tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238262222009-11-21T15:24:56.352-08:00Ramblings and essays by RVtravel.com editor Chuck Woodbury.<br><br><b>Sign up for an <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/%20roadsidejournal">RSS feed</a> and get posts automatically.</b><br><br> <a href="http://twitter.com/cwoodbury"><b>Follow me on Twitter</b></a><br>RVernoreply@blogger.comBlogger178125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-30156296709741415402009-11-21T15:13:00.000-08:002009-11-21T15:24:56.359-08:00

This is me camped at Death Valley in the 1950s. I'm the little speck of kid in the middle of the photo, sitting on the step of what appears to be a big tent, but which is actually a primitive tent trailer. My mother is bending over, cooking. Notice her camping attire: a dress! I assume my father took the photo. The trailer was made by J.C. Higgins which I believe was Sears' brand. Looking it

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-74951383026955354002009-08-14T06:33:00.000-07:002009-08-14T06:41:33.169-07:00

This motorhome crashed recently after its brakes failed coming down Highway 14A in Utah. The driver laid the RV down on its side to stop. Two people were injured. And that's good news because the 37-foot Gulf Stream motorhome was carrying 13 people -- eight adults and five children, the youngest 6 months. Traveling with this many people aboard a single RV is stupid -- it likely puts the rig in

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-18949587292874774712009-08-06T12:04:00.000-07:002009-08-13T21:39:51.052-07:00

This photo showed up in my email. I forwarded it ten friends. Maybe you've seen it.The guys in the photo are the TV actors who played Beaver Cleaver, his older brother Wally (right) and devious Eddy Haskell (left), Wally's buddy who was total wise ass until he appeared in front of Ward and June Cleaver -- Mom and Dad to the Beav and Wally -- when he was so polite he'd make a fellow kid puke, but

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-87220903302515155842009-06-13T15:36:00.000-07:002009-08-06T15:22:05.663-07:00

I photographed this old man in Quartzsite, Ariz. But as you have probably figured out, he's not real. He's a weathered mannequin. But I like his face and his eyes. When you stand right next to him and look into his eyes, it's kind of spooky because you swear he is looking right back at you. I wonder if this mannequin man was modeled after a real person. My guess is yes.If you know who he is or

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-87910578017832439182009-06-13T15:11:00.000-07:002009-06-13T15:46:21.151-07:00

Have you noticed that mailboxes like this one have disappeared from most street corners? They were once all over the place in most big cities and suburbs. Even in the good ol' days you'd seldom find one in a tiny town because the post office was usually a short walk from about anywhere. In my town of Edmonds, Wash., I first noticed the public mailboxes disappearing a couple of years ago. Then,

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-66887315355248225942009-06-03T17:11:00.000-07:002009-06-05T08:15:35.043-07:00

I snapped this photo last weekend at Glimmerglass State Park on Lake Otsego near Cooperstown, NY. The bass had washed up on shore, dead as a dead bass can be. The fish made a big mistake when it tried to swallow a sunfish in one big gulp. It was either very greedy or just plain lazy, and it paid the supreme price. The sunfish didn't fare any better.The moral to this story, of course, is don't

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-46542887026006346772009-05-08T07:40:00.000-07:002009-05-08T07:52:18.451-07:00

I came across a book recently about "Running Away With the Circus." But what it was really about was running away from one's present life and to a new one. Quitting an executive job to take up pottery-making would be an example. Retiring early to go full-time RVing would be another. When you were young did you ever dream of joining the circus? I did. Oh, I was never serious about it, but I did

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-8115950582729032052009-03-16T15:02:00.000-07:002009-03-16T15:06:54.929-07:00

This is one of the funniest videos ever. One minute of belly-wrenching laughter! Imagine yourself in this situation. If you had a weak heart, this might get you. I gotta watch this again! Send this to your friends!

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-51658806867126115412009-03-06T10:43:00.000-08:002009-03-06T10:52:34.820-08:00

My long time buddy Chuck Cirino, one of the weirdest guys I know (and I mean that as a compliment, which I think is how Chuck will take it), produced this four-minute video to convince the people at Ford that he should be driving one of their Ford Fiesta cars. Chuck is an avid RVer and one of the most creative guys I have ever met. I know he would appreciate a lot of people watching his very

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-17260708720834969552009-02-25T23:40:00.000-08:002009-02-25T23:47:34.828-08:00

When you are a beginning writer -- one who aspires to write for magazines -- it's difficult to recognize a story even if it hits you on the head. That was me a long time ago. Now, as a writer of many years, if something hits me on the head, I write about it.What I want to tell you is about one of the stories that I bumped into long ago that I most regret not writing. It happened in Needles, Calif

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-75350023596362701382009-02-06T09:00:00.000-08:002009-02-06T09:04:28.097-08:00

Here is a tip for you: Do not fill up your gas tank in Needles, California. Needles borders Arizona near the southern tip of Nevada. It was a popular stop on old Route 66, which is now I-40. For west-bound motorists, Needles in the first stop in California. But take my advice: don't buy gas or diesel fuel there. It's a ripoff. I think it always has been.Yesterday, I filled my motorhome's tank at

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-28474642749816116122009-02-04T17:27:00.000-08:002009-02-04T18:31:28.625-08:00

The London Bridge is the greatest thing that ever happened to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Robert McCulloch, whose name you may recognize from McCulloch Chain Saw fame, bought it for $2.4 million, then flew it from England piece by piece and reassembled it in 1971 over a lagoon he carved right alongside Lake Havasu.The town was a speck in the desert back then. McCulloch figured the bridge would be

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-56978838960514146162009-02-04T16:34:00.000-08:002009-02-04T16:52:08.341-08:00

Sometimes if you know a little history of a place you can spot subtle landmarks that others would miss. As I was driving into Needles, Calif., I was thinking about the town, which is most famous for being the blowtorch of America on a bunch of summer days: the temp can reach 110 with no problem, even 120. And it does so day after day.I was also thinking about Charles Schultz, the Peanuts'

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-34077758365192506262009-02-04T16:18:00.000-08:002009-02-04T16:26:36.603-08:00

If you have kids, then this is likely a familiar sight. My daughter is now 17, so (needless to say) she does not beg me to ride these mechanical "horsies" like she did when she was four or five. The last time I looked at one of these electo ponies -- usually found outside supermarkets -- they costs 25 cents a ride. I used to call them Quarter Horses. But now, I see by this horse outside a Tucson,

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-22254249248707690112009-02-03T19:14:00.000-08:002009-02-03T19:37:35.903-08:00

This is my motorhome in Saguaro National Park. There is not much to see in the park except thousands upon thousands of Saguaro cactuses. They are amazing! Did you know that a Saguaro doesn't even develop an arm until it's about 75 years old and that a cactus can live to be 150 years old? It's true.They grow very fast in the Tucson area, which is the location of Saguaro National Park. And they are

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-83181711114444598912009-02-03T18:06:00.000-08:002009-02-03T18:20:43.790-08:00

You may wonder what this is: Well, it's a meteor from Outer Space. Its name is the Allende Meterorite and you can see it and even touch it at the Sonoran Desert Museum in Tucson, Arizona.That's my hand in the picture. I have never touched anything so old and I bet you haven't either. How old? It was created before the earth was formed, and parts of it may be older than the Sun! Little round

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-31375830500173663472009-02-01T09:30:00.000-08:002009-02-03T18:21:41.148-08:00

At first glance this looks like a very old and (I think) sickly old man. But it's really a mannequin I found at a flea market in Quartzsite, Arizona. His eyes look real. Do you think he is based on a real person? Somebody did a good job making this mannequin. I don't think it was for sale. If it were, I might have bought it. But, gee. . . what do you do with something like that? So I guess I

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-16502646282451198992009-01-31T21:19:00.000-08:002009-01-31T21:24:19.172-08:00

Spotted in Amado, Arizona -- A chick-a-lope. Yes, a cross between a chicken and an antelope! No kidding! Seeing is believing. I saw it.

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-78456852144777063862009-01-31T21:02:00.001-08:002009-02-03T18:22:45.151-08:00

It was late afternoon and I was walking in the desert near Tucson. I was checking out cactus and rocks and doing some thinking as I soaked up the afternoon sun and pondered all my friends back home in Seattle in the cold and the mist. And then, off to my right, I saw a dog. But it wasn't a dog all all but a coyote, coming right toward me on an almost for-sure collision course. A second coyote was

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-74208238852834056582009-01-13T08:15:00.000-08:002009-01-13T08:24:28.695-08:00

Ah, Mexican food! I love it. I grew up near Los Angeles and I wouldn't lying if I said that after I was weaned off my baby bottle I was woofing down burritos. Okay, maybe it was a few years after that. But I do know that in my high school years my buddies and I would sneak off campus at lunch and beeline to a nearby burrito stand. We never got caught for our illegal escapes.When my family moved

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-51229764545485705092009-01-11T16:47:00.000-08:002009-01-12T11:10:55.354-08:00

I like to take pictures of fake people, better known as mannequins. I have maybe 50 good pics of mannequins. I don't know why I have such a fascination. I took this one last year in Scotland. I liked her face. I think she looks a little like the actress Sandra Bullock. Do you see the resemblance, or is it just me? By the way, I met a guy the other day who owns a mannequin named Sylvia. She lives

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-88127705917968498092009-01-11T15:56:00.000-08:002009-01-11T20:21:26.991-08:00

I spotted these ladies alongside the ferry dock in my hometown of Edmonds, Washington. All together about a dozen people were holding signs. Ten of the people were promoting peace, and the other two -- both men -- were all by themselves with signs that said "Support Our Troops." I guess those two ideas don't jive because you could tell that the two groups didn't want to be together. After I took

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-70867087760024787212009-01-04T19:46:00.000-08:002009-01-04T19:52:39.097-08:00

When I was young, I swore to myself that I would never, ever grow up to be a geezer who talked about the good ol' days. Well, now that I am an emerging geezer I have changed my mind. And so now that I have said that I feel liberated enough to show you this slide show essay of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans singing Happy Trails to You. Man, hearing them sing this song makes me feel warm all over, and

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-6786401053914360972009-01-04T18:45:00.000-08:002009-01-04T18:53:52.473-08:00

That's me in the most unusual RV I have ever driven. Yes, it's the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. When you drive this vehicle, people stare. Actually, this is an RV, well. . . sort of. You could sleep inside if you wanted, and there is lots of space (used to store a bazillion wiener whistles in the Wienermobile I drove), but there is no stove, bathroom or kitchen sink. So maybe it isn't a very good RV

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23826222.post-42279125716759333342009-01-04T14:23:00.000-08:002009-01-04T14:38:25.131-08:00

When I am traveling in my RV along rural roads that pass through main streets of tiny towns, I like to stop at antique shops. I seldom buy anything because I already have too much junk and, besides, there isn't much space in my pint-sized motorhome. But what I sometimes do buy are old postcards and old photographs. I'm not sure where I purchased the photo of this man, and I know nothing about him

Chuck Woodburynoreply@blogger.com1