Eric Herman - Travelblogue: 2008 Spring/Summer Tour

Today is our 8th anniversary. We went out for a nice lunch at an Italian Restaurant and then I took Roseann for a romantic five hour drive to Phoenix. As we approached the Hoover Dam we were directed over to the side to be inspected by Homeland Security. Apparently, all RVs and trucks are inspected. But they were looking really funny at the design on our bus, and I guess they didn't peg us as terrorists, because we didn't have to show them too much before they sent us on our way. We stopped at the Hoover Dam briefly. There's a new highway they're building across that way but the bridge is still missing a crucial piece, so we decided not to go that way.

We got to Phoenix pretty late and parked at the house of our friend, Kent, who we've known for many years from a musician e-mail list. He and three of his 11 kids had visited us in New York when we lived there, so we got to meet most of the rest of them tonight, though they are always in various states of coming and going. Kent is one of the most affable guys I've ever met. He has this great laid back, "take it as it comes" attitude where you get the feeling that if a giant asteroid were headed to Earth, he'd first laugh about it before offering his trampoline to deflect it elsewhere. It's an amazing attitude for someone with 11 kids and his kids reflect that as well, which is really cool to see.

The thing we had mentioned yesterday about something falling through didn't end up working out, at least not for the moment. Right before we left for this tour, Roseann had made an arrangement with someone in marketing at KOA for us to plug KOA and put the logo signage on our RV, which I showed before, and in return we would be able to stay for free at KOAs throughout this four month trip. Well, the original deal was a verbal agreement (this was all done very hastily as we were scrambling to leave at the time) and we were told that we would be able to receive 120 total vouchers. But then after we had left already, the guy said that he was only able to get approved for 20 or so vouchers a month, which we figured was fine. We received the first batch of 18 vouchers when we arrived in Santa Clara, so that was great, and we were supposed to contact him again when we were running low to get some more. But then the other day Roseann called to ask about getting more and the guy said that in their last budget meeting they completely phased out the voucher program for at least a month or two, so he had no more vouchers to send this month, and might not for next month, either. He wasn't able to offer any other sort of substitute. Of course, we are disappointed and wish we had made that initial agreement in writing. But on the other hand, this whole thing was something added on at the last minute anyway, so it's not as though we lost anything... we gained 18 vouchers... but when you're expecting 100 or more then it's kind of a letdown. The folks at the KOA in Vegas were really awesome about it, though, and gave us back one of the vouchers and offered a free night when Roseann explained what happened. We'll be optimistic that KOA will be able to fulfill what they can for us next month. We did take off the KOA sign but saved it so that it can be put back on if anything works out again... we probably would have kept it on anyway, because we still appreciate the company as a whole and the many franchises who have been so welcoming to us, but we just feel a little awkward going to other RV parks with that logo on. We've since picked up a Camp Club USA card, which gets us 50% off of a lot of campgrounds along our path, so that will be a big help, and of course the hospitality of our friends like Kent and our family members along our path is a wonderful thing that we're really grateful for.

The girls and I in front of Hoover Dam...