnificent and beautiful. A spectacle no one should miss in their lifetime. In leaving Babe in the van, we pulled the curtains close to try and keep the van cool. But when we got back, she was a little wilted from the heat.

Just before dusk I insisted that we drive back to the cavern entrance. What a sight it is seeing 250,000 bats funnel from the mouth of the cave like clouds of smoke flying out, narrowly missing us spectators as they venture out to get their dinner of flying insects. The ranger informed us the bats bend their feet backward in order to attach to the cave ceiling. Also, their babies are one-third the size of the adult mother, born with full-grown feet! Returning to the campground we’re reminded just how dusty it is, and how we couldn’t wait to get to a wooded spot. Maybe it would also be cooler!

Today we headed for Santa Fe, planning for a long drive. The countryside is flat and dry. We did see that there was an air show in Roswell. But instead of paying the $6 entrance fee, we opted to join a lot of other folks and pull off the side of the road and watch the show. There wasn’t that much to see, so we headed out again. Katie kept pointing out that she saw deer in the cow fields, but I informed her they were antelope. We made it to Santa Fe with all the houses and shops with adobe and turquoise doors or trim, which the Indians believe bring good luck, also represents the Virgin Mary to the Spanish. We headed up the mountain toward Hyde Park where we’ll finally get our forest. What we hadn’t anticipated was there was also snow! Out of curiosity we found it necessary to see how Babe would like the snow. So we pulled over and put her chest deep in it. She just stood there like a statue, not particularly liking it one bit. Toward the top we found a camp area next to a rushing stream. It is beautiful, cold, with no showers or toilets. But it’s free! We’re going to try and relax for a few days, so we’ll just have to grin and bear it.

From horrid heat to freezing cold, go figure. We couldn’t get the heater on fast enough and even had to light the propane heater. At last we were able to sleep. It rained all day, and we just lay in bed, watched TV, ate, and slept some more. It is impressive that we were able to get reception on our TV at this elevation in the middle of nowhere. The highlight of the day was the ranger came by, and in seeing us, he took the locks off the pit toilets. If only life could be so simple. Even Babe was upset with the rain and cold.

At 12,000-foot elevation in the Big Tesquete, we just about froze! We couldn’t think of anything but moving on. We drove toward Jemez Springs, passing Los Alamos, the site of the first atom bomb testing. Pretty eerie seeing all the trees not burned but dead and leafless, some partially fallen and lifeless. Afterward we drove through lush beautiful pines, with snow making us cold again, drove past the Soda Dam made of calcium deposits, quite unusual. The red clay hills near Santa Fe were absolutely beautiful, the material for constructing a lot of the adobe pueblos. Passing Angel Peak on our way to Bloomfield, we just got into camp before the skies opened up with lightning, thunder, and pounding rain.

This did not make Babe a happy camper. After dinner we brought out the maps of Colorado and began charting our course for tomorrow.

Our last stop in New Mexico were some Aztec ruins. It is incredible to be standing within squared-off rocks of adobe mortar, rooms small but built for two people, and kivas used for religious and social gatherings with a hole in the center in which they believed their spirit would rise and fall from. We crossed into Colorado and went to Mesa Verde where the Indians lived much the same as those in New Mexico except they built their pueblos as cliff dwellings accessed by ladders and small stone steps. On our way to Durango we saw four deer as road causalities. Something that we hate to see because in Southern California we don’t see too many deer! We stopped in a campground called Ponderosa, next to the Animas River with pine trees and high snowcapped mountains. It is quite beautiful. We wouldn’t mind living here. After dinner we took our bikes down and did the back roads, Katie picking up wood along the way in her bike basket for a free campfire!

May 14

Week 3, Colorado

What a relaxing day. The chipmunks here are not shy. They jumped on our picnic table and helped themselves to leftover pancakes. We went to the local store on our bikes and on returning were met by a woman whom we met at Mesa Verde, and she was staying at the same campground. She had a bottle of wine for us, so naturally we chatted with her, drank