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Our RV Adventure Web Blog |
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July 22,2010 On the Road again We left Illinois on July 11th, along with our granddaughter, Haley. Our first stop was Ft Atkinson, Wi, to visit Ron and Rhonda Tobin, who are workkamping at Jellystone! More on this later. Our brief visit to Illinois was interesting. Haley, for her birthday was baptized! Way to go Haley! Luke played baseball and even hit a home run. Way to go Luke! We visited with some high and grade school friends, Mike Sparrow, Elaine Botcher Mortenson, Lois Narvick Stattenfield and Carol Gaddo Dolan! Thanks friends for taking the time to be with us! Our son Heath and family bought a new house and moved in. Zach our grandson went to a Cowboy action shoot with us and participated. It was terribly hot, but we did fine. Zach had a great time. Soon it was time to leave! Our visit with Ron and Rhonda was great. Their granddaughter, Rylee was visiting for the summer. Haley and Rylee became good friends, and had a great time together! My daughter Heather and her husband and our grandson, Luke all came up to pick Haley up. This was great as we could visit with them one last time before we headed out. We left Ft. Atkinson on the 16th and headed to Lake Arrowhead, where we would stay while attending a Cowboy Action Shoot in Ripon,Wi. We both shot and yes it was hot! Our posse leader was great and made the shoot really fun for us! One of the stages had a "popup" ou had to shoot a "gravestone", knock it down and then a clay bird was thrown into the air. Hit it and you were done with the shotgun part, miss it and you had to reload and shoot a stationary target, I hit it in the air! Loretta missed, but only because she forgot to "pump" the shotgun! Nerves I guess. This was my best shoot so far! Need to work on the misses. Did have a gun malfunction, a high primer. This club was very friendly and even served us lunch. We left Lake Arrowhead for Duluth, but because we started after lunch, we decided to stop in Osseo, Wi, at Stoney Creek RV. What a nice park, only 8 years old, well laid out and maintained. Would stay here again! Left the next am for Duluth and Ogston RV Park, where we will stay a month. Hoping to visit with friends from our winters in Texas, Wade and Mary Sundin, as well as touring around the area. Was hoping to do a shoot in Virginnia, MN about 55 miles away, but their monthly shoot is cancelled, because the following weekend they do a 3 day shoot. Is another shoot in St. Cloud on the 14th, but it is 135 miles away. Keep in touch and let us know what you have been up to!!! Happy Trails!!!! June 21,2010 Back to Illinois We arrived back to Illinois on May 14th. Our grandson Kaeleb, graduated from high school on the 15th. Our other grandson, Luke graduated from grade school on the 25th of May. On May 31st, Loretta left for Israel, for a 2 week tour, returning home on the 11th of June. Watch Facebook for some of her pictures! I have attended 3 Cowboy Action Shoots, Rockford, Sycamore and Bloomington, Illinois. My times have improved, altho my accuracy needs some work!! At Bloomington, my grandson, Zach also participated, using my Ruger.22 pistols and the Marlin rifle. He did great for his first time. On the last stage he even shot six shots with a double barrel shotgun! Good job Zach!! The weather here in Illinois has been rainy! Several tornados and severe thunderstorms have just pounded our area. We did experience the high winds, but the tornados did miss us! We will be leaving here on July 11th and head to FT. Atkinson, WI to visit with Ron and Rhonda for a week, as we travel to Duluth for a month. Hoping to do some shooting as we travel. Please let us know what is happening in your adventures. Happy Trails. April 30, 2010 Good News The biopsy report from the 2nd Pathologist came back as Not being melanoma!!! The surgeon removed some more to be sure and will have that biopsied to be sure it was not melanoma. Should hear on Monday, when I go back for a bandage change. So needless to say, we will not make the shoot in Roswell this weekend. If all comes back okay on Monday, we will leave on Tuesday and should be able make the shoot in Texas, at least one of the days. On the shooting note; Loretta bought her own rifle! A Marlin 94 in .32 caliber. They are hard to find, but we were eating after our first shoot, with the "gang" and one of the members had one for sale! So now Lorelai and Discovery Dave each have their own guns, no sharing!!! Packing up in preparation to leave on Tuesday. Installed the tire monitoring system on the MH yesterday. It is a Pressure Pro, I ordered from Burnt Toast Solutions. They were easy to install. Check them out, they have good prices. Until the next time. Happy Trails. April 24, 2010 Still in Tucson Our Cowboy Shoot went well. Lorelai (Loretta) finished 2nd and I (Discovery Dave) finished 5th, each in our own category. There we 5 in mine and 2 in Lorelai's!!!! We didn't expect to be real good! We had a good time and everyone at the shoot was friendly and helpful. I will post 2 short videos in the photo gallery. We have a delay in our departure. I went to a Dermatologist for a mole on my back and came out with a biopsy on a spot on my nose. It came back as melanoma! As the biopsy was confusing to my surgeon, he is having the biopsy read by his pathologist. Once that report is in (by Tuesday) we will know how he is going to treat me. It will either be very little cutting or it could be a little more, requiring a skin graft. If that happens we will be here for a couple of weeks longer. The melanoma (if it is) is in the beginning stages, which is good. If the new report confirms that is the case and it is very shallow, we could leave by Friday, our scheduled departure date. Please be in prayer for me, for the Doctors and for healing. If we get to leave on Friday, we will stop in Roswell, NM on May 2nd to do another Cowboy shoot. The following weekend we hope to shoot again in Texas. Shooting our way home!!!! Most of our neighbors have left. So it is a little quiet here. We will be going shooting on Monday, with the Ron and Loretta, To practice ( with .22). Cheaper than with our bigger guns!!!! That's all for now. We hope those who were here with us this winter are now safe and sound at their chosen destinations. We miss you all.
April 8, 2010 Leaving Tucson soon Here it is April already! We are planning on leaving the 20th. Our original leave date was the 18th, however we decided to get active in Cowboy Action Shooting! and our first shoot is April 18th. We went from having 2 pistols and 2 rifles(.22) to having 2 .357 revolvers, 2 .32 revolvers, 1 .357 rifle and 1 12ga double barrel shotgun! We will post some picture of us in our "western cowboy attire" Our alias' are Discovery Dave and Lorelai. Our winter has been great, although the weather was a little cooler and rainier than normal. Geocaching went well with a lot of new geocachers. We averaged 25 folks each time we went out!!! We have been healthy and have found Drs. out here that we like and have been having some routine test done. All is fine and we are concentrating on losing some weight. I won't say how much we have lost so far, because we slip on our diets some days!! I have quit snuff too! Brody is doing fine. He won the Desert Trail Dog Show again this year!!! He did great off leash and again made us proud. Our friends Ron and Rhonda, who have "Toast" another JRT, bought a JRT puppy, to keep Toast company. Her name is Lacey! She is a handful. The park is emptying out with only a few of the regulars left. We left last year about the same time. Our plans are to head to Silver City NM, Ruidoso NM and then on to Texas, all to visit friends, before we head to KY to visit friends and then on to Illinois, before the 15th of May. Have a great summer and keep in touch!!!
November 19,2009 Tucson Arizona!!! We left Bloomington on Friday the 13th! Waited an extra day for the shocks we needed to arrive. The arrived all right! The were not new shocks! Old and not any good! Apparently they grabbed the wrong shocks off the shelf and sent ones that had been sent back for warranty work! Plus they couldn't find parts for our awning! So we left and will order the shocks here in Tucson and have them installed before we leave! We drove about 385 the first day and that was too much. The next day we drove to Ivan and Ruth Denny's in Broken Arrow, OK. We stayed the night, had a great supper, breakfast and fellowship! Thanks Denny's! We continued doing our 250 miles per day until we got to Alamogordo, NM. Our plan was to drive to Wilcox, AZ then on to Tucson the next day, however we both were tired of being on the road, and Tucson was only 80 miles more, so we went for it and arrived at 2pm on the 18th. We were greeted by our friends Bill and Marge, Ron and Rhonda, Ron and Loretta and many more as we set up the rig. Had a few beers (on an empty stomach) and went to bed at 8PM! So starts are winter adventure. Brody was eager to get to the dog run to play ball! Keep in touch and let us know how your winter is going/ November 11, 2009 Veterans Day We salute all our servicemen and women past and present for the sacrifices they have made to keep us free! We are sitting in the parking area of Coach Care, in Bloomington, Illinois, waiting for parts. Have been here since Monday. We had a few repairs to be done. Heat pump, rear furnace and new shocks. Waiting for the shocks. It seems that a lot of rv parts are hard to get. Many places do not keep parts in inventory. Finally found the shocks at Freightliner. Met an rver who needed a new Powergear jack and was told it may take 6-8 weeks before they can get one. Powergear is very slow and maybe cutting back. It seems like all the parts makers are having trouble right now. In fact we are having trouble getting Dometic to answer their phones or return calls for the parts I need for the awning! Sitting here has been easier, since I had planned 3 days for the repairs and maintenance! So it is as if we haven't started on our trip to Tucson. A lot different than when you need repairs when on the road. We had a great time while at the daughters house. We got to see and interact with all the grandkids, got to go target shooting with my son and grandson. I had bought a new target pistol and needed to sight it in. My grandson with his pistol out shot me!!! We got to see our grandson play baseball and basketball. In one baseball game he hit a homer the first time at bat. He went out for basketball this year and made the team, and has gotten to play. He is a little nervous, but with more playing time he will get the hang of it. We went to Ali Jo's cheerleading competition, and Haley's gymnastic practice. Our time in Seneca area was short, but very rewarding. Thanks Mike and Heather for the opportunity to stay with you. We have 2 graduations in May, so we will return to the area prior to May 15th. Once we leave here, we will be heading straight to Tucson. Anxious to get into warmer weather! Looking forward to seeing all our Desert Trail friends!
September 16th, 2009 Update since Sequim We left Sequim on the 16th of August and headed to Surrey, BC. Our first time crossing the border and it was an experience! First I had a .22 rifle in the coach, but I had read up on the rules and downloaded a permit form. We had all of our other paper work in order and handed everything to the Officer. He asked a few questions about food etc, and when he got to the firearm permit, more questions about handguns etc. As we had to go inside to process the permit, we had to pull over to the side and park. Once inside we had to wait a few minutes, then an officer talked to me about the gun. He said he would have to inspect the gun in the motor home and asked us to put Brody in a cage. Loretta did so. Now it was time to inspect the gun. The officer asked for my keys. I had already given them to him and told him so. Oh! he said and had to go find them! He and I went to the motor home and I had to move the bedroom slide out to get to the bed, as the rifle was under it. He looked at the rifle, didn't pick it up and said okay, we aren't going to search your motor home today! I thanked him and we went inside to pay for the permit. The Canadian Border officers are very stoic! No conversational talk at all, all business. All in all it went well. Friends that we had met in Tucson, lived about 10 miles away, so we stayed for 2 nights, so we could visit with them. Curtis and Jill Hockings live in a "floating Community". This is NOT a house boat community, these are 2 and 3 story houses built on a floating platform, with floating walkways to connect to the homes. Beautiful!!! Wonderful location and their house was beautiful. Our next stop was Kamloops, BC. We stayed here 2 nights and visited the wildlife park next door. It was okay, with typical enclosures and animals that were "humanized" Wolves, Elk, Grizzly etc. Wasn't impressed. Later I will tell about a refuge, that really impressed me. On to Golden, BC. Golden BC is located near Banff National Park. A small, cozy town along the Transcan 1. We met Ron and Rhonda Tobin there and some of their friends. We went to Banff Springs Hotel together and went to "High Tea" This included finger sandwiches, dessert and tea. All for the low price of $37.00 a piece! Fancy place! Our campground was nice, but I had a hard time getting my internet satellite. Wandering through the campground were Big Horn Sheep rams! I got some good pics. These are wild animals! A young couple with a small child and a small dog, tried to approach a ram to pet it! It charged them! They then commented to us "it charged us"! A duh...here's your sign! Ron and Rhonda and Loretta and I were snacking on donuts and coffee, when we heard thunder and saw a big cloud of dust in the distance. We started talking about awning experiences and we even commented that we did not like our awning as it did not come down far enough to provide shade and hoped something happened to it. Well do not wish for something you really do not want! We had left our awning out, it had an automatic retract feature on it. I usually do not leave it out as I do not trust that feature. But this time I did not retract it. When we were shopping for groceries, Rhonas friend came into the store and told us our awning was on top of the motor home! A quick blast of wind came from the only direction to hurt the awning! It broke one of the arms! When we got back, some Canadians behind me were ready tto help me get it off the roof and had already figured out how to get it retracted. So with their help and Ron's we were able to get it retracted and secured to the motor home. Thanks guys!!! After Ron and Rhonda left, Loretta and I went to the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort to ride the gondolas up the mountain. Our price also included a chair lift ride to the Grizzly Bear Refuge area. At first I did not want to go, but Loretta convinced me to go. The chair lift ride was fun. The Grizzly refuge was not what I expected. I had expected something like in West Yellowstone. A created habitat and a bear that was "humanized", not the case. The habitat was 22 acres of natural area. The bear was called BOO. Boo had been orphaned along with his brother at 4 months old. Boo's brother died of a twisted intestine, so Boo was left alone. This refuge was created for research. To see how an orphaned bear could adapt, without a mother to "show" him things. Yes Boo is humanized to a certain extent, but he does what a bear does with out human influence. He finds his own food, berries, grasses, mice shrew etc. They do supplement his diet, but never where he can see them do it. His enclosure is an electric fence. Once a young moose was being chased and he plunged through the fence and inside his area. Boo did what a Grizzly does, he killed it and hid it and ate it. Boo is independent, but can never be released into the wild. Hopefully from what they learn about Boo and his abilities to adapt and learn, can be used to rehabilitate orphans that can be released. Boo sometimes does not like his picture taken! Loretta was standing about 5 feet from the fence and Boo was just walking toward her, when he did a bluff charge at her!!! He stopped of course. I was impressed with the bear and the folks who started this project. It was the best thing next to seeing a Grizzly in the wild. Here is a link to the web page Grizzly Our next stop in Canada was Calgary. We went downtown and went to the Calgary Tower, much like the Space Needle in Seattle. They had a portion of the floor replaced with glass. I stepped out very cautiously, holding on for dear life! Got pictures of my feet standing on the glass. Did it a couple more times and didn't even have to hold on!! We were going to renter the US from Thunder Bay, but changed our minds and went south to North Dakota, through a town in Canada Called Morris. Morris ,Illinois is our home town! Reentering the US was also an adventure, but not as much so as into Canada. The officials were much more friendly and talkative. I know it is a tactic they use, but it was more stress free. They looked at our papers, asked a few questions and then when I thought we were done, they had us pull over to inspect the motor home! They just did a check of the refrig,freezer and a couple of cabinets and that was it, free to go. We spent that night in Grand Forks, ND. In the morning we had breakfast with Leon and Denelda Lauer, friends from Guadalupe RV park. Got caught up on all the news and had a great breakfast! On to Duluth the next day, with a stop in Bemidji,MN over nite. Loretta wanted to go downtown to see Babe and Paul Bunyon. We ate at a nice Irish Pub and it was a nice night for a walk. Outside of Duluth, actually in Saginaw, MN was a nice rv park called Ogstons. We met Ron and Rhonda Tobin again at this park. Loretta and I took a drive to Silver Bay to visit with Wade and Mary Sundin. She prepared a nice lunch and we spent that afternoon talking and sharing rv stories. Soon it was time to leave Duluth area and head to Illinois. We had told some freinds from our church in Woodstock that we would try to be in the area by the 12th, for their granddaughters 1st birthday. We made it in time and had a good visit with tem and other members of our church. Arrived at my daughters on the 15th. (as promised) Haley was thrilled and had been counting the days until we returned. This years trip was memorable and a lot of fun. But as always we will soon begin our journey back to Desert Trails to spend the winter, with our winter family. Keep in touch and write us about your adventures.
August 11, 2009 Getting ready to head North Our days here in Sequim, WA are growing short, we will be leaving here on the 16th and heading to Baniff, BC. Loretta has summed up our stay here in Wa.
I can't believe two months
has passed by so quickly and we will be leaving towards Canada and working our
way back to IL this next week. We have done most everything we expected to do
while here. Taken hundreds of photos. Had two of our grandsons visit for 2 weeks
and took them to Canada, Hurricane Ridge, the Sand Sculpture contest in PA,
traveled on the "Ducks" in Seattle. Lot's of Firsts including Flying, Ferries,
the Strait of Juan de Fuca and other Beaches (with water so cold our grandson
said his toes got "Brain Freeze!"), Border Crossings, Whale Watching, and "Real"
Mountains with Trees taller than any they've seen. (Since they both grew up in
the Midwest (IL) and Luke (13) had never been west of the Mississippi or flown,
and Zach (10) had only been to Alburque but no farther... this was truly a trip
they won't soon forget!) Sequim is a small town (5000) filled with seniors! Believe it or ot they do have traffic jams! It is a quiet town, with little crime. Good restaurants, a Costco and Walmart. No theater, the closest being in Port Angeles, 13 miles away. We like this town and area, as there is so much to do and see. In a way I hate to leave, but we need to continue our journey, to see other wonders and to get back to Illinois to see family and the Doctors. Let us know what is happening in your part of the country!!!! New photos added!!! June 23rd,2009 Sequim, Washington Well. we made it! We are at Gilgal Oasis RV Park. See the main page for views from our coach. While in White City, we met our friends Tom and Chris at the rv park and spent some time with them catching up, before they headed out to host at an Oregon SP.d T.J. our grandson graduated from HS and we attended the ceremony. The rest of the time we spent with family. We left White City, OR on the 11th and headed to Salem, OR, where we met our friends, Hal and Eilene Simms. Had a wonderful Salmon supper with them and caught up on all the news. Our next mission was at Camping World. We stopped and had a washer/dryer installed and a hard-wired surge protector. Spent the night in their parking lot! Our drive to Sequim was interesting. The Hood Canal bridge was open! It had been closed for repairs. We were able to avoid the 2 narrow bridges on 101. Our friends Steve and Ricki lost a mirror on those bridges last year! The weather has not been the best, so far a lot of overcast days and some showers. Today is sunny and cool. Looking at the weather in other places, I am glad we are here!!! Either it is raining or now very hot, back in the midwest! Our friends Bill and Gene Pierce are back in Island Park, ID and since the 22nd of May have had rain or snow! We really haven't gone anywhere on sightseeing tours yet. Did go to Port Townsend on Sunday, just for the drive and to check out the area. Lots to do here, just haven't done it yet! 2 of our grandsons, Luke and Zach will be here in a couple of weeks, so we will do a lot of touring then. Looking forward to their arrival! So until the next post, have fun this summer and keep in touch! May 27,2009 Oregon Update We have traveled over 1500 miles, since my last update! From Page, Arizona, we went to Knab Utah, to visit Zion and Bryce NP. What a wonderful area. Then we went to Las Vegas, and met up with the Denny's from Oklahoma. What a nice surprise that they were there visiting their son, and we were able to connect and catch up. The Denny's are friends we met in Texas. From Las Vegas we traveled to Del Mar, California, to spend time with the kids and grandkids. We found a smaller, cheaper rv park in Del Mar, across from the Fairgrounds. Loretta and I had a wonderful time visiting with the kids. Brody also had a good time playing with Sarah, both wore each other out playing ball! We left Del Mar on the 19th and headed north to Oregon. Our 1st stop was Lone Pine, California. This community was used a lot by the film industry, especially for westerns. Roy Rogers, Randolph Scott, Hopalong, Gene Autry and the Lone Ranger were all filmed in the Alabama hills, nearby. We took a ride through the area and many of the views you would see were those that we saw in the movies. There was a nice museum in town, that had a lot of mementos from those cowboys. Well worth the 5 dollars. Leaving Lone Pine we headed north on 395 to Carson City Nevada. We stayed at the Silver City Rv resort. Very nice and reasonable in price and about 25 miles from Lake Tahoe. We had been in contact with Ron and Loretta (the other Loretta) Shuman, whom we had met in Tucson. Together we rode over to Tahoe, had lunch and did some site seeing. we also took a ride to the historic town of Virginia City. An interesting old mining town, that now depends on tourism. US395 is a good road that runs through the valley, with some small grades. Very scenic, with the Sierra Nevada's surrounding you. From 395 we took 36 to 44 to 89, all good roads. Our last stop before Medford, Oregon was McCloud, Ca. My grandmothers maiden name was McCloud, so we had to stop! McCloud is a small town, that once was a lumber company town. We stayed 3 nights as we were not due into Medford until the 25th. We took some rides up to Mt Shasta and to McCloud lake. Nice area, with good temps for the summer and with mild winters. We really liked the area. Now we are in White City, Oregon, visiting David and his family. Their son TJ graduates high school in June. We will leave here on the 11th of June for our drive to Sequim, Washington. As always keep in touch and let us know how you all are doing.
April 25,2009 Glen Canyon NRA We have spent the past 4 days at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. We met our friends from Desert Trails, Mike and Shar Reynolds here. Together we took a tour boat to Antelope Creek. It was a nice evening for a cruise, although it was cloudy.
Glen Canyon NRA includes Lake
Powell. LP was created when the Glen Canyon Dam was built (1956-1963) It is a
major recreation area, however it's main purpose is for flood control and
electricity. The area is quite beautiful as there are minerals in the sandstone and the colors change with the angle of the sun. Loretta and I took a photographic tour of Antelope Canyon. Here the changing colors of the sandstone was really evident! We traveled to Lee's Ferry, on Saturday. Our big surprise was seeing California Condors! Clink on the photo link to see new photos. (Arizona and Birds) Our next move will be to Kanab, Utah, where we will then explore Zion and Bryce Canyon.
April 19th, 2009 Spring tour begins We have left Desert Trails! We had a very good winter and hated to leave! We weren't last but close to it. Today we are in Camp Verde, Arizona. Just a few miles away is Montezuma's Castle. A National Monument. They are cliff Dwellings. There also is Ft. Verde also a National Monument. From here we will head to Lake Powell for a few days, then on to Kanab, Utah to see Bryce and Zion National Parks. Before we get to San Diego, we will be stopping at Death Valley for a couple of days. After San Diego we head to Medford, Oregon and our grandsons graduation from High School. Our Spring will end in Sequim, Washington, where we will spend the summer. Our geocaching group at Desert Trails grew this year!! We averaged about 25 people per trip. We went every 2 weeks. Several of the group enjoyed it so much, they bought GPS'! What will next year bring??? Brody had a great time this year. The first thing he did after we got into our site, was to grab his ball and head for the door! He didn't forget Desert Trails. April 3rd, a dog show was held. 25 dogs were entered. The first event was a parade walk, then stay and come, followed by an obstacle course, then tricks, weaving through posts and finally talking or singing. Brody did everything off leash, except the parade walk. He did very well, not once did he break away and go visiting etc. The obstacle course consisted of several walk throughs, up and overs and a tunnel. He did great on everything except the tunnel and that was handler error! In the end Brody ended up as Top Dog!!!!! I was very proud of him. During our travels this year we may meet up with several of our friends from Desert Trails. Our travels will be taking us close to several and will be meeting a couple along the way. If you check our web site and see we may be in your area, give us a call.
January 4th,2009 Happy New Year Loretta and I would like to wish all our readers a HAPPY NEW YEAR! We arrived here at Desert Trails, December 13th,and received a warm welcome from Andrea, as we checked in. Many friends saw us as we drove to our new site, M25. Plenty of help to get backed in. Just after we got set up, Brody had his ball in his mouth and was waiting at the door to go to the dog run and play ball. Think he knew where he was? Since we have arrived, we have been just hanging around, enjoying the warm weather, well almost warm weather. We have had a few days of rain and very cool evenings! Getting as low as 26 one morning. But things have improved. Loretta rented a car and drove to San Diego, to spend Christmas with her kids and grandkids. She was just going to go for the weekend, but it ended up being 10 days! This was the first time in about 20 years that she has spent Christmas with her kids. We had a real nice New Years eve party at the rec hall. Steak, shrimp, BBQ ribs were on the menu, along with skits, poetry and music from our local musicians. A white elephant exchange was held, quite a feat for 100+ folks. We were the first table and we had a nice clock/photo frame. It lasted for about 15 minutes, before someone exchanged a bag of outdated bake goods for it! As we were the first to pick, we also got last choice, so we watched where the clock went and waited. Finally we were able to reclaim the clock, only to have our friends across from us trade a Willy Warmer (use your imagination) for it! In the end we finally were able to trade for a nice "Faith" plaque. It was a long night, but a lot of fun! Loretta is planning another trip to SD soon, but this time is flying! Soon we will be geocaching, as some of our group have finally arrived. Brody is having a good time as there are several JRT's in the park, but as he is with most dogs, he greets, then ignores, especially if he is carrying his ball! Keep in touch and let us know what you are doing this winter!!!
December 4th,2008 Getting closer to Tucson We left Illinois the day after the election. We arrived in Aurora, Ky. late in the afternoon. We stayed on our friends lot, that he just finished getting set up. Thanks Dale and Linda. It is across the street from our other friends, Ralph and Angie. As Dale and Linda were also there we were able to visit with both. We also were able to spend some time with Efraim and Joan our dear friends from Cadiz, Ky. Thanks friends for making us feel welcome. Our next stop was in Tupelo, MS. We stayed at Barnes Crossing. We had stayed there before, so we knew where it was. From there we jumped on the Natchez Trace and Followed it to Natchez, MS. As we approached Natchez, it began to rain. The last time we were here it also rained. We again stayed at Riverview RV park in Vidalia, LA. Just across the river from Natchez. We left the next day and headed to Baton Rouge, La, where our dear friends Jim and Jane recently moved to. They had sold their house in Lafayette,LA. and moved closer to their daughters. We will miss our friends on the road, but we know where we can find them for a visit! While visiting with them another couple arrived, Ed and Pat. So again we had a nice time visiting with our friends that we had met in Texas. Our visit was over and it was time to head toward Rockport, Texas. Boy was traffic heavy at 8am on I-12! Had to wait until about 9am to leave. As we pulled on to the I-12 we heard someone honk, Loretta looked out her window and then saw that the awning over the door had not been retracted! we pulled that one in quickly! Thank goodness we could do it using the remote. we had planned on staying south of Houston, but when we called the park, they were full and told us most of the parks would be full, due to the hurricane! So we decided to go all the way to Rockport. 10 hours and 478 miles later we arrived just at sunset. Do not want to do that again. Rod and Rhonda saw us pull in and came over and gave us a warm welcome. R&R are also friends that we meet during our winter stays in Texas. We stayed 2 weeks at the Lagoons. Going to shows, eating out and visiting some of the attractions in the area. We also entered a shuffleboard tournament. Rhonda and I drew each other as partners. We won the tournament!! Each earned $8.00 for our effort. The following Saturday we did not do as well as we both, with different partners did not win anything! We had a neat surprise. Rick and Jeanne from our stay in Az last winter, happened to check our web site and found that we were just down the road from them!!! As it was their anniversary, we went out to supper with them. Later Ron, Rhonda, Rick, Jeanne and Loretta and I went out for supper together before we left. R&J will also be spending the winter in the Rockport area. We left Rockport on December 1st and headed to GRRVR and arrived late that afternoon. We got our old site,#71! Nesta and Mike saw us pull in and came over and gave us a very warm welcome! Others now at GRRVR are, Lowes, Hendershots, Lappins, Vivian, Fibelstads and the Phillips. Soon to arrive are the Cuttings, Ben and Gordy also will be back from a trip. We only planned on staying until the 8th, however due to a problem discovered while I had the MH serviced, we will stay at least until the 10th. It appears the the differential is leaking fluid! Fortunately there is a good repair facility that I trust just down the road. So that is our adventure so far this winter season. It has been cold at night, but the days have been warm. It has been good to see friends from our stay in Texas and Arizona. It makes the world seem small, when you see folks again, that you do not see on a regular basis. October 23rd,2008 Getting ready to "Hit the Road" Our time here in Illinois has gone by quickly! Just ask my granddaughter and grandkids. We have had a good time. Haley became interested in the guitar, when I got my guitar out and started to relearn the chords. She caught on quickly! Luke has been busy with baseball when we arrived and did quite well. He is now continuing his piano lessons and plays the flute in the Seneca Grade school band. Zachary and David both play flag football and Zach likes to go to the shooting range with dad. Ali Jo is still a cute little girl who is growing up too quicly! As we got a new "toad", I needed to get a new base plate for towing. Got this done and then had to transfer the 'Breakaway system to the new vehicle. This was a time consuming job as the new vehicle engine compartment is very crowded and this made it difficult to find an opening in the firewall to run the wires. But we did it!! Loretta went to California on September 28th and will be back on October 28th. She went out to stay with the youngest granddaughter, while her parents went on a Marriage retreat in Hawaii. As the other granddaughters were out of school for the last two weeks of her stay, that gave her time to spend with them as well. It's a good thing she is coming back soon, I am getting used to the bachelor life (LOL) Soon after we got back I learned that the Governor had chosen 2 of the State Parks I managed to be closed due to budget problems. He says they were picked because of low attendance. 11 State Parks and 13 historic sites will close November 1. All of the parks to be closed are in the central to north areas of the state. These closings had nothing to do with their attendance( a lot of southern Illinois parks had lower attendance) but rather in what Legislative district they were in. Rallies have been held, petitions have been signed and the Legislature has passed bills to keep the parks open, but the Governor recently said he will not sign the bill to fund the State parks! This guy has done nothing for the State Of Illinois and how he got elected twice is beyond me. I am sure glad I saw the "writing on the wall" when I chose to retire! We will be leaving here on November the 5th. We plan to head to Kentucky to visit some friends for a few days before we head to Rockport Texas, where we will stay for 2 weeks at the Lagoons rv park. We have friends that stay there, that we haven't seen in awhile. Then on to Kerrville for a few days while I get the MH serviced and weighed. On the road again to Silver City NM to see friends and arriving in Tucson around the 15th of December. Speaking of the election, here is some info to consider: Stay informed on what you are actually voting for in November!
We look forward to seeing our friends and talking with some of you. If you will be near Tucson between December 15th and March 31, stop in and see us. Keep in touch. September 7,2008 Back In Illinois We left Island Park, Idaho on August 13th. Our goal that day was Jackson Wyoming and the Tetons. What a beautiful area! We spent the next two days exploring the area. Beautiful mountains, but saw little wildlife! Not like Yellowstone! On our last day, we drove up to Signal Mountain. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted movement about 30 feet from the road in the trees. It was a Grizzly bear!! We got some excellent photos. ( See the Photo link) That made our visit very worth while. Our next stop was Riverton, Wyoming, so we could drive the Wind River Canyon in the car and visit Thermopolis and the hot springs. Another nice drive. After leaving Riverton, we headed to Nebraska to visit with the Dudney's. I was wavering on what route to take and chose I-80, in doing, we missed an opportunity to visit with another friend, Marvel! I originally was going to take I-80 to 25 and then cut down to US 34 and take it to Hastings. In fact we drove down 85 to Carr Colorado and was not to far from her house!! Guess we need to check our directory for address', to see who is on our route! Sorry Marvel! We spent some time with the Dudney's and the Brandts, who were also visiting. A mini GRRVR reunion. We had also planned on visiting the Potters as well, but time was against is. Sorry Duane and Florence, will have to catch you on the next trip back to Illinois! Our next stop was in Fairfield, Iowa. We had met LaVon in Tucson and said we would stop in on our way home. LaVon made arrangements for us to stay at the Fairgrounds. We had a very nice visit and enjoyed the tour of the area that she gave us. We also stopped at John Wayne's birthplace in Winterset, Iowa. Our visiting of friends continued as we entered Illinois. We stopped in Havana, ( not Cuba!) and visited with Loretta's best friend Mary Ellen and her husband Archie. We stayed in the church parking lot across from their house. Thanks to the Baptist congregation! We arrived back at my daughters on the 28th and had a couple of days before we had to go to our granddaughters birthday party in Champaign, Il. Happy Birthday Ali Jo! The weather has been okay, not too hot. We did have 2.95 inches of rain on Thursday and so far have had 3.77 inches for September! We did go car shopping! We had decided, while in Idaho, after driving some of the roads (trails) that we needed something with a higher ground clearance! So we went looking for a Jeep Liberty. What we ended up with was a 2008 Saturn Vue! Not 4 wheel drive, but good ground clearance and better fuel mileage than the Jeep. One last thing! While in Idaho, I worked on a computer for David Burghoff. Later I found out he was Gary Burghoff's ( Radar from Mash) brother! Hope all are had a good summer and will see some of you in Tucson and others as we travel.
August 12, 2008 Time to Leave 2 months has flown by! It is going to be hard to leave paradise. Well that is what I call it! The days have been moderate and the nights cool. Lot's of places to go besides Yellowstone. But Yellowstone is the best! Every time you visit you see something new. Blue wildflowers give way to red ones and the red ones give way to the yellow flowers. Elk and Bison move from one area to another as the days grow warmer. The water levels have dropped from the roaring melt off to quiet gently flowing streams. Yes things change quickly and soon fall will be approaching. We finally got to see a Grizzly! On a drive back home through Yellowstone, between Tower and Canyon, we came upon cars parked in the road in both directions. I asked someone "what do you see" a Grizzly they replied. After getting parked in the road, we spotted it. As it was on Loretta's side I gave her the Nikon with my 200mm lens. After taking a few shots I remembered I had my 300mm lens ! after switching lenses', I got out of the car and walked closer. He was still about 400 yards away! He was grazing toward the road, when he started to run, boy did folks scatter! He leaped between a motor home and the car being towed and ran up the other side of the road to a ridge. I have a picture on my Picasa web site. Just click on the photos link to the left and then click on animals. Further down the road, we came upon another crowd of cars. this time it was 2 bull Elks, lounging in the meadow. More pictures. So now we have pictures of Bison, Elk, Moose and the Grizzly. The big 4! We however have not seen the wolves. Mike and Shar Reynolds, who live here and suggested we come here, have shown us or told us of places to go. One of or trips was to Bozeman, MT. to do some shopping. Bozeman is the closest place to find a Super Wal-Mart and a Costcos. It is just under 100 miles! On the way home, we took a different route, through a beautiful canyon. It began to rain, then blow very hard. So hard we had a hard time seeing the road. Mike and Shar, being familiar with the road saw a turn out, so we could get off the road a wait out the storm. How Shar saw it is beyond me, I was sitting in the front and I did not see the entrance! Just as we pulled in, with the wind blowing so hard you could not see, it began to hail, directly into the windshield! I told Mike to turn around and let it hit the back of the Suburban. No sooner had we done that, the wind switched 180 degrees and was hitting the windshield again! The hail was about marble size. Later we found out the the conditions were ripe for a tornado! Tornados are rare in this part of the country. We have met some really nice people here. Jim and Silene Reed comes quickly to my mind. They are from Texas. Silene is from Venezuela and is the sweetest person. Brody took to her right away! She started walking Brody, and I mean walk! she even jogged with her. He always came home tired, but was always ready to go with her again. Jim and Silene have reservations for Desert Trails for February and March, so we will see them again. Tomorrow we leave here and head to the Tetons and Jackson Hole Wy, for a couple of days. Then on to Riverton WY so we can drive the car through Wind River Canyon. We will then head east through Nebraska and Iowa, stopping to visit friends along the way. Yes, it has been a wonderful summer and I hope we come back here again. We have some wonderful memories and the photos to go with them. Hope all had a good summer and we hope to hear from you soon. July 17, 2008 Idaho summer We arrived Red Rock Rv Park on June 13th. We were in between snow storms! It was snowing behind us in Bend and the day before we arrived at Red Rock it snowed 6"! Ever since we arrived the weather has been great. Most days are in the 70's and low 80's, nights are cool, great for sleeping. Humidity is also low. We have had some rain and small hail. Our elevation is about 6600'. We have been traveling into Yellowstone quite a bit. It is beautiful. We have caught a glimpse of a Grizzly bear, but were unable to get a picture. Moose are also hard to see. Our friends Mike and Shar, emailed that they had 10 Moose in their backyard! We have seen Elk, Eagles, and other smaller animals. Each day we go to Yellowstone we travel through 3 states, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. We did see the Grizzly bears and Wolves at the Grizzly Discovery center. These are animals that have been adopted for a variety of reasons. Haven't seen any in the wild yet. Our photo production will be increasing as we have upgraded our cameras. I got a Nikon D60 with 3 zoom lenses and I found a Canon G6 for Loretta. We both have been bitten by the photobug! Some photos I have put into my Photo web page and some I have uploaded to Wunderphotos Loretta's photos are at Wunderphotos you can rate these pictures, we would appreciate it very much. One of my photos received an Approvers Choice! We have also been exploring the National Forest roads. Most are gravel and dirt. Some we can not go on, not enough clearance or they are rutted. Time to look for a 4-wheel drive vehicle! The roads do take us to some remote areas. We have also been Geocaching. We introduced caching to some folks we met here at the park, Bobby and Joan. They are now certified geocachers and planned to geocache on their way back to Florida! The Rv park is located about 5 miles from the main highway, West Yellowstone is about 15 miles away. We do some shopping in West Yellowstone, but our selection of stores is limited. No Wal-mart! Closest we got to a Wal-Mart was when we followed a truck down the highway! The nearest Wal-Mart etc is in Bozeman, MT. We really like it here, so much to do and see and the weather has been great. We will be back. Hope all are having a good summer and to all our grandkids, we hear you are having a good summer and doing well in all your summer activities. Keep up the good work and we miss and love you all. Our Spring adventure June 6, 2008 Our adventures started even before we left Desert Trails! When we started to put one of or slides it it would only start and then stop! I got my neighbor, Clint to help me push, but it still would go in for awhile and then stop. We finally got it and and we were off. Our first stop was in Why,AZ, So we could visit Organ Pipe National Park. Certainly different than Saguaro NP. As we left the campground, I turn the key on and got no warning buzzers or lights on the dash! After a few minutes, I started the engine, then called Freightliner about the problem. They said there was an issue bulletin about that problem and it was okay to drive. I needed to go to a Freightliner service center. Also as I pulled out of the park, not being used to the turning radius of the new MH, I turned too quick and scrapped branches down the left side!!!! We decided to go to an RV park, where our new friends, Mike and Char were staying near Yuma,AZ. As I pulled in, and hit a small bump, the dash gauges all came back!!! The next morning, again no gauges! I jiggled the key and they all came back and stayed that way. We ended up at a Freightliner SC in Bakerfield, CA., where they could not duplicate the problem! The tech did find a loose connection at the computer and he said that was probably the problem. They also did a recall on the exhaust. On our way to Escondido RV Park, we stopped at an rv dealership about the slide. The problem was the switch. If pushed all the way in it would start then stop, but if pushed part way in it would work fine. They did not have a new switch! We went on to Escondido and I found a switch at a Christian RV dealer for $5.95 and changed it myself. We had a great visit with Loretta's children and grandchildren. While at the rv park we met our friends, Steve and Ricki Dumser, who were also visiting relatives. Oh, I looked up an old friend from Morris, Bob Thompson, that I had not seen in 40 years. He only lived a short distance from the rv park. He came to the mh and we had a nice long visit, catching up. Later in the week we met him and his wife for breakfast. What a wonderful reunion after 40 years. We left Escondido and headed to Bakersfield for repairs, then proceeded west to Paso Robles. We used the rv park as our base to visit the west coast from the Hearst Castle down to San Luis Obisco and Morro Bay area. We left Paso Robles and headed to Moss Landing, south of San Jose. We toured the area down to Monterey and back. We drove the 17 mile loop around Pebble Beach. The closest I will ever get to playing this famous golf course! Now it was time to head North to Medford, OR, to visit Loretta's son David and family. We stayed at Lakewood rv park for about 10 days. Boy have the boys grown!! Next year T.J will graduate from H.S! Again our friends Steve and Ricki Dumser shared a campsite with us. we all went geocaching and then lunch. Our next travels took us to the Oregon coast, where we followed 101 up to Astoria. Our original palns were to follow 101 west through Washington to Sequim, however since it didn't follow the coast like in Oregon and I was tired of curves, we decided to take a different route to the east route of 101. Our friends Steve and Ricki we to met us in Sequim for the holiday. We left Astoria in the morning and they left Olympia, later that morning. We were headed to the same route only from different directions. As We reached the ramp to enter 101, I looked to my left for traffic and lo and behold, there was Steve and Rickii!! We couldn't have planned that if we tried! They followed us up to Sequim. But it was not uneventful! We had to cross to narrow bridges in a row, I was first and I slowed to let traffic clear the first one and proceeded through. As I got to about the middle of the second bridge, 2 5th wheelers were coming toward me. I made it through okay, but as Steve came through, one of the 5th wheels moved over and Steve moved over and clipped his right side mirror on the bridge! We finally made it to Sequim and spent a week exploring the area together. Sequim is a small town. Weather is moderate in the summer and the average rainfall for the year is only 16 inches, with a lot of sunshine. We really liked the area and have even booked in for next summer. It is close to the ocean and mountains as well as Victoria, Canada. While there we looked up another Desert Trails winter Arizonian, Jane Erickson. We had a nice visit with her as well. We left Sequim and headed to Poulsbo WA to stay a couple of days. I wanted to go to Gig Harbor to see if I could find the 5 acres I had bought and old 30 years ago and we wanted to see Seattle. I found the property and it has several homes on it now and the area has grown a little bit. But the town of Gig Harbor is still the same. We got a nice view of MT Rainer as the day was sunny and clear. We took a ferry to Seattle and visited Pike Market Place and saw the fish mongers throwing the fish, the first Starbucks (for my daughter) ,rode the Monorail to the Space Needle and got a wonderful view of Seattle from it. We are now in Salem, Oregon for a week, leaving Sunday for Bend Oregon and the High Desert Museum. We will be in Island Park ID at Red Rock RV Park by next Friday, where we will stay until August 15th. It is 22 miles sw of the west gate to Yellowstone. So we should be able to explore the area very well. Today is Loretta's birthday. So if you have a minute give her a call at 815-274-4484 or email her at lcarr@christiancomputerservice.com. I know she would enjoy talking with you. Have a safe summer and keep in touch.
Time to Leave April 7,2008 The time has come to leave Desert Trails RV Park, here in Tucson, AZ. We have enjoyed our stay here in Tucson. We have enjoyed meeting all new friends here. Pericles, our hats are off to you. You are a great owner operator, that knows how to run an RV park!!!! We had a great Geocaching group! Each week on average 8-9 folks would head out in cars to find the geocaches that I gave them. We laughed a lot and we feed our faces well after geocacheing. We hated leaving our friends in Texas, however we have made new friends here, that will last a lifetime as well. To our friends from Texas, you are not forgotten and we think of you all the time. So do not be surprised if we call and say"Hey, we are in your neigborhood......" We love to visit our friends whenever we can. We had a surprise visit from Wade and Mary Sundin on Saturday. It was great to see them again. It has been interesting here. First the lack of humidity. That took some getting used to! Second it is sunny most everyday. I thought I would feel guilty, staying inside to "have a down day" but I soon realized that it would be sunny the next day too, so I wouldn't waste a sunny day. The desert is fantastic, and the sunsets are beautiful. Now spring is here and with some additional rain this winter, the desert bloomed, extra pretty. In fact you could watch the mountains turn green and yellow. The green looked like the mountain was a giant Chia Pet!!!! Bird life here during the winter is abundant, from Hummingbirds, Cactus Wrens, Curved Bill Thrashers, to all kinds of hawks and owls. In fact we have a nesting pair of Great horned owls, right here in the park. Yes we hate to leave, but spring is quickly giving away to summer, so it is time to head to cooler climates. Congratulations to our grandchildren, Luke, Haley and Zackary. They all had great achievements this past year. Luke on the piano and flute, Haley with gymnastics and Zack in the pinewood derby. Keep up the good work!!!! I reached a milestone while here in AZ, I turned 62. You say so what! Well I now was eligible for the NPS Senior pass, for $10, good for life. I also will get my first SS check on Wednesday! Hooray!!!! Our travels will take us to see the grandkids in San Diego, Medford, Oregon and the we are taking a tour of the Oregon and Washington coast. We will stop in Salem, Oregon to visit with some folks we met 2 years ago in Oregon, then it is on to Island Park, Idaho. We will spend the summer there. It is about 22 miles southwest of Yellowstone. So we will get to explore the area a lot. We also met a great couple Mike and Shar Reynolds, who live in Island Park. We plan on doing some geocaching with them as well as other events too. The RV Park is located on Henry's Lake about 5 miles from the town. It is in a meadow and away from trains,planes and car noise. Loretta says "Hooray!" Some of our travels to the San Diego area and Washington area, we will meet up with Steve and Ricki Dumser. Folks we have met here in Tucson. It seems we are on the same track, at least as far as Washington. They were our geocaching partners and we call Steve "Old Eagle Eye" (Hey Steve make a U-turn) Brody is a park celebrity. every time we go out to play ball, he carries his ball. So the times we just go for a walk, everyone asks "where's his ball?" So everyone knows Brody. Brody had to have his teeth cleaned again this year and the had to pull 2 more teeth that were loose. Poor Brody, he was so drugged up when we brought him home, he was out of it, so much so that when he wanted to go out, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. By morning the morphine and anesthetic had worn off and we knew he was alright when he went to the door with his ball in his mouth! Time to finish getting ready to go, so must end this episode of D&L Adventures. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel and keep in touch by email or phone. First 2008 Post January 30,2008 As this is my first post for the new year, let me say HAPPY NEW YEAR albeit a little late. Hope all our friends that are not in a warmer climate, are staying warm!!! Sorry did not mean to rub it in, but here in AZ we have low temps at night, but it does warm up to the low 60's during the day with plenty of sunshine. So what is different about AZ vs Texas? Well I believe it is 2 things. 1) Low humidity and 2) More sunshine. The low humidity can be a problem, dry skin and static electricity! Oh how I hate static!! We did buy a humidifier and that helps alot. What can I say about the sunshine, except it is great!!!Oh one other thing different about Texas. The demographics. In Texas most of the folks were from the Midwest and the surrounding areas. Here in AZ, most of the folks are from either the Northwest or the Northeast, with quite a few Canadians. Washington seems to be the leader, with Oregon and Colorado having quite few here as well. There are also quite a few from Ohio, Illiois and Iowa. But you all have one thing in common... you are all friendly and great people to know. Geocaching has been a good activity here. Last week we had 11 folks looking all over the desert area for the treasures! This week looks like we may have more! Keeps me busy trying to decide which caches to download, make maps and distribute them out. We generally do 3 per car and try to meet somewhere for lunch. Each Tuesday and Friday the park provides some type of entertainment, usually musical. Last night it was a county Gospel family. They were great. From the youngest at 8 to mom and dad. There are I believe 8 children in all. Other entertainment have been Irish dancers, a Forensic expert, and other musical acts. Never a dull moment for lack of things to do right here in the park. Both Loretta and I have had colds or maybe desert fever, or maybe the flu. Nothing serious, but enough to make us miserable. Loretta has been going to PT for her fingers and it seems to be doing better. The new Doctor we like and he is steering her away from any further surgeries. Brody is having a ball. I mean having a ball. Each day twice a day he grabs his ball and throws it to me and then runs to the door. That is his way of saying "Let's go to the dog run and play" He carries his ball to and from the dog run. Folks are really in awe of him doing that and are always commenting, "where is his ball" when we just go for walks. John and Pat Dahl were here for a month and Joan and Buddy Templeton will be in the area some time this week. John and Pat bought a Park model near Phoenix and went back there last week. One new addition to my web site is daily weather from right here at the park. I purchased a weather station and can upload the daily weather to Weather Underground and to my web site. This way I can get what the weather is here rather than 10-15 miles away. It is quite different than say the weather at the airport! Our plans at the moment are to head to San Diego at the end of March, then on to Oregon and Washington. while on the way to Oregon, we may head to the California coast to see Napa Valley, Monterey and that area. Hopefully by summer (June) we will be somewhere where it is cool. Colorado? Then it will be time to head to Illinois by late August, to spend a couple of months there to visit family, see our Doctors and to VOTE!!!! We enjoy emails and yes, phone calls from our friends and family. So send those emails and or call and let us know what is happening in your life. Enjoy!!!!! Merry Christmas December 11,2007 Merry Christmas to all our family and Friends! Time has gotten away from us, as we have been busy getting boxes sorted and items stored away in the MH. Still not done, we have many more to go! We hope all are doing well and send our prayers out to those who are ill, having surgeries and going through rough times. Desert Trails RV park is really decorated. Most everyone has decorated their rigs, even us. Had to go buy more rope lights and even some colored Christmas tree lights! Even though it is cool and rainy here the Christmas spirit is creeping in, with Cantatas, special music and other activities related to Christmas. I will be flying home on the 23rd to spend Christmas with my family, at our home place. This will be the first Christmas without either of my parents. My family has decorated the house, just as mom and dad did. It will be a sad and joyous time. Sad that mom and dad are not there, but joyous in the fact that we know they are celebrating Christmas with Jesus! Wouldn't you know it moment! Beaudry RV gave a presentation at our Monday morning meeting and we all signed up for their prize drawing...well the next to last prize was a nice fleece pull over and ..Loretta won it! We were hoping we wouldn't win anything!!! I will be giving a class on Geocaching and using the gps. We have a lot of trails just north of us and several caches in the area. The trail maps that were made in the late 90's is very crude soooo.. I went for a walk to gps one of the trails and then brought up Google Earth and downloaded the track. I then discovered that I could see most of the trails. Since I have Google Earth Plus, I had a tool to create paths. I recreated all the trails that the old map had, only in color and on an aerial map. I am now in the process of adding landmarks etc. to the map. To our GRRVR friends, we will miss seeing you this winter season, however you will be in our thoughts and prayers. As we begin traveling again in the spring we just may visit you, so just a warning (LOL) Have a great time in Kerrville and keep us posted on the happenings, both good and bad! To all our friends and family, have a joyous and Merry Christmas and enjoy the season with a REASON! David & Loretta
Thanksgiving November 22,2007 It is 6:14 am in the morning. I was awakened by the pitter patter of rain on the roof and the distant thunder. The wind came up so it was necessary to bring in the awning. Being wide awake, I decided to bring the blog up to date. I hope everyone is having a good Thanksgiving. We will be joining the group at Desert Trails later today for our feast. We are so thankful that we have a loving family and wonderful friends. We are thankful for our health and that God takes care of us no matter where we are. We are thankful for our safe travels. We are thankful for all the things that God has provided for us. We are thankful for the young men and women who serve our country to keep it free. Please be in prayer with me today to thank them and to keep them safe. We left Illinois on the 31st of October and headed west to Tucson. I had mentioned in the last blog that we may stop and see friends along the way. I received an email from Ruth Denny, inviting us to stop if we go their way. Little did she know, but that was our plan!!! We stayed with the Denny's, in their driveway for three days. We had a wonderful time visiting with them, and the Holmgrens as well as seeing the Oklahoma city sights and sounds. Before we left we wanted to see the Memorial in downtown Oklahoma City. This was I am sure an emotional visit for Ivan and Ruth. Neither had been to the memorial. Ivan was 2 blocks away when it occurred and they both lost friends. So our desire to see the memorial was the reason they needed to finally visit. The Memorial was very well done and yes it was emotional, even for us. If you get a chance make sure you visit. While visiting the memorial we ran into some folks from Kankakee, Illinois. They knew some of my former employees from Kankakee River State Park. Small world!!!! We had received a phone call from Pat Dahl. They are staying near Surprise, Az. and will be at Desert Trails in January! Great news. Pat had told me that I-40 was under construction from Amarillo Texas for many miles and that it was not in good shape. As that was the route we were going to take, we quickly changed our route. We decided to head south out of Amarillo to Us 60 and head west to US 70. This wa a good choice. It was a four lane divided highway for most of the way and the scenery was wonderful. One of our stops was Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico. What a beautiful area. We will need to explore that area some more sometime. We arrived at Desert Trails on the 7th of November. As it was Wednesday when we arrived, no one was in the office to check us in, but the instructions on the info board said to setup in a pull through site until the office opened the next day. We did and when we checked in, we were greeted very warmly by the owners and their daughter and 2 dogs. They mad us feel right at home! We were told to walk around the park and see what sites we might want. ( we had done this the night before) we had picked out several sites, but all we picked we taken for the winter! One site the owners had suggested, was a good site and we could fit in it. It faced west and we could watch the beautiful sunsets from our outside living room. Folks have been very friendly and stop and talk to you. Just like at GRRVR. Every Monday morning Pericles, the owner has an informational meeting. He brings us up to date on what is happening at the park as well as events that will be happening in the area. Did I mention the doughnuts and coffee? Yep he provides them. There are a lot of activities in the park, but not ping pong....yet! I am working on that. We have not done a lot of sight seeing yet. We have found the Walmart and a barber, but not much else. We have been quite busy! You see we went to Camping Worl to buy a folding bike and came home with the bike and a new(used) motorhome! Our new home is a 2005 Discovery 39s. It has three slides and a lot more fancy stuff than the other motorhome. Including power awnings. So it was not a big task to raise the awnings this morning. Did not have to go outside! We have been at Beaudry RV since Friday the 16th. we are in the transition area. We pulled our old and new motorhomes side by side to move stuff into the new one. What we discovered was we had less cabinet space in the new one!!! Not all of our stuff will fit. We have been saying for a long time that we needed to go through our stuff and get rid of some. We have 4 years accumulation so it was time. It was a blessing in disguise as now we are forced to do it! I am proud of Loretta! She has been doing a good job of getting rid of stuff. Even some of the shoes she had. Way to go Loretta!!! As of this writing we are not completely done. Most of the stuff has been boxed and need to be removed from the old and placed outside of the new, so we can sort through them. Later today we will remove the last boxes from the old unit. The 2005 unit had the J lounge couch removed and the washer and dryer. We decided not to move our washer and dryer and use the space for storage. We also decided to have the sleeper sofa removed and we moved the table and chairs to the old unit. ( we had taken the dinette out a couple of years ago) So we have the passenger slide out with an open spot and the drivers side slide out is open from the drivers seat to the refrigerator. Loretta's recliner will go there and we plan on buying another recliner or chair as well. We have found cabinets that will fit along the walls and will look good and give us more storage. If you remember from a post about 2 years ago, I wrote about when we took out the dinette and the building of a computer shelf. Well the unit I built will not fit well in the 2005, so we scrapped that and will go to plan B, whatever that will be. Actually we know what we are going to do, it is just finding the right pieces. As we are wireless, we do not really need a table for our laptops. The dealership service sucks! We have a few items that need to be taken care of before we leave and go back to Desert Trails. It feels like we are forgotten about once we take delivery. Speaking of delivery! We had to have the coach driven out of state to take delivery. Apparently they do not collect taxes for Illinois. So we went 2 ours east to Steins Ghost town, to Notary, signed some papers. The driver unhooked his car wand we drove the motorhome back. Back to service. We have had to stay on top of the service dept so they do not forget us! You are only suppose to stay 3 days and 2 nights in the transition area! I really believe that if I did not bug them and remind them that things need to be done, it would be out of sight, out of mind and we could stay here free for the rest of the winter! However we are scheduled to have the couch removed Friday and other items taken care of on Monday. Many folks are complaining about the service, especially after the sale. I want to thank Buddy and Joan Templeton for recommending Desert Trails. Although not fancy, the friendliness of the owners and the park residents more than make up for the amenities. Thanks Buddy and Joan. October 29, 2007 My Dad passed away October 11, 2007. He is now with his Lord and Savior and with his love, Mom. He passed quietly in his sleep as he wished to do. Loretta and I as well as the family, wish to thank everyone for all the communications we received over the last few weeks. All the prayers, cards and emails. They were all appreciated. THANK YOU!!! Life is getting back to normal, a little bit at a time. We are preparing the motorhome to leave here on the 31st, arriving in Tucson Az about the 7th of November. We got our quest health insurance membership reinstated in AZ. We had canceled it when we were going to stay in Illinois. Loretta will now have here surgery's in Tucson. The are numerous hand surgeons in the area and it will be warmer there for her physical therapy. Still continue prayers for her recovery. Our granddaughter Haley is a gymnast and her first competition was a few weeks ago. Although PaPa thought she did great, the judges did not agree and she did not medal. Yesterday was her second competition and she did much better, improving her scores in all areas except one. This time she won 5 medals, including 6th place overall!!! Way to go Haley!!! Haley is 8 years old. She can't walk with out doing cartwheels or some other gymnastic move. The daughters living in San Diego were evacuated. Angie's house was with in 1/2 mile of the burn area. They are both home now and they did have a home to go to. Thanks for the prayers. Her home has about 2 inches of ash on the roof, but that is all. It will be a mess to clean up!! We will miss all our friends at GRRVR, this year. We hope however that we can keep in touch via email and phone calls. We may even try to see some folks on our way to AZ. So stay by the phone!!! (LOL)
The past few months October 10,2007 Been wondering what we have been up to? Probably not (lol) Most of the last 2 months we have been traveling to Woodstock for PT on Loretta's hand. We are now at the point where additional surgery may be needed. An MRI was done yesterday and we have an appointment with the Dr. to find out just what is wrong with the fingers and why they are not responding. If surgery is indicated, then it will be followed by intense(5 days a week) PT. So some decisions will have to be made. Since our health group is in McHenry, it is a 160 mile round trip. To do that 5 days a week is insane! So do we rent a motel room for a week, stay with friends, or rent an apartment? Another option is to transfer our health group closer to where we are located. We have set up a quest membership in Tucson, AZ. We can have that for 6 months, however as we are not going to AZ anytime soon, we will have to cancel that and restate it later. But that is an option too. Having the surgery and PT in AZ. So please pray for the decisions we have to make and the healing of Loretta's hand. So why are we not going to AZ? My father has been diagnosed with small cell lung cancer. He is 82 and has numerous other health problems. The cancer has spread to his liver and is a fast growing cancer. Currently he is in a nursing facility and has chosen not to receive treatment. So along with Loretta's hand situation, we have decided to stay in Illinois, until these issues are resolved. Please pray for my dad, that the Lord will take him quickly to be with mom, and to ease the pain and suffering. Not all is bad!!!! Who travels from every direction to a central location to visit for a week? Why the GRRVR reunion attendees, of course! Around 84 persons attended the reunion in Ashland (Omaha) Nebraska, for our annual or sometimes annual reunion. These are folks that we have been privileged to winter with the last four years in Texas. Picture having all your best friends in one spot for a week! We ate, we visited, played board or card games, visited the local sights and best of all we LAUGHED! Some even had a pajama party!!!! Some got carded at the bar. Boy was she lucky! Some sat in the hall at a restaurant, waiting for a table, harassing folks going to the bathroom, telling them the waiting area was the line for the bath room. A BIG thanks to Dottie and Duane Dudney and family for planning such a great time in a great place!! On the way out to the reunion, somewhere between Cedar Rapids and Des Moines Iowa, I lost my front air conditioner shroud! We heard a thumping sound a couple of times and when we pulled into our camp site, I went to the roof to see what was happening. I discovered that I had no shroud on the front and back of the a/c and very little on the sides! I bought a tarp and covered the a/c for the rest of the trip. Tried to replace the shroud, however after calling an rv dealer and finding one, I waited too long to buy it and after traveling 20 miles, found out they no longer had it in stock! Oh well. I just hate not being whole, but will wait till I get home (I have ordered from CW) We took I80 out, but we headed south to go home via Springfield, Illinois. My granddaughter Haley had her first Gymnastic competion. For her first time out she did fantastic. Although she did not place in any of the 4 events, she did receive decent scores and almost got 10th place overall for her age group and level. Just missing by 5 tenths of a point! Way to go Haley!!! We are now located at my dad's house. The mh is in the driveway. I needed my internet!!!! We will stay in the house for the winter and keep heat and electric going to the mh. Kids say the darndest things! A few weeks ago we went to Champaign to baby sit with my son's children. When I grew up the "belt" was a fact of life. Although I do not use it myself, I know the the threat of it works, most of the time. So to set the stage for any problems we may have with misbehavior, I explained to our 3 year old grandson, about the "belt". I told him when papa grabs his belt buckle with both hands and makes this terrible face, it is my belt face. Then I asked him, "Know what happens when I take off my belt?" His reply was "pants fall down"? Boy how do you hide the laugh? May God bless each and everyone and for our GRRVR friends have a great winter and we will miss you all.
This and That July 26, 2007 The summer seems to be flying by. We have been spending our time helping my Dad and traveling to Woodstock,Illinois for Loretta's physical therapy. About a 2 hour ride one way! Loretta will be getting the wires out of her fingers tomorrow, then more PT. Our dog, Brody, was attacked by a Bull Terrier (Patton's type of dog) We were taking our daily walk, and this BT came at us. I pulled Brody into my arms, however his right leg was hanging down and the BT jumped and pulled him from my arms. I hit the BT in the throat and he let go! I ran to a pickup truck parked nearby and put Brody in the bed. The BT could not get him there. The BT was not interested in me or anyone else just Brody. Brody had 2 puncture wounds on his right thigh, one inside and one outside. Very little blood (thank goodness) He is doing fine and is back to his old self. Our prayers go out to Glenn and Carol Phillips. Glen has been diagnosed with cancer and while doing surgery he had a heart attack. Please keep them in your prayers. Also Ben Leedle has been hospitalized as well, but is on the road to recovery. Keep him in your prayers as well. Please let us know how your summer is going and what you have been up to.
Home July 8, 2007 We are now in Verona, Illinois at my daughters house. We arrived home a couple of weeks earlier than we had planned! More about that later. After leaving the Outer Banks of N.C. we headed to Williamsburg, Va. The drive was not long and the traffic was not to bad. On the way we stopped at the Wright Memorial at Kill Devil Hills, NC. We spent a week in the Williamsburg area, visiting Williamsburg, York and Jamestown. We also went for a boat ride, cruising the harbor and seeing the USS Enterprise and the USS Eisenhower, as well as several old forts. Leaving Williamsburg, we headed to Gettysburg, PA. Again the ride was not long and the traffic was light. ( It helps to drive on a Sunday) We had reservations at Granite Hill Rv resort. As we arrived early afternoon, I asked if they had any full hookup sites, as our assigned site was water and electric only. They worked with us and found a seasonal site that was not rented for the time period we needed. Plus it was open to the south for my internet satellite. It was a back in, no problem getting in, put had to put it at an angle to get the southern view I needed. But we did. Sure glad we asked for a different site! I looked at the site we were assigned and it had a downward slope of about 8-10 degrees and our wheels would have been really off the ground after we had leveled, as evidenced by the poor soul that later got the site. Our first full day in the Gettysburg area, we took a drive on US 30 to the Toll road, as I was planning on leaving that way and I wanted to check it out before we left. Sure glad we did! About 1/2 way to the toll way was gentle rolling hills, but after taht they became very steep with a lot of curves! Not for the mh!!!! We ended up traveling to I81, driving south to I70 and back North to the toll road. Much easier and no steep hills and curves. Gettysburg is really interesting, however it is very tourist orientated. We bought a cd/dvd combo and took our own tour of the battlefields. It was very interesting. we later did some other driving tours around the area. We visited York, Pa, which claims to be the Factory Tour Capital. We did visit the Harley Davidson Motorcycle factory. It was about an hour walking tour. They manufacture all the parts at this factory and assemble. No they did not give free Harley samples! Moving on we went toward Lancaster Pa. to Amish country, where we took a ride with an Amish farmer in his buggy. We visited the farms and he told us about their lifestyle. An interesting question was asked of him. Can any one join the Amish? Yes, however most do not stay very long, and leave after a year or two. You almost have to be born into the lifestyle, even then and more now than in the past, the kids are leaving the area. Most of the land available for farming is already taken, so there are few opportunities to purchase a farm. Our driver was very friendly and had a good sense of humor. Leaving Gettysburg, we moved to Bedford, Pa. Another historic are and spent 4 days there. One of the interesting sites we visited was the Flight 93 memorial. We had just watched the movie a couple of days before, when I found the site on a map! There was also a geocache at the site. Too see the site and see the temporary memorial and all the things folks have left was very moving. It is designated a National Memorial site administered by the NPS. While in the area we also took a driving tour of all the covered bridges in the area, before leaving to head to our next stop in PA. We only traveled 80 miles to a KOA south and east of Pittsburg. This was to be our genealogy tour. Most of the Carrs and Widneys' were from this area. We first traveled to Concord, PA in the Path Valley of Franklin County. This is the town that the first Widneys came to from Ireland. I have most of the information on this family, but wanted to visit the town and find the cemetery. We found the cemetery and saw the graves of the first Widneys! while in the small town, and I mead small, we stopped in a driveway so Loretta could mail Dad's Fathers day card. While sitting there an elderly gentleman came out and we told him we were just mailing a letter. We began talking and he said he remembses the Widney name. As we were about to leave he asked us if we liked country music. we said sure. He left and came back with a cd and a cassette. He sings and plays guitar and had recorded some bluegrass and gospel music. He told us he goes to another small town every Saturday night to play and entertain folks. He said you seem like nice folks and gave us the cd and tape. He really isn't to bad!!! Although the recordings are not professional we do enjoy his music. Our next tour was to Brookville, Pa and Puxatawney, Pa. To see if I could find information on the Carr's , which has been a problem. So off to Brookville we go. when we got there they were having a festival, so lots of traffic. I went to the Historical society and did my research. Nothing really new, however My 5th greatgrandfather may have been David Carr! But it may have also been Thomas. Both were living in the area with my 4th GGF. No the reason we came back to Illinois early. Loretta was walking the dog around while I did the research. We met and decided to get a snack before we headed back to the mh and to stop and get a special sandwich, made only in Pa. (We had seen this on Taste of America). So after getting our snack and walking back to our car, Loretta tripped on an uneven side walk, fell and broke 2 fingers on her left hand!!! Fortunately she fell in front of a Doctors office! The nuses heard her and came out and soon summoned the Doctor, who said, they are at least dislocated and may be broken! He gave us directions to the hospital and even called the emergency room to let them know we were coming. We spent about 3 hours in the ER and we had 3 hours to drive back to the mh! They determined her fingers were broken and dislocated. After putting them back in place they splinted and wrapped her fingers and e headed back to the mh. We had decided that it would be better to be back in Illinois for any surgery and within our HMO coverage area. We left for home the next day and made it back to Illinois the next day. After seeing our Doctor we went to see a specialist and surgery was performed to install wires into her fingers to help them heal. She now has a removable splint and is doing therapy. In about 3 weeks she will have the wires removed. Just after we got home, Dad went into the hospital. He will get out tomorrow. His breathing is getting worse and he tires easily if he walks to far. Please be in prayer for him. That's all for now, keep in touch and let us know how your summer is going. June 3rd, 2007 Tropical Storm Barry We are experiencing the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry. As of this writing the wind has picked up again and the rain has returned. We were supposed to leave today, but high winds (25-45mph) kept us in Frisco for another day. This morning we went to the beach to see the wild ocean. The wind was blowing sand about knee high and it was like our legs were being sand blasted!!. Last night we had high wind and rain. Several canopies of campers blew down and scattered their equipment around. We also smelled the smoke from the GA and FL. fires. Lets back track a little. We loved Charleston, SC! The town seemed cleaner and we really enjoyed the historical aspect of the town. While downtown to view the Tall Ships that we coming in, we again experienced the fire smoke. We were even interviewed for the local tv station. I sent the link out to all some time ago. After Charleston we headed to Simpsonville, SC, where my brother Brian lives. We stayed about a week. We visited with Brian, went to Scottish dance classes, played cards and did some geocaching. We took a road trip to DEI Motorsports in Mooresville, NC and then on to MT. Airy, where Andy Griffith was born and Mayberry was patterned after. Nice but nothing special. Did see Floyds Barber Shop and Wally's Service station, as well as a statue of Andy and Opie. Downtown Greenville is really nice. We were impressed with the area and what it has to offer. They have a very spectacular park near downtown called the Falls. Very well done, with lots of trails and areas you can wade in the river. After Simpsonville we headed back south toward Columbia, SC, to avoid the traffic near Charlotte, NC, as it was race day!. Glad we did. We stayed at a nice campground near Washington, NC. Did a couple of day trips to some historical areas. Took US 264 a scenic highway along the Palmico sound to US 64 that took us to Hatteras Island. Very nice drive with very little traffic. Hatteras Island is really a nice area. We enjoyed it very much and got us to thinking about wintering south of here, near Wilmington, some year. Took the Ferry to Orcracoke island, seeing the lighthouse there and driving around the island before heading back to Hatteras. Went to the beach a couple of days. Found out Brody is a crab dog! He smelled the sand and started digging. Soon a claw peeks out. Brody sniffs it and when it moves he jumps back. Soon he dug some more and uncovered it and out it came with his claws in the air! Brody jumped back and it scurried down the beach! I had to hold Brody back or he would have chased it. Our next destination will be Colonial Williamsburg and the Gettysburg. Spending a week at each, before heading west toward Illinois. Enjoy your summer and keep in touch. May 15th, 2007 Columbus, Savanna GA. Charleston SC We arrived in Columbus at a nice park about 9 miles south and east of town. Our first order of business was to find the Lunchbox Museum. We found it, boy what a disappointment! It was in a crappy looking building and was in the process of moving, so it was closed. They also had a handwritten sign saying it would cost $5.00 to view!! So much for that. We headed back to the motor home and on the way the engine quit! We were doing 60 and all the gauges went blank, just as if I had shut the engine off. We coasted to the side of the road and called our Good Sam emergency service. It was a little difficult to tell someone in Arizona where we were in Columbus, Ga, when we were not sure where we were! She was able to locate us and dispatched a tow truck to us with an eta of 1 hour. Brody was in the motor home. We were to be towed to the Saturn dealer. I called them to let them know we were coming. Linda Wells the service consultant, said they were closing at 6pm, so she offered to call enterprise to send out a car to pick us up, as they were closing at 6pm as well. Both Enterprise and the tow truck arrived at the same time, about 45 minutes from when I had called. I rode back with the tow truck and Loretta drove back with Enterprise. since the dealer service dept was closed, I wrote a note explaining we were RVers and our schedule, asking for prompt service, took the note and my keys and dropped into a night box. The next morning Linda called early and told me they found the problem. It was the crank sensor. This sensor monitors all the cars functions. When it went out it just shut the car down. Later she called back about an hour later and said it was finished! While it was there they discovered a recall on the tail light assembly, so they fixed that as well. What service! The total bill after my extended warranty including the car rental (warranty would not pay for the rental) was $87.00! We decided as long as we had to wait for the car, we would visit Warm Springs and Roosevelt's Little White House ( See link in previous post) That was very interesting. We also saw the Warm Springs pool, where he went for treatments for his polio. We left Columbus on schedule, thanks to Linda Wells of Saturn and Sterry Smith from Enterprise. Good job and great service from them both. Our next stop was outside of Americus, GA. Brickyard Plantation Campground. Basically a field. Our next days travel was to Andersonville and Jimmy Carter Historical site. Both were interesting, however we both enjoyed Andersonville much better. We did get to see Plains, GA. but really not much there! On the road again to Townsend GA. About 45 miles south of Savanna. This would be our home for the next week. A small campground, not fancy, but okay. Some of the places we went were Jekyll Island, St Simon Island, Savannah and the surrounding area. Jekyll Island is very interesting and a very pretty area. We went to the beach and drove around the Island. That did not take long! Another day we went to St Simon Island an visited the light house. We also saw dolphins in the harbor area. Since we were on the coast we had to eat seafood. We went to a place called the Buccaneer Club. The road to the restaurant was a good road but the neighborhood wasn't looking too good! Once we found the restaurant we ate and had a great meal. Our first trip to Savannah was with Brody to do some recon on the area. We went to the river front area and found a free 2 hour parking place! It was busy, so we walked around some and the headed back. The next day we booked 2 tours online. One for a trolley tour of the city and the other a lunch cruise of the river. To our surprise when we checked in the lunch cruises did not start until the following week! So we got our money back and just took the trolley tour. We were not impressed with Savannah. It did not look or feel clean. It was broken up by squares everywhere, but that was the design and did give it charm. Loved the history and the Civil War history. Ahhh time to eat seafood again. Loretta wanted Crab cakes. So we headed to Sunbury Crab Co. in the small town of Sunbury. An excellant choice! Loretta had the crab cake dinner and I had a flat Iron steak and crab cake. All was excellant. Finally we went cacheing. One of the caches was the The Smallest Church in America, so the sign said. It was small! Oh! While visiting Jekyll Island and the beach, we noticed dark clouds to the west and south of us. No other clouds anywhere! We figured it was the fires that were in Waycross and Florida. They are still burning! On to Charleston, SC. April 30, 2007 Louisiana, Alabama and Georgia Bound! We left Rockport on a cloudy day, with threatening rain. About half way to Beaumont it began to sprinkle, but soon stopped and turned partly cloudy. We stopped at Gulf Coast Rv, just outside of Beaumont. That night we had severe storm warnings issued. Most of the storms that hit Dallas went north of us. We arrived at Jim and Jane Hebert's early Saturday afternoon. They live in Grand Coteau, La. A historic town, very small. Jim and Jane were very gracious hosts and we learned quite a bit about their Arcadian heritage and their families. In fact before we left I had done some genealogical research for Jane and found some new info for her. We visited Avery Island. Home of Tabasco. We toured the factory and then went on a driving tour of the Island. The owner of the area, set aside an area for endangered egrets to breed. What a sight to see thousands of Egrets nesting along with the new hatched chicks. Another trip we took was to St. Martinsville, and the Arcadian Museum and monument. The story of the Arcadians is quite interesting and at times your heart goes out to those that had to leave Nova Scotia, sometimes being separated from family members. Jim and Jane both speak French. It was interesting to watch Jim when he heard someone speak French. If you know Jim, then you know he couldn't resist talking to that person! ( Jim désolé ! J'ai eu à dire cette histoire.) I hope that was translated properly!!! It was soon to press on. We left Jim and Jane and headed to Foley Alabama. Stopping on the way in MS for the night. The park looked like a camp for Katrina victims! We have been trying to stay at Gulf Breeze in Gulf Shores, for the last couple of years. But it was not to be this time either. First it was the hurricanes, but this time it was spring break! We thought that was done with, but not in this area. So we found a new RV park, just south of Foley AL. called Anchors Aweigh. What a wonderful park! Clean, concrete pads and patio and friendly folks. We stayed here 10 days, exploring the area. One thing we quickly learned about the beaches.... they are not dog friendly! We did find a beach, that was deserted, and the sign was laying in the sand, that said no pets. So we took Brody to the beach. the sand here is white. A dazzling white. As were were driving around we went close to the Gulf, where all the houses were and saw a lot of fantastic homes. $$$$$ all were on stilts. We did find a few with damage and a lot with new steel roofs. One night we went to Orange Beach to catch a Dolphin Cruise. Reasonable in price and on an old Navy Transport ship. Our Captain guaranteed we would see dolphins, and we did. All in the bay. We would look for shrimpers and following the net would be dolphins. The dolphins would some how bite into the net, without being caught or tearing the net to get at the shrimp and the fish. After the shrimper had pulled his nets, the Captain would run ahead of the dolphins and speed up creating a wake. The dolphins would then begin following us, jumping through the wake, rolling, swimming upside down, just behind the ship. We even got the opportunity to see a mom and baby dolphin. The baby was about 4 ft long. Seems like the storms were following us, just like many of our friends when they were going home! While in Foley, we had severe thunderstorm and tornado watches. A tornado was sighted north of us about 15 miles. We had the computer on,the weather radio on and my phone next to our bed, all for the weather warnings. However most of the storms again went north of us. As we were close to Pensicola FL., we decided to visit the Naval Aviation Museum. An awesome place. We even got to watch a Change of Command ceremony. After that ceremony was a graduation ceremony, and several received their wings. Loretta had the opportunity to assist the former commanders wife, while in the restroom. She got to hold their 7 month old baby!!! This was after we had been looking at all the displays and were getting ready to leave. The area is rich with Civil War history. Fort Morgan was the location of the Battle for Mobile Bay. There also is a ferry from this location that takes you to Daphen Island. We took the ferry over and did a driving tour of the island. Not very big! However a lot of homes are on the west end. Some were damaged in Hurricane Ivan, as was evident by poles sticking out of the sand, but no house. We left for Dothan Alabama on Sunday and arrived at Pecan Point Rv park in time to see the last 90 laps of the race. Dothan is the Peanut capital. Peanut items all over the place. Some important folks. G.W. Carver. He was involved with a lot of discoveries concerning peanuts. We also saw the worlds smallest city block. It is in the Guinness book of world records. So much for our visit to Dothan. Tomorrow we will head to Columbus, GA. we will try to visit the Lunch Box Museum, Warm Springs, and The Little White House, which is FDR's house in Ga. Then it is on to the Plains Ga. area to see Jimmy Carter Historical site and Andersonville, a civil war site. So until the next post, y'awl have a good summer and keep in touch.
April 11, 2007
Easter weekend arrived with cold weather and rain!!! It was actually the coldest day we had on the Saturday before Easter. It was cool and rainy all day. Easter Sunday was somewhat better. Monday morning we left Kerrville at about 9:30 am. It was overcast, a little warmer and not raining. Our destination Rockport, Texas. We arrived at 3:00 pm at the Lagoons. It is a very nice park, not on the water, however it is only a mile or so to the bay. Tuesday we went for a ride along the bay and explored around Rockport, rested in the afternoon. We decided to extend our stay to Friday am, as we wanted to go on a Whooping Crane boat tour on Wednesday AM and to see the USS Lexington on Thursday. Our Whooping Crane tour was excellent, although we almost did not get up in time to go! I had set my phone to go off at 6am, however I did not set which day! Fortunately I woke up at 6:30 and we made it to the boat in time. As we left the harbor, we spotted dolphins! Then after a short ride, we began to see lots of different shore birds. Egrets, Great Blue Herons, different Terns and Gulls, Flycatchers, Pelicans, a Peregrine Falcon and of course Vultures. A few minutes later we spotted 3 Whooping Cranes. There are 275 Cranes here at the present time. We spent at least a half hour watching them. Later we saw a few more as well as Rosette Spoonbills and a Heron Rookery. All in all it was a very good trip and the weather was perfect. Tomorrow we head to Corpus Christi, to tour the USS Lexington. Until later, keep in touch. April 4, 2007 The time has come for us to pull up stakes and move on. Many of our friends have now left. Only a couple "Winter Texans" are left. It is quite different now. No activities, no folks to talk to, or play games with. It is like we have become empty nesters again. We were to leave on the 2nd, however we decided to extend our stay thru Easter to attend church here, at a church we were familiar with. The weather has been rainy and stormy for the last few days, then some nice days. The birds are singing, the trees have burst forth with their leaves and the blue bonnets have arrived. We went for a ride a few days ago looking for the blue bonnets. We went toward Harper, then to Doss and on to Mason. We found blue bonnets and Indian paint brush blooming along side of most of the roads. The picture above shows Brody in a field of blue bonnets. About a week ago, I had the oil and filters changed in the engine and the generator. I also had the motor home weighed. We had not really weighed the motor home fully loaded, so we were anticipating being over weight. I even joked we would have a yard sale after the weighing! We were in for a pleasant surprise! We were 1390#s under our maximum and we were fairly balanced right to left. Now that I had the weight for each axle, I could calculate the amount of air pressure I should be using. 100#s was the figure, exactly what I was putting in the tires. So we have been traveling safe as far as the weight and tires were concerned. This week we began getting the motor home ready to travel. But first a few repairs were needed. The water heater was not igniting properly and after doing some reading, I determined that the problem rested with the computer control panel on the water heat. A local rv parts dealer had the new part and lets say it wasn't cheap! Next was the problem I have been having with the electrical connection between the car and the motor home. Each time I had the car hooked up and turned on the motor home headlights, a fuse would blow. I did have a fuse that would reset., so after a few minutes it would reset. I had bought a new connection cable and put that on and that seemed to solve the problem, at least sitting still! We will be heading for Rockport, Tx. on the Gulf Coast for a few days to do some birding and some sight seeing. Then on to Lafayette, La. to visit a few days with friends. Then it is on to Gulf Shores, Alabama and then we will head toward Savanna, GA. We will miss our "Winter Texan" friends, just as we miss our family and friends in different areas. We will be having a GRRVR reunion, October 1-4th at E.T. Mahoney SP near Omaha, Nebraska. So we can renew our friendship and spend a few days catching up and telling stories. Have a safe and enjoyable spring and remember our Christ, by attending the church of your choice on Easter.
March 3, 2007 I would like to say I have been too busy to update the blog. We have been busy, but I just have been lazy and not got it done. January and most of February have been cold and rainy. We even had a snow and ice storm that closed the Interstate and most everything in town. We went out to eat with some friends, and only one restaurant was open. Even the fast food places were closed! Toward the end of February it began to warm up and we have been in the high 60's low seventies ever since. It even got to 88 a couple of days ago!. So much has happened in the last 2 months. We lost our friend Sherry to cancer. We really did not lose her as we know she is with our Lord. She was a strong and brave lady and battled this cancer with everything she had and with a great attitude, never giving up. We love you Sherry and miss you a lot. We have not done a lot of traveling around the area as we normally do, but have taken a few trips. I have been busy repairing computers and assisting folks in getting connected to the wireless here in the park. I have conducted 1 computer question help day and put on a demonstration and class on Geocaching. Several folks are interested and I took our Canadian friend Mike on a cache hunt. We found 7 caches. Loretta has been busy with Book club, Bible study and water aerobics. One of the books was by a Local author, Lisa Wingate. They were able to have her come and speak, as she is also an inspirational speaker. Loretta was sort of put in charge and t job of organizing the event. Living in an rv resort for a few months is like living in a small town in the 50's. Folks sit outside of their units, folks walk by an stop and chat. We have backyard barbeques, play card and board games and just sit around and visit. We do as much or as little as we want to. That is why I like this lifestyle. It takes us back to simpler times. The season is winding down. Folks are watching the weather in their home towns and are beginning to leave. New folks are also arriving as well. One significant item, at least for me. Rod Plinske and I won the Doubles Ping Pong Tournament! We had to fight back from the losers bracket to take on the winners of the winners bracket. The championship game was 2 out of three games. We won the first 2 games and took the championship. I did not do well in the singles tournament. Yesterday was my birthday. Received several cards and phone calls. Loretta and I took some new friends for a ride to a place called Coopers. It is a Texas BBQ place. You choose your meat outside, they cut as much as you want and place it on a tray. You take that inside, they weigh it, price it and cut it up for you. You also get any sides you want. The plates are white butcher paper and you sit at picnic tables inside. Quite an experience and great food. After that we headed to another town, for ice cream and pie to die for! All in all we probably went 150 miles round trip for lunch and ice cream!!! Time to end and take Brody out as he is whining at me! Keep in touch. January 11,2007 We left Kamptown on January 1st. As this was a holiday, we thought traffic would be light around Nashville. It was!!! We found our way to the Natchez Trace and proceeded to follow it to our first destination. Meriwether Lewis National Monument. The Natchez Trace is a 440 mile road from Nashville to Natchez, MS. It does not allow commercial traffic and the maximum speed is 50 mph. Along the way at various locations are pull outs at historic sites. We probably averaged 40 miles an hour. No traffic, except arounf large towns like Jackson and Tupelo. The road does skirt the towns, which was very nice. Although it is winter the scenery was nice. We saw a few deer and several flocks of wild turkeys. We slowed for the turkeys as well as the deer. We have seen what a turkey can do to a motor home windshield!! Our first stop was at Meriwether Lewis National Monument, where we camped for the night. No electric, no water and no sewer. So we dry camped. The night was very cold and we started the generator and ran it for most of the night! The site we chose allowed us to get our satellite, so we did have tv and internet. Our next stop was Tupelo, Ms. Birth place of Elvis. We did drive past the house they have preserved. We also drove around to various civil war sites. We even drove to Verona, Verona Ms. that is. As the weather in the next few days was forecasting rain, we decided to push on to Natchez. It was a good thing as it turned out it began to rain that night. We decided to stay for 2 nights as rain was forecasted for the next day, with the possibility of heavy rain in our travel path. We received over 2 inches of rain. So we were glad we stayed. Another reason we stayed, is our connection to the car has a short in it and when I turn on the headlights, a fuse blows and we do not have any taillights. When we left Friday morning it had cleared up. We drove to Nacogdoches that day. The next morning it was foggy, so I did not hook the car up to the electric plug, so I would have my headlights on with taillights on the motor home at least. Hope to get that fixed while we are in Texas. As we approached our next planned stop we decided to go on into Kerrville, arriving about 4:30pm, in the rain! One good thing about traveling the Trace was my fuel mileage. 13 miles to the gallon! Over all I averaged 9.5 mpg to Texas. Not bad. Going down the trace was relaxing and made the trip a lot more pleasurable. A lot of our friends are already here and more have arrived since we got here. Apparently a few people were asking when we would arrive, as they needed their computers worked on. It is nice to be wanted!!! So needless to say, I have been busy helping folks with their computers. We have started getting into our routine. Had to wait until Monday to play ping pong! Did play golf yesterday and didn't play to bad, I did par 2 holes! Loretta got sick today, but is feeling better now. We are scheduled to go to a concert on Saturday night. It is 3 young men playing fiddles, play an assortment of music. It sounded interesting so we bought some tickets. The weather has been great since we got here. I have been able to wear shorts and sandals a couple of days. The next few days looks like the cold weather that will be affecting the rest of the US will descend on us as well. I do have my RV Webcam up and operating, so check it out and see where we are staying. Keep in touch and write often.
December 7, 2006Time is marching on!!! Soon we will be leaving for Texas. January 3 to be exact. We plan on going down the Natchez Trace from Nashville to Natchez, MS. From there I have not decided our route to GRRVR. The Campground has been sold. Two young men from the campground bought it. They are energetic and should do a good job. Dan and Sherry are temporarily living in Morris, with her son. This will make it much easier to travel to the University of Chicago for her treatments. She just completed the first series and will be evaluated prior to scheduling more. She is gaining weight and as always here attitude is great. Things look promising, so keep her in your prayers. Also keep Dan in your prayers too. It is a difficult job caring for a loved one and is very restricting and time consuming. He does a great job!!!! We took a few days earlier this month to baby sit with Heath's children. David (3), Allie 5) and Zack (7), for 4 days! We survived, although we were glad to get back to our motor home! They were really good and for the most part, they listened to us. Heath and Sarah went to Italy, with a church group. They even got tickets to see the Pope! Only a thousand tickets a day were issued. A friend of Heath's stationed in Germany was able to get them for him. We went to Morris for Thanksgiving. We also rescheduled our Drs. appointments that we had to cancel in August. Our test results were not the best. We both have to lose weight, our cholesterol was also up and my blood pressure was up. So we have to diet and exercise more!!!! Brody will benefit too, with all the walking I plan on doing. Brody even though he gets a long with Wrigley, Heather and Mike's dog, a lab, he is possessive about his food and stuff. Although he plays with Wrigley, by chasing him, he can get out of sorts at times. Well I think he picked a fight, that he could not win!!! Wrigley may decided he had had enough and or it may have been just rough playing, and Brody ended up with a swollen face. We took him to the vet and got some medicine and put warm packs on his face. He is back to his old self. I hope he has learned a lesson!!! Looking forward to seeing our Texas friends, and hope all are well with all. October 5,2006 It has been awhile!!!! Wow! How time flies. Here it is October already and so much has happened since we arrived back in Illinois on July 22. We arrived home from Gail and George Hunts, Just in time to attend our niece's wedding reception. Thanks George and Gail for a great time, and great hospitality. After arriving back in Seneca, where it was hot! We began to experience a problem with our air conditioners and the power management system on our mh. So I packed it all up and drove it to Bloomington, Il to a repair shop where it remained for 3 weeks! Meanwhile we stayed with my father. After retrieving the mh, we plugged it in and it still would not work! They had replaced the inverter/charger that had gone bad which had destroyed my batteries. Replaced the batteries and checked everything else. So I packed it up and took it back. This time I had asked them again to check and test 2 other parts that I suspected were causing the problem. We even plugged it in at the shop and we showed them what it was doing. They agreed with me what the problem most likely was. Well 3 weeks later we get the mh back (by this time we are in Champaign) and plugged it in and the same thing is happening and the new breaker they put in is popping! So I called them and they said OH! It worked fine for them. No offer to come to Champaign to take a look. It would work fine without the charger running, so we decided to back to KY and work on it there. More later. About August 10th or so were were contacted by our friends in KY, who own a campground, Dan and Sherry Byers. Sherry has had cancer and it had returned in her neck and throat. She had just completed her last treatment and her health took a turn for the worst. They had decided to go to Houston Texas for consultation and hopefully for further treatment and needed to have someone run the campground for them. We quickly agreed and left for KY the next day. (Taking the mh back to Bloomington on the way.) So we have been in KY since about the 11th of August. Sherry and Dan have returned from TX and were not to happy with what they had learned, however Texas had recommended they go to the University of Chicago hospital, as they specialize in neck and throat cancer. So that is what where they are right now. Those doctors are more optimistic about the treatment and are giving them some hope. Sherry is in good spirits and is a fighter!!! So please keep her and Dan in your prayers and if you will put her on your prayer lists at church. We also have another friend here in KY. that is going through cancer treatment, Efraim, soput him on your lists as well. We have been busy, keeping the books, paying bills, mowing grass, grading the roads after the heavy rains and visiting and talking with the campers. I have also been diagnosing the problem with the mh. Everything would work as it was supposed to, when the charger was off, but not when it was on. So I bought an amp meter and tested the power supply with no load on it except the charger. Nothing unusual there. Then the new breaker would pop, after getting hot. (the wires on either side did not get hot.) So I took the breaker out and wired it all together. Now everything works as it should. This breaker is redundant as long as I am plugged into 30 amp service, the breaker at the pedestal will protect me. I am looking for a different breaker to put in. But at least I know the problem and am working fine. So much for "experts". We will be here at Kamptown until about January 3rd, when we will leave for Texas. Oh if anyone gets RV-Living magazine, September/October issue, Loretta and I were interviewed for an article on Geocaching. This is the second magazine that we have been in. Hope all are doing well and hope to hear from y"all sometime. Keep in touch. July 16th,2006 Heading Home We began our journey back home on July 1. We left Heceta Head and headed to Tillamook, Oregon to spend the 1-4 at Netstat Bay Rv resort. A very nice area along a bay. We toured other lighthouses and State Parks in the area. We also toured the Tillamook Cheese factory. This area is a very large dairy producing area. We left Tillamook and headed to Hood River, Oregon. We stayed in a Walmart! The sign entering the parking area, said "No trailer overnight parking", however seeing several mhs I parked and asked an employee, who said it was okay. Waking in the morning we saw 30+ units all over the parking lot. Our next stop Kalispell, MT. About 40 miles from Glacier NP. (From this point until we got to Sioux Falls SD, we were unable to get the internet, except at areas with WiFi) We spent 2 days here. Going to Glacier NP and driving along the "Going to Sun" road and back around to Kalispell. What a beautiful park. I would post pictures, but our camera stopped working!!! We found this out after we took 165 pictures. Everything sounded like it was working but the shutter was not operating. On our drive back we took the road we were going to take the next morning. Just to see what Marias Pass would be like. Of course we were going down not up, but it gave me an idea. Boy did I get the wrong impression. It looked like it was down hill for 50 miles, all the way to Kalispell. So the next morning we decided to leave the car unhooked until we got over the pass. Not that the MH would not pull it, but I was worried about overheating. Everything I had read about this pass said it was no problem, but I had driven down it the day before and it looked steep! After we got over the pass, I discovered it wasn't like I had worried about and we could have hooked the car up. We hooked the car up and away went to our next stop. Havre MT. The campground we stayed at in Havre was called Prairie Acres, and that it was, right in a field! They did have WIFi and we could get tv. It had started to get hot and still is hot. We rambled down the road to Williston ND. This is where we going to head south to Theodore Roosevelt NP at Medora andon to Rapid City, to see MT. Rushmore. Loretta saw the weather for that area was going to be 100+ for the next week, so we changed our plans and stayed on US 2 and headed to Grand Forks, ND. We had friends there (2 couples) and thought we would visit with them for a few days. Before we got to GF we stayed in Rugby, ND, the Geographical Center of North America. (This is where we discovered our camera wasn't working) About 40 miles to the north was the International Peace Gardens. So we after setting up we headed north. The International Peace Gardens are located on the border of the US and Canada. So we were able to go into Canada too. Very pretty gardens with lots of flowers. After returning back to the MH we had a call from one of the couples, Dolly and Frank Narloch . The next day we headed to their farm in Minto, ND. Dolly and Frank are retired Sugar Beet farmers, we had met in Texas. Although Frank was having some medical problems and was in the hospital, he was able to get day passes to leave the hospital and show us around the area as well as explain the operation of sugar beet and potato farming. Boy what an operation!!! It was very interesting, especially since their growing season in northern ND is very short. Frank and Dollys son is now operating the farm along with his son. We really enjoyed our visit with Frank and Dolly and the hospitality that was shown to us. Thanks Frank and Dolly we really enjoyed our visit and am glad we changed or route to do so. To our other friends Leon and Donelda, sorry we missed you. Maybe next time!!! Our next decision was whether we continue east on US 2 or to head south on I 29. We decided to head south on I 29 to I 90, hoping that we would stay a head of the heat wave. We stopped for the night at Sioux Falls and then headed east on I 90 to Austin, MN. Although it is hot here (87) it is not as hot as further north (that's weird). We are staying here for 2 days to take advantage of the pool and other activities in the area. Then it is on to Madison, WI and from there to visit with friends in Davis, Il for a few days before heading to Verona. Stay cool and have a great summer.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006 Lighthouse Tour of DutyWe arrived at Washburn on the 3oth and began working on June 1st. Our campsite was in the trees and very little sun light filtered through the trees. ( What sunlight there was!) It has been rainy and cool here with some wind. But that is Oregon. June is supposed to the month that things start to get nice. But as the days went by we saw very little sunshine. At the site we were assigned, I could get the internet, but no tv. We stayed in that site about a week, before a better site happened to come open. So after checking all the angles we decided to move. Good choice as it was more open and had a chance for the sun to shine on the motor home and we were able to get tv and the internet. Paradise!!! Our first day of work, we worked the afternoon shift, 2pm to 5pm and immediately began taking tours up into the lighthouse. There are 56 steps to climb and that is after walking 1/2 mile to get to the lighthouse from the parking lot! I believe I took 5 tours in a row up. Loretta took less until she got comfortable with giving the presentation. We both were a little tired the first day! We work 4 days on and 3 days off. Originally we wee to have Saturday, Sunday and Monday off. However a couple did not show up so the schedule was changed and we are getting Sunday, Monday and Tuesday off. Usually 2 couples work a shift. A couple of the wives are not able to climb the stairs so they schedule the groups of 9 or less, by greeting the visitors and issuing them colored numbered cards. Then we call the color of the next tour and we are off. ( Heceta Head) We are getting about 200+ visitors per day now and that will increase as summer comes. We have met a lot of nice people from all over the world. All of the hosts are very nice as well. We are now in our routine and except for the lack of sunshine we do like it here. It is 13 miles to town along a winding road so it seems a lot longer! On our days off we go for rides either north or south of our location. The coast is beautiful and there are many pull-offs and waysides to see the view or get to the beach. We have seen whales and sea lions as well as harbour seals. We stopped at a wayside called Strawberry Hill, where you can get to the tide pools at low tide. Here we found star fish (now called Sea stars) mussels and other sea creatures. On Sunday we went to a Chainsaw carving contest in Reedsport. That was really interesting. Yesterday we met some friends from Honeyman SP, for lunch and then we went to the Siuslaw Museum. Very interesting. While in the resource library the curator showed us a video of the "Exploding whale" it is very funny. Click on the link to see the video. The weather has finally turned sunny, although it is windy and that tends to cool things down a bit. We are in our last 2 weeks of work here at Heceta and will complete our "tour of Duty" on the 30th. We will then start heading back to Illinois via the northern route, through Washington, Idaho and Montana. Not looking forward to the hot temps of the midwest!! Since we left in September we have had weather in the low 70's and high 60's, with only a few days of hot weather. It is going to take some adjusting!!! We are looking forward to seeing our family and friends in the midwest. So stay cool and we will be back soon. Keep in touch. Saturday, May 27th 2006Oregon ThoughtsWe have been at Honeyman SP now for 13 days, it has rained on and off for at least 9 days. It will be raining for the next 3 or four days. However rain does not stop Oregonians! Unlike Midwesterners, they do not cancel their outdoor plans, they just come prepared for the rain. We were told that the park was completely reserved for the Memorial Day weekend. I thought with the rain we would have a lot of cancellations. But no they still came. I walked my 'kingdom" this am and we have 1 or 2 open sites. Rain does not stop them. Oregon is a very beautiful state, especially along the coast. As you travel the coast you go from ocean sand dunes to a rocky coast with sand beaches. The Oregon National Sand Dunes runs for about 41 miles, from Coos Bay to Florence. Some of the dunes are the tallest in the US, over 500 feet. Most of the dune areas are open to ATV and dune buggies. During the winter months, the loop we are hosting has access to the sand dunes. Fortunately, for us that ended April 30th! We still see a lot of ATV's in the loop, but they can not run in the park and have to transport them to a NFS area 2 miles north to access the dunes. We still hear them as there is a private access to the south of the park. We have had several folks who had reservations and thought they could access the dunes from here and we disappointed that they could not and cancelled and went elsewhere. On Wednesday, our day off we took a road trip up the coast to check out the park we would be staying in next and to explore the coast. Our next "duty" will be the lighthouse. We will be staying at Carl Washburne SP. The site we are assigned, we do have a 50/50 chance of getting the dish to work. Where we are now we can not. So we have been roughing it! Reading books, watching programs we had recorded and dvd's. We went to several of the camping areas along the coast to look for the host sites, to evaluate whether we would like to host in those areas. Most of the host sites were not good for deploying our dish, however some had catv and telephone. (We have a phone now and I use dialup to get on the internet) So far we have seen a lot of birds, seals, etc. Yesterday Loretta was sitting in her recliner and saw a black bear cub run across the dunes in front of the motor home!! I went out later and looked for the tracks and took pictures of them. We expected to see momma bear but we did not. We see a lot of sighs for Elk crossings but have not seen any. Our duties here are simple. We are the "Meet and Greet " hosts. We also sell firewood, stock the restrooms, and pick up litter. We have met a lot of nice folks. A couple from Salem camped across from us. She was from England and he was from the states. Along with them were her sister and her husband. They were from England, although the husband was originally from Ireland. We both could have talked to all of them for hours, just to hear their accent. They were very nice people and we had a lot of fun with them. They have invited us to stop by if we are ever in the Salem area. As Memorial day approaches, let us concentrate on those who have sacrificed their lives and their time to serve our country, to keep us free. Please pray for our soldiers currently serving our country and for those who have served us in the past. God Bless. Tuesday, May 16, 2006 Oregon Bound As of this date we are now in Oregon and have been since the 7th of May. The picture to the right is of the lighthouse (over my right shoulder) We went to the coast with David and his family ( Loretta's son) to show them where we will be working and to check out our camp sites. Lets back up a bit. After we left Las Vegas area we headed to Escondido California to visit with the daughters, Kim and Angie and the grandkids. We arrived on or about the 6th of April and would be staying about 3 weeks. Very expensive here, about $ 300.00 per week!!! We spent most of our time visiting with the kids . We did go to the Lawrence Welk Resort and museum. Very interesting. We did get talked into listening to a presentation for "Vacation timeshares". In return we got $45.00, a cheap web cam, free Winery tour and $25.00 off a bottle of wine, and 2 dinner/theater tickets to the Always Patsy Kline show, starring Chrissy King, from the Lawrence Welk show. Since we wanted to see that show we went on the presentation. What was suppose to be 90 minutes went on for 3 hours!!! We declined and accepted our gifts and went on our way. The play was great and the actress that played Patsy even sounded like her. We did get to the beach several times and even Brody got to go. We found a beach that was dog friendly. Brody loved it, except for the water. He does not like the water. He did go in, but when the waves came in he ran back to dry land. We left Escondido on the 27th and headed to Sequoia NP. We stayed in a campground about 50 miles away and then drove into the park, taking Brody with us. What a drive, left, right, left, right yes the road was very curvy! The park was amazing and the size of the trees were BIG. As it was still early, there was still snow on the ground and still very deep. Our trip back was just as curvy and very tiring. I did not want to drive on ay more roads that had curves! But alas that is the way it is in the mountains. We moved on to a campground on the old Castle Air Force base, for our excursion into Yosemite NP. The campground was a parking lot, with 10 full hookup sites. I had called about reserving a site, but they did not have any available, due to a car rally. We would have to dry camp. No problem we had everything we needed on board. When we checked in, they had 2 openings. So we got our full hookup site, which made it easier, especially since it was quite warm. Next to the campground was an Air Museum, with about 45 old airplanes. Included with the camp fee was the admission into the museum. We were about 70+ miles from Yosemite. After dropping Brody off at the Vets we headed out to Yosemite. The road was great, it was straight, well almost. As we went further we saw a sign that said 140 ( our route) was closed to Yosemite! So we continued on to Mariposa and detoured south and east and came in the south entrance. Now the road got curvy again! But the views were awesome. Waterfalls everywhere! The snow pack was double what it normally is and spring runoff was in full swing. The spring is a good time to visit. The crowds haven't arrived yet and the water falls are running full. Yosemite is a very beautiful park. We did not get to see all of it as many of the roads were still closed. As we got back to the campground after 5, we were not able to visit the museum. So before we left we visited the next morning. It was a very nice museum and the planes we in great shape. B-17,B-29,B45, jets, small planes , mostly from WWII through Vietnam era. Our next stop was Redding CA. A classmate of Loretta's and mine from high school ( grade school for me) and a neighbor that I grew up with, Judy Cleeton Rice lived there as well as Loretta's ex brother-in-law. Jerry Todd. We called Judy and was she surprised to her from us and even more surprised when we told her we were in town. We met them at the truck stop for coffee and reminiscing. We got out of there late and Judy's husband had to work the next day! Judy's husband works at the Christian College and come to find out he knew Pam Todd who also works there! The next day we met Jerry and Pam for Supper and conversation. As Judy was disappointed that we were not staying longer we extended our stay. We went out to breakfast with them and then took them geocaching. There was a cache just down the road from their house. That afternoon we went to Jerry and Pam's for a cookout and visit. We left the next morning for Medford and our visit with David, Kim and the boys. David had been layed off over the winter and we had planned on taking a ride to the coast in the middle of the week, but David was called back to work!! That was good news, so we postponed our trip until Saturday and the boys then could go with us. I had talked to Heather and she said I had received a package from Oregon about our hosting job, with something I needed to send back. So I called to let them know we were still coming nad were in fact in Oregon. Lori the Administrative asst. asked us to work at Honeyman for 2 weeks as they really needed the help. That is why we are here instead of at the lighthouse. June 1st we head to Carl Washburne SP, to begin working at the lighthouse. Keep in touch via email or our guestbook page. Las Vegas and beyond We arrived in Boulder City, at the Boulder Oaks RV Resort Saturday the 1st.. What a surprise! Paved roads, curb and gutters and nice landscaping. The lots are all owned by someone and they allow the lots to be rented out, when the owners are not using them. The rental agency gets 60% of the charge and the owners get 40%. The park was developed and then an owners association was established, with a rental agency to do the bookings and sales. The arrangement has been good until recently. Now it seems like there are injunctions and lawsuits going on between the Association and the rental office. The lots are not cheap!! $60,000 and up. Some have a nice few of Lake Mead and all have views of the mountains. That evening we decided to go into Las Vegas. We were about 25 miles from downtown. No public transportation so we had to drive. Armed with a map and the gpsr, we headed out, planning on being back around 9pm. Or first place to find was the parking garage on Fremont street. Fremont street is in the old downtown area and has the canopy covering the street and a light show occurs overhead on a regular basis. No problem finding the parking area. As it was still light out and close to sundown, we decided to hop on the bus and head down the strip. Our first stop, the Stratosphere. Loretta wanted to get to the top just before sunset to get her sunset pictures. Traffic is terrible on the strip!! Our bus would creep ahead 15 feet and stop, 15 feet and stop. Slowly the sun was going down. Loretta was getting anxious. She looked a head of the bus and saw the Stratosphere ahead and said.... "it is only a couple of blocks away, lets get off and walk" So we did. And we walked and walked and walked. The bus even passed us!!!! Well needless to say it was further than we thought. I guess when something is big and sticks up in the air, it looks closer than it really is. Well we did not make it to the top for sunset. It was still neat to see LV from up there with all the lights and TRAFFIC!!! Our next objective was to see the water show at the Belagio Casino, so we hopped on the bus ( and stayed there) again start, stop, start stop, all the way there. But we made it and were able to see the show a couple of times ( once from the bus). Our next destination was Treasure Island to see the Pirate show. This time we decided to walk as it was not far. We got there in plenty of time, but so did a lot of other folks. The sidewalk was so packed you could not move anywhere. We were able to get a couple of rows back from the fence and had an alright few. Then we waited and waited. Finally it was announced the show was cancelled, due to high winds!!! This was the second time it had been cancelled that day. Bummer> We decided that many of the shows were too expensive to go to and we did have Brody back at the motorhome, so we decided to start waking the strip and take in the LV nightlife. A lot if young folks were here as well as the older crowd. No problems, but a few weird characters! After a few blocks of walking we decided to catch the bus back to Fremont street. We arrived at a bustop along with a big crowd, and began our wait for the bus. The buses run every 10 minutes or so. However with the traffic on the strip it was a lot longer. We started to catch the bus around 8:30pm or so, as we wanted to be back to the MH around 10pm. as the bus pulled up, it discharged some and took only a few on, then it was full. So we waited and waited. No bus, so we decided to walk down to the next bus stop, and we waited and waited. Here comes one!!!! Went right on by. Full. So we waited and waited, walked some more and waited. Here comes another. It stopped!!! But wouldn't let anyone on. Full. So we waited, and waited and walked. We waited some more. It was now around 10:45pm. Saw a lot of buses going south empty, but none going north. Where do they all go??? We finally decided that we were walking the wrong way! The further we got from the major casinos the fuller the buses were. SOOO we decided to cross the strip to the other side of the strip and catch a south bound bus and take it around and back the other way. The south bound bus south to the terminal, a few miles out of town!!! we had to then switch buses to head back. This we did and finally ended up at Fremont street at midnite. Just in time for the light show. We arrived back at the motor home around 12:45am!!That was our Vegas experience. LV is all glitter and lights, expensive, and crowded. It was an experience, but not what I expected. Since we do not gamble, it was kind of boring. While driving in to town at one point you are higher than the city, looking down at all the lights and buildings, it looked like Sodom and Gomorrah!!! We made it out to Hoover dam, but did not take the tour, as it was late in the day. We did however go to the museum in downtown Boulder City. That was very interesting. Other day trips we took, were to Lake Mead, Valley of Fire and Red Rock Canyon. All very interesting and beautiful. I have been watching the weather, here and along our route to Escondido. Not good. Rain and high winds at various locations along the way. We decided to stay in Boulder City, until the winds calmed down. We called the next rv resort and explained the situation to them. The lady then told me, hmmm the winds aren't blowing here, but the windows just rattled!! I think we just had an earthquake! We finally left on the 6th and decided to drive all the way to Escondido, as the day was nice and traffic was light. We arrived around 3:30pm and were set up by 4pm. A very nice resort, but as is everything in California, expensive. We are having a nice visit with the kids and grand kids. Angie only lives about 10 minutes away and Kim about 35 minutes, depending on the traffic. Easter was spent going to church on Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. Kims church put on the service, right on the beach. Where else can you go to church and get a sunburn??? Wayne and Angie do a clown ministry and were there doing clowning for the kids. Overall a nice service.
On the Road We left GRRRV on the 22nd. We were scheduled to leave on the 21st, but the weather forecast called for windy weather, so we stayed an extra day. Due to the weather we changed our plans and decided no to go to San Angelo, so we drove only 135 miles the first day and decided to head to Silver City New Mexico to visit with David and Diane Oram. We spent 5 days with them and had a good time. David and I went geocaching around the area. Some of the caches required a climb and I was winded by the time I got to the cache, but it was good exercise for the lighthouse job! Loretta and Diane, shopped and did some beading. We left on the 29th and headed to Sierra Vista. To Pueblo Del Sol RV resort. Nice park, but we found out they were closing May 15th and developing the area with houses! The town is a retirement community of about 40,000 and an Army base. Lots of things to do to keep active. A definite place to keep in mind for future wintering over. David and Diane decided to meet us in Sierra Vista and visit Tombstone and Bisbee with us! We first went to Tombstone. Really a tourist town!!! We got there about supper time and had a good meal at a Place called Nelly Cashmans. The following day we headed to Bisbee, Arizona. Although it was touristy as well, it was a historic mining town and not as fake as Tombstone. While there we went on a tour of a Copper mine. The Queen Bee. We went in by an electric train, sitting astride a board, 4-5 people per car. This was after we donned hard hats, a slicker and were given a battery pack and light. It was a cool 47o in there. The tour guide was a retired employees. It was very interesting and certainly was not a job I would have wanted. We left Sierra Vista on Thursday and stayed in a very nice campground west of Phoenix. Tonight we are South of Las Vegas about 75 miles. We will head to Boulder City and stay at the Boulder Oaks RV Resort. Then we will see Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and of course, Las Vegas, before we head to the San Diego area. The weather has been great and we have seen the evidence of the drought. Many of the streams we cross are completely dry. We have not seen any real fire evidence only small areas along the Interstate. Keep in touch .
Wednesday March 15th Leaving Soon The last month has flown by! Loretta went to California and returned the 25th. Then on March 2, she went on a road trip with some of the gals from the resort. That left a few bachelors in the park for 3 days!!! I turned 60 on March 2! Loretta had emailed folks that this was a big one and I received a lot of cards from folks at the park and from Illinois. I also got a call from Kuwait! Heath had called. What a surprise. At potluck Loretta had a cake with computer candles, balloons and a giant card that folks signed. Overall it was a great 60th birthday!!! I am now an official "geezer" In October, while in Kentucky, I was browsing the Geocaching forum and came across a request to interview Geocachers for an article in the Highways magazine. A Good Sam publication. I responded and he gave me a call to do an interview! It came out in the March issue. Dad had called me about it as his neighbour brought him the article and asked him if that was me. Here is the article: David Carr lives
full time in his 38-foot 2000 Fleetwood Discovery diesel pusher. He There is more to the article, I just gave you the best part!! Last week I got a notice from my ISP that Direcway was dropping them! I could upgrade to their equipment or go with another ISP. I chose to go with Motosat, even though it meant moving to another satellite . The new satellite is 117w while my old satellite was 99w. as it was farther away from my tv satellite, I had to but a new LNB on my dish, so we could get tv. Bummer, more $$$. I installed it and found out the LNB was a dual head, so I could hook up 2 cables to my receiver andhave the capability to watch 1 channel and record another!!!! So I would not have to drill a hole into the coach for the new cable, I used the cable from my tv antenna. It worked, sort of. I could not get signal on all the transponders. HMMMM Aha! There was a power amplifier on the tv cable. I removed that and what do you know now I get everything!!!! Sweet! We will be leaving GRRVR on the 20th and heading to California. Our itinerary will be: San Angelo, TX, then Alamagordo,NM, Silver City, NM, Tombstone, AZ, Blythe, CA, Las Vegas, NV and Escondido, Ca. We will stay there a couple of weeks and then head to Oregon by May 1. We will start working at the lighthouse on the 15th of May Enjoy your summer and keep in touch.
February 11,2006 February Update The weather for the rest of January and the beginning of February was great. Warm days and cool nights with plenty of sunshine. Our last hike was to Enchanted Rock State Park, north of Kerrville. History: Enchanted Rock State Natural Area consists of 1643.5 acres on Big Sandy Creek, north of Fredericksburg, on the border between Gillespie and Llano Counties. It was acquired by warranty deed in 1978 by the Nature Conservancy of Texas, Inc., from the Moss family. The state acquired it in 1984, added facilities, and reopened the park in March 1984, but humans have visited here for over 11,000 years. Enchanted Rock was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1970 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The Rock is a huge, pink granite exfoliation dome, that rises 425 feet above ground, 1825 feet above sea level, and covers 640 acres. It is one of the largest batholiths (underground rock formation uncovered by erosion) in the United States. Tonkawa Indians believed ghost fires flickered at the top, and they heard weird creaking and groaning, which geologists now say resulted from the rock's heating by day and contracting in the cool night. A conquistador captured by the Tonkawa described how he escaped by losing himself in the rock area, giving rise to an Indian legend of a "pale man swallowed by a rock and reborn as one of their own." The Indians believed he wove enchantments on the area, but he explained that the rock wove the spells. "When I was swallowed by the rock, I joined the many spirits who enchant this place." The first well-documented explorations of this area did not begin until 1723 when the Spanish intensified their efforts to colonize Texas. During the mid-1700s, the Spaniards made several trips to the north and northwest of San Antonio, establishing a mission and presidio on the San Saba River and carrying out limited mining on Honey Creek near the Llano River. 13 of us took the hike up to the top. It was real windy that day and we did not stay long at the top! We hiked down the side to a trail and met the 2 hikers that did not go to the top. We continued on the trail around the base of the rock back to our cars. We did 3.6 miles that day. I also found a geocache at the top of the rock. On the way home we stopped in Fredericksburg for ice cream. Our next hike will be to Lost Caverns and a great BBQ eatery! One of my travel bugs is located in this park and I hope to find it. Soon after my last post, my hard drive decided to stop working! Fortunately I had a lot of my data backed up and after getting a new hard drive I was able to get up and running again. I did get a new hd from Gateway as my computer was still under warranty. 2 computers dieing since I got here!!! After getting the laptop running again I tried my Shuttle and I got it working again. So it wasn't the hard drive on it after all. Oh well. Loretta is flying to San Diego on the 15th to help Angie and to visit with the grandkids. She will be gone 10 days. Happy Valentines day to all!!!!!!!!
Saturday January 21, 2006 Another Year A New Year greeted us in Kentucky. We didn't do too much to usher the New Year in. We went to a small party at the clubhouse, eat a little, talked a lot and retired to the motor home around 9:30pm. We watched the New Year come in on the east coast and said good night! Midnight our time fireworks began with a loud BANG! Brody came off the recliner and came to bed with us. We had a good view of the fireworks from our bedroom window. Jan 1, we all went to breakfast in town. Loretta and I spent the next to days getting the motor home ready to depart. Departure day January 3, 2006. First problem! Bedroom slide would not come in. After some investigative work we discovered a wire loose under the refrig, that controls the relay for the slide. Sure glad I did not have to crank it in by hand! We left Kamptown around 8:30am and were all hooked up and hit the road by (am. We went a different route this time. we took 68 south from Cadiz, across the 2 narrow bridges ( no traffic did we meet) into Murray, Ky and on down to Us 79, at Paris, TN, where we then headed to Memphis. As we had stayed in Memphis before, we knew where we wanted to stay. Just behind the heartbreak hotel was the campground. Later that evening we again had the pink limo pick us up and take us to Marlowes Barbaque. We left the next day down US 61. We have travel US 61 down from Minnesota to Missouri, earlier last year. It is a good road as well as scenic. We arrived in Vicksburg, Ms early after noon. We took a ride into town around sunset and went to a small overlook to view the sunset. We had noticed a police car sitting across from the entrance, but gave it no thought. Soon sirens went off and not one but 2 police cars took off and another came from the other direction. We saw a car and the police cars pull into the parking area of an Enterprise rental company, saw folks running and heard what we thought were gunshots!!! We hid behind the car! Do not know what was going on, but there were at least 6 police cars there when we left. We continued down US 61 towards Natchez. We left Us 61 to ride about 30 miles on the Natchez Trace. Beautiful area and very little traffic. We arrived in Vidalia, LA about 2pm. After our nap we went for a walk in the campground, with Brody and on the way back we saw liquid coming from under the motor home. We have a front jack that was leaking!! Once enough fluid has leaked out, the front jacks raise up off the ground. So we went to Walmart to buy some transmission fluid to fill the hydraulic jack tank. Nothing we could do until we get to Texas and have the seal replaced. The jacks did come up. The following day we went to the visitor center and received info on Natchez and got tickets for a carriage ride around town. Before the carriage ride we went to a mansion for lunch. The restaurant was actually in the Carriage house, hence the name, The Carriage house! we had a great lunch. They had these fried biscuits that were to die for. we even took some home! The carriage ride was interesting, made even more so by the driver, historian. Later we toured the home of a freed slave that has been preserved by the NPS. Our next destination was a small rv park in Woodville, Texas. However we missed the entrance and continued on the Livingston, Texas. Home of the Escapees Club. You would think that there would be a few campgrounds in the area, but there wasn't. So we pulled into Walmart, asked permission and stayed the night. Our first Walmart camping experience! On to the Austin area. Oh, our plans to visit friends in the Dallas area did not work out so we took a different route. That is why we are heading to Austin. We arrived near our chosen campground around noon and decide to head on to Kerrville and GRRRV. we arrived about 3pm and our site was occupied! Only until the 9th, the day we were supposed to arrive. No problem set up in another site and wait. What a reception we received from our friends that saw us pull in!!! Just like old home week. After we got set up on "our" site, we have settled into a routine. Eating, playing ping pong, water aerobics, playing games and hiking. We took our first hike Thursday to a small park here in town. Doing about 2.5 miles. I am in charge of organizing the hikes and have several new areas to try in the next few weeks. The weather has been exceptional for January. Most days have been sunny and warm. although today it is cool and cloudy. They do need rain as it is very dry. Well need to go. We are going out to eat!!! surprise! Keep in touch and leave your comments or drop us an email.
December 19, 2005 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year – 2005 From: The Carr’s; David, Loretta & Brody, too! 2005-Wow, has another whole year gone by already. We’re starting our 3rd year as full-timers in our MH (Motorhome). We agree that we "Love It" even more than when we started. Thanks for your comments along the way (on our blog) and most importantly for your cont’d prayer support. We’ve truly felt it and appreciate it so much. Therefore for many of you who keep track of us on our blog, some of this may be old news but wanted to keep in touch with the rest of you too. Remember, find blog at: http://www.christiancomputerservice.com While in TX last March, we ea. took l-o-n-g 2 day/each way bus rides: David to IL (to support family when Mom moved into nursing home & CA for me to spend Easter & visit in case our itinerary would change.) Let’s just say it was "Quite an Interesting Experience" – but one not to be repeated again unless no other options are open. As you may know, David’s Mom (Gerry) went home to be with our Lord, on April 16th. We Thank God we were visiting the Orams in NM. Prayers by family & friends helped get us back to IL safely and quickly. We’ll miss her very much, but we know deep inside she is now free of pain, fully restored, and basking in Christ’s presence. Our family continues to be blessed by answered prayers and good health overall. Heath, made it home safely from Iraq, but recently accepted a 9 mo. duty assignment in Kuwait as a computer Network Specialist. We continue to seek prayers for Heath& his family in Champaign, IL while he’s overseas once again. We also pray for ALL our troops, wherever they serve. We pray you do the same, & asking for Revival throughout Our Nation! I flew to CA in June to help celebrate Sarah’s 1st BD the 18th & Taylor’s 5th BD on 26th, flying home just in time to celebrate Haley’s 6th BD. We’re still geocaching, attended a regional Geo-Bash in La Fayette, OH in Jul (w/ 400 other Cachers). Then we visited family & friends in MI, WI, and MN. Checked out WI Dells for fall GRRVR reunion on our anniversary. Battery died in the car, so no dinner out. L . Luckily, just towed the car home next day. Back to WI for reunion in Sept., then Midwest Exec. Conf. in IA. Next to H. Hoover’s Pres. Library near West Branch, IA. Then Hannibal, MO & ended up back in KY for our fall stay and spend time with Dan & Sherry before & after her surgery. (Which went very well, again thanks for your prayers on her behalf.) Two fall projects turned out quite well, despite some glitches. We took out our dinette and used the tabletop to create a computer workstation instead. We added a two door cabinet at one end and a bookcase to hold computer items. Finally found two adjustable chairs that fit perfectly. (It only took us the purchase and return of 7 other chairs first.-Ha! Ha!) Recently we took out the loveseat and replaced it with a recliner. Efraim & Joan helped us bring it home in their truck. It wasn’t until after we had it inside that David realized the store had loaded the "wrong" recliner for us. So, we could wait 4 days for delivery or WE had to take it back to Hopkinsville. David managed to get the base into the trunk and the back part in the car. Then bring the right chair home. Meanwhile Sherry & I were off on one of our last Christmas shopping days. Thank goodness our remodeling plans are currently done. At this stage, no one here even wants to hear "Chairs… or Let’s Shop". After the holidays we’ll head to TX, work our way to CA and then plan to Workamp in Oregon in May/June 2006. (June we’ll be doing lighthouse tours- we’re excited) Maybe we’ll explore more of Northwest before return to IL & perhaps do some of the East coast this fall. God has blessed us with meeting so many good friends as we’ve traveled. Brody turned 3 and has had so much fun making new pet and people friends, too. Hope that this update fills you in on what’s been happening to us this past year. Each of you who receive this letter by email or snail mail is in our thoughts and prayers. We wish for you the Peace of the Season, the Love of Christ that you will share with all others you meet. We know how blessed we’ve been by God to have the family, friends, and loved ones we have, the gift of good health, safe travels, and time spent with family and friends. All these seem so appropriate for this season of the year. All the gifts and blessings that God has given to us we want to share with each of you by suggesting you seek Jesus Christ, as your personal savior. (This is an eternal gift from God and the greatest Gift of all!!!) If you don’t know Him, then please seek Him out to gain what the world cannot give. We know each day we need HIS Wisdom, Strength, and Protection. To those of our friends who are struggling with ill health, grief, or other discomforts; may God bless you with strength, comfort, and whatever will meet your needs. May God watch over you each day. Our Love to All. We Send Our Warmest Wishes For A Very Merry Christmas And A Prosperous New Year Full Of His Joy. Sunday, December 18, 2005 Remodeling Phase IIWell, we are at it again!!! This time we took out the love seat and replaced it with a rocker/recliner. The love set came out pretty easy, well almost. It was bolted/screwed to the floor and it did come apart for easy removal from the motor home. The right side of the floor mount was held by screws, no problem. The left side was held by 2 bolts into the floor. These bolts, presented the problem! They just spun and would not remove. I was certain that they were screwed into mollies and that they were loose in the wood. So I got Dan's' sawzall and tried to cut them off. No good! What now? I was convinced that they did not go all the way through the floor and if they did they were covered up underneath. Efraim came by and said lets look underneath. (I had looked in the first bin, but saw nothing.) Efraim looked in the fender well and found 2 nuts, eureka!!! After that discovery the bolts came out easy. Once the love seat was out we went to Hopkinsville to a furniture store and found a chair that would fit perfect. So Efraim, Joan, Loretta and Dominck(E&J's 2 year old grandson) and I went to pick it up. The chair was loaded into the truck and we went home. Efraim and I took the back off the chair and moved it into the motor home. It looked great! Wait, it looks a little big for the space and the arms are puffy. Right color, what is wrong? It is the wrong chair!!!!! They gave us the wrong chair. Since it was late the store was closed, so we had to wait until Monday to call them. They agreed to deliver our chair and pick up the other on Thursday. Efraim and Joan were gone so I could not use their truck. I decided I did not want to wait until Thursday, so we took the chair apart and after some work got the base in the trunk of the car and the back into the backseat. So off I go to the store and swap chairs. The correct chair looks a lot better in the motor home. The chair saga is not over! Loretta said we should have some arm covers in plastic under the chair. We looked and they were not there. Called the store and they said they had some and would put them aside for us. So another trip back to Hopkinsville! We are now done with our remodeling, at least for now. Pictures of the chair are posted in the Photo section. We soon will be leaving KY for Texas. January 3rd we will depart and head to Denton Texas to visit with the Reeds before we head to Kerrville. We plan on going through Natchez, Ms on the way. We will be leaving good friends in KY and are anxious to meet up with our friends in Kerrville. So goes our travels. We have friends and family all across the US and this makes our adventures so much fun. Please pray for our travels, our son in Kuwait, his family in Champaign, and our families in Illinois, California and Oregon. MERRY CHRISTMAS November 9, 2005 Remodeling the Motor Home We had been talking for a long time about removing the dinette/booth and replacing it with a table and chairs. Well we took the plunge and removed the dinette/booth. Okay, now what? We decided to eliminate the table idea and to create a work/computer table along the outside wall. We went to Lowes and after much discussion we bought 2 kitchen cabinets, 1 30x30x12 and 1 18x30x12. Plus we bought 2 oak Windsor chairs. Oh did I forget that we went with Dan and Sherry in their Chevy Tahoe. We first went grocery shopping and then to buy the other stuff. Now we need to put the cabinets and chairs in the Tahoe! We got the cabinets in the back after moving some of the groceries to the second seat with Sherry and Loretta, but the chairs would not fit! The chairs ended up in the second seat with Sherry and Loretta for the ride back. Now on to the design of the area. (We started Monday, November 1 and ended November 8th) We used the plywood from the old seats for a mock up of the table top across the 2 cabinets. The plywood was wider than we wanted, but it gave us an idea of the set up. First problem.... The Windsor chairs did not allow us enough room to sit at our "new" table. So we took the chairs back. So we went on a quest to find a chair that would work. Found one at Office Max. Brought it home and it would work, but just barely, so we took it apart and looked at our design. We decided that 2 cabinets was not the way to go, so we took the 18" cabinet back and bought a 24"x30"x91/2" book shelf (on sale). We put the book shelf along the long wall at the end of the couch and the cabinet at the other end. This still did not give us the leg room we needed. Oh did I say the we bought 2 office chairs (on sale) at Office Depot? We put one of the chairs together and tried it. It worked for the right side but didn't work well for the other side. So we took it apart and set it aside. Finally found one chair at a resale shop that worked great. Now we had to find a chair for Loretta. In the mean time we started to rearrange the design. Every morning Loretta would wake up and say "I have an idea" ( usually after I had moved all the computer equipment) Oh! forgot to say that since we removed the dinette we lost storage space. Hence the need for cabinets. So I needed to move the computer equipment from the top cabinets to an area below our new counter, to create storage in the upper cabinets. After several "discussions" Loretta came up with moving the 30" cabinet along the short wall and moving the book case to the middle. (This is now Sunday) so while she showered I moved every thing. (This was after we had put the cabinet in the middle from the wall to the aisle and the book case at the end, with our original table on top and all my computer equipment in it and hooked up. *&%$ ) I moved everything and put our temporary countertop on and It looked great. (Our countertop was made from our old table, cut long ways, which made it 75"x16" and fit perfectly) Now that we settled on the final design (Monday a week later) We needed to find a chair for Loretta. We took back the chair from Office Max, and looked for other chairs. We found the perfect chairs at a local furniture store in Hopkinsville. They were task chairs that swiveled, raised and allowed you to lean back, plus the base was smaller and the back was hinged to fold down on the seat. Remember the chair from the resale shop? Well we took it back, but at first they said "no refunds" but finally we were able to get store credit. By the way we still have to take chairs back to Office Depot! If you have been counting we had bought 6 chairs and returned them before we found the "perfect ones" Yes I had measured the area and the bases, but for one reason or another they just didn't work well. Since the countertop was 16 inches deep and the cabinet was 30' long, we had a gap in the cabinet top. We put a top on it and hinged it as a lid and now we have a small storage area! It is finished!!! Well for the most part anyway. some small details to do, but is functional and looks great. It makes the whole area look more open. What a project!!! It was twice as hard than it should of been, due to two people who want to be right and have it their way. But it is done, and we are still alive and married!!!! Photos have been posted of the finished product. Thursday October 20, 2005 SherryThanks to all who were praying for Sherry. Prayer works!!! Sherry's operation went great. In fact she has done a great job in recovery and is now home. Praise the Lord. It will still be a while before she is back to normal, and have her strength back. Heath has been working hard and have not heard from him since his last post. He is able to phone his family, although it is not a good connection. If you would like to send something to him, send phone cards. His address is in the last post. I know he would appreciate them. Dale and Linda Bukes finally made it down. On the way down the fuel pump quit and they had to be towed to Bloomington, Il., for repairs. This is the 2nd time the fuel pump quit. Bummer! We have been taking it easy, going for rides and shopping trips (food) and getting new glasses as well as geocaching. We are up to over 287 finds now. Sunday we went to Nashville. My brother Brian was working there, so we met him for church and lunch. Later we went to visit Sherry at the hospital. Nothing else is happening. The trees have started to turn and are changing rapidly each day. Starting to look like fall. What is happening in your areas? Keep in touch. Friday October 14, 2005HeathHeath has made it to Kuwait safely and is beginning his new job. You can read all about it and if you subscribe to his weblog you will even get a newsletter. Click here to go to his web site. His mailing address is: MAJ
Heath D. Carr He would enjoy hearing from you. Just tell him you are friends with his dad. We are still in Cadiz and have been visiting with friends, geocaching and just taking it easy. Sherry Byers went for her surgery on Wednesday October 12th. After about 12 hours of surgery she came out to intensive care. Sherry is doing fine and the Drs. all said she did great and that the surgery went very well. If you would like to send a card her home address is: Sherry Byers 4124 Rockcastle Rd. Cadiz KY 42211. I know she would enjoy getting cards. You can tell fall is here. Birds of all kinds are flocking up for the migration. We have seen ducks, geese, pelicans, robins, bluebirds and many others. We had a pair of bluebirds flying to our right mirror and setting on it looking at themselves. Tried to get a picture but I have my screen on the windshield and they did not turn out so well. The fall colors are really not here yet. Some have started to turn, but I am afraid they might just drop before they really turn. This weekend is the Trigg County Ham festival. Like our Corn Festival back in Morris. Lots of food, entertainment and booths to visit!
Monday October 3, 2005At Cadiz We left Hannibal on Sunday the 25th and decided to go as far as Mt Vernon, Illinois. The day was rainy and windy. As we got closer to Mt Vernon we decided to try and go all the way to Cadiz, Ky. So we gave Dan & Sherry a call to see if the site was open. It was a good thing that we did, as it wasn't. Plus it was beginning to rain harder and the wind was also blowing more. So we pulled into Marion, Illinois and found a small campground behind this motel, for $17.50 a nite, full hookups even cable! Not much to look at, but we were not on the road in the wind and rain. Our travels down from Wisconsin was mainly on US 61. This was a very good road and in many areas 4 lane limited access. It took us from Wisconsin to Illinois. Hannibal, MO was interesting, albeit very commercialized. It was after the tourist season, so it was not very crowded. It would be a good place to take the kids, especially if they have read Tom Sawyer. We walked around a little on our first day there and got the lay of the land. The next day we went in town and visited the museums and took a tour trolley around to various sites. Our driver was a native and very knowledgeable. We arrived in Cadiz about noon on Monday and got setup and went to lunch with Dan & Sherry. Our first of many meals to be eaten out! It is going to be very difficult to stay on any kind of diet! We both need to lower our cholesterol and lose weight. The campground roads do allow us to walk up and down hills so we are getting some exercise each day . Brody sees to that! Brody walks with us off leash and does great. Not straying too far from us. I usually pick up a small stone and throw it near him when he gets too far away or is not listening to me, just to get his attention. One day I tossed the stone and hit him in the head! He now walks behind me or right beside me . Brody has meet many new dog friends while here and really enjoys Teeter and Missy, Dan & Sherry's dogs. He will see Missy and start running circles around her in an attempt to get her to chase him. Usually she doesn't. We have been visiting our friends, Ralph and Angie Weber ,Efraim & Joan and Dan & Sherry. Spending time with them has been very rewarding and makes our time here in Cadiz very enjoyable. Efraim and Joan recently acquired a 2004 Yellow Corvette. Boy is it nice. I was privileged to be able to drive it and with Efraims permission, floored it! Lets just say I was speeding!!! We have several ideas for future outings with our friends and will be watching the campground for Dan & Sherry when Sherry goes in for surgery. Sherry will be having surgery October 12th and will be hospitalized for about ten days. Please mark that date on your calendar and pray for her throughout the day and during her recovery. Gas prices here in KY. When we got here they were about $2.69, now they are $3.00 Thursday we went to Ralph and Angie's and then went out to lunch. We stopped for gas in Aurora and filled up for $2.74 after lunch and on the way back we passed the station and it had gone up to $2.94! How is it in your areas? We haven't done any geocaching yet, but plan on it once it cools down some. We should reach 300 finds while we are here. Keep in touch. Thursday September 22, 2005 Heading to Cadiz
Our recent travels after the Wisconsin Dells have taken us to Red Wing Minnesota and Dubuque IA. The Midwest State Park Conference was great and I was able to visit with folks that I hadn't seen in 3-4 years. we left Dubuque on Wednesday and ended up in West Branch, IA. We will visit Herbert Hoover National Historic Site today. We were going to St Joseph MO. to see Jesse James home and the Pony Express museum, but after listening to the news on hurricane Rita and the effect it may have on fuel prices and availability, we decided to head toward Cadiz. We will be stopping in Hannibal MO, Friday and Saturday before continuing to Cadiz. Figured that we would rather be in KY than getting stuck somewhere else because of lack of fuel. Fuel prices have not been good, but they have not been bad since we left Illinois. We paid $2.59 at the Casino in Red Wing and $2.69 outside of Dubuque, IA. It is $2.59 at the BP next to the KOA here in West Liberty, IA. While in Red Wing, we met up with friends from Wabasha Minnesota and helped celebrate their anniversary. Red Wing is a nice river town and we really enjoyed exploring the area. We did some geocaching and some hill climbing !One cache was up on top of a bluff. We huffed and puffed our way to the top along a trail that lead us to a great view of the river and town. Heath has left for his tour of duty in Kuwait. He will be there for 9 months. Please pray for him and his family. He has a blog it is located at http://www.boobagoo.us/nuke He usually has a lot of interesting comment, especially after he gets in country. As soon as I get an address for him, I will pass it along. I know he would appreciate cards and letters. Keep in touch and be sure to visit our guestbook and leave your thoughts and comments. .September 13th GRRVR Reunion We arrived at Holiday Shores Campground on Wednesday September 7th. Originally only 4 couples were scheduled to arrive today. But to our surprise 21 folks arrived today. That evening we all went to the Moosejaw restaurant, to eat. We walked in and Bunny lead us to a private room. We sat down, and were beginning to order when the hostess came over and asked if we were MetLife! Apparently the hostess assumed we were and took us to that room. We had to get up and leave the room and go to the lobby and wait for tables to open up. Joe B. asked if there was any other area where we could get served quickly and soon we were downstairs in the sports bar. Thanks Joe!!! The weather was wonderful on Tuesday, but turned hot for the next few days. The nights cooled off, so we could sleep with our windows open. Thursday more folks began arriving. Thanks to HS we were given a golf cart to use to take the folks to the campsites. Boy did some of them have a time backing into their sites!! The area is heavily wooded and the roads are narrow with a lot of turns. All made it without incident, although some had to do a lot of jockeying around. Thursday night was the catered meal. It was very good and everyone enjoyed it. Just like potluck at GRRVR!!! Friday, 10 of the men went golfing and a lot of folks went to Don Buchholz dairy farm. Everyone I talked to were impressed with the operation. Thanks Don. Saturday was a free day. Everyone did something different. I rested and prepared for the afternoon boat ride. (took a nap) At 4:30 the Ducks arrived to carry us to the boat. What a ride!! Some of us had to stand or kneel in the aisle. (How are you knees Tom?) The boat ride was great and so was all the food that was brought! The weather was just right and the water calm and peaceful. After the bus ride back, the ice cream was brought out for all to enjoy. Sunday began with a praise and worship service. George H. brought his musical talents to play for us as we all sang. After service we all headed to Chula Vista for their breakfast buffet. If there is one thing we all do well it is eat! Breakfast was over all to soon and good byes & see ya in January were heard through out the restaurant. Many left HS on Sunday, but a few of us stayed until Monday morning and a few stayed until Tuesday am. Another GRRVR reunion has ended, but the memories of good friends and good times will last us until January when we will all gather in Kerrville, for a few weeks, a few months of fun and fellowship. We want to thank you all for coming and making this reunion special for us. Thanks to Bunny & Rich, (hey Rich are you listening?) George and Gail and Gene and Maryann for all the hard work they put into this reunion.
Our thoughts and Prayers Our thoughts and prayers are with all the survivors of the hurricane in the Gulf States, especially in New Orleans. Please pray for those who are separated from their families, for those families that have lost loved ones, pray for our leaders and those who are making decisions, for all the emergency workers and our troops. Donate if you are able. We are preparing to leave for Wisconsin for the Guadalupe River RV Resort reunion. we will be leaving on Wednesday morning. Pray for our travels. I have been checking diesel fuel supplies and prices and have found that along our route we should have no problem. Diesel is about $2.99 a gallon, and supplies seem to be adequate. After Wisconsin we will work our way down to Dubuque, IA for the Midwest State Park Executive Conference, beginning on the 19th. After that we will be heading to Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and finally into Cadiz, Ky. I do have feelers out to see if our mobile internet service can be of some use in the disaster area. If we hear that we can help we will head that way for a while. We have been discussing what to do if fuel prices reach a certain level. What will that level have to be before we stop traveling so much? We have talked about $4.00-5.00. Now what do we do? We most likely will find an area to work camp for 3-6 months, in an area that the weather will be good year round. We will be looking at California, Oregon, New Mexico, and maybe Kentucky and Tennessee. Any suggestions? Please continue to pray for us and our travels.
August 25, 2005Some of Loretta’s ThoughtsBy Loretta Hi, everyone. It’s been a while since I have added any comments and thought I’d share a few thoughts with all of you even though I know David has kept you all informed.
While the “guys” went on the Men’s Retreat in Goodfield, Heather and I watched Ali and David Noah overnight Fri. until Sarah came and picked them up Sat. am after each of them had gotten sick. Later in the morning we “girls” -Heather, Haley, and I (Grandma) had a girls day out. We did some school clothes shopping, had lunch, more shopping, and our finale of the day was to go bowling (which was Haley’s requested activity of the day). Overall we had a lot of fun and laughs, including when Haley and Heather tried the Dance Machine in the arcade at the bowling alley.
Over several weeks of Aug. after our July “Friends, Family & Anniversary tour”, we prepared a lot of items to take to the “Priceless Days” at First Christian Church, in Morris. This has turned out to be a wonderful Outreach ministry. They take 2-3 days to gather in all the unwanted or unused items that the church family wants to donate, then the last 4 hours of the 3rd day is set for anyone from church to come in and take what ever items they determine they can use. Then the 4th day, they have 4 hrs in the am and pm where the general public comes in and makes their choices. Any item taken is FREE, that’s why for the public it’s actually titled “GiveAway Day”. This was their 2nd year and a HUGE success. They had more donations this year, but less to pack up and distribute to missions and local charities than last year. WOW, God is awesome how he works. So we were grateful for this chance to redistribute some of our stuff, getting it out of the kid’s basement and help the church expand a ministry. It takes quite a few volunteers but would highly recommend it to anyone as a great outreach.
Needless to say my task most days this last couple of weeks since then have been to continue to work my way thru the balance of the stored items, sorting out what can be given away, thrown away, or still kept (the words that David tends to cringe at when I say them.) So we’re finding places in the attic at Heather’s which will still free up their basement and a few items at David’s Dad’s house. Please pray for me that I continue to learn to let go of “Stuff” and release it when I need to do so. I know eventually it will either go on to someone else some day (and they may not even want to keep it) or it will get tossed at that point, and in the final end it will all burn up. Sorry if that sounds discouraging, I guess I’m just convincing myself I need to get rid of more of this stuff.
One last brief note on our July time away… it felt like a vacation, in a way. Even though we got held over in Richmond, IN waiting for a part for the air-conditioner, we took one day to tour the Fleetwood factory where they make our the new models of our motorhome. The Geo-Bash was very interesting and met some really nice people. Loved Michigan’s East side and Yupper area. Had a great time catching up to the kids and grandkids in Minoqua, WI before traveling on (going through Loretta, WI and I missed it because I was in the back of MH.) to Minneapolis, MN --Mall of America, first time for us… we looked for a geo-cache within the mall. Took us a little while to figure out the clues (partly due to a shortened train car ride that gave us the wrong digit for the store number. But success was finally granted and we were elated that we had found it. Wisconsin Dells area is where we spent our Anniversary, finding our 250th cache that day and one of them was in Bowman Park. Got ready to go out for supper and discovered the car wouldn’t start, what a bummer, turns out the battery was dead. So next morning asked another camper to help us push it into place to hook it up for towing home behind the MH to bring it back to IL. Thank goodness it was only in need of a new battery.
Have been having a great summer with grandkids, kids, and family here in IL. Playing bean bag toss game has gotten quite competitive but loads of fun. Ali’s Birthday party is this weekend and we just celebrated David’s Dad’s 80th Bday this past Sun. in an attempt at a Surprise party and last night with pizza at his house.
Well, as you can see, I still tend to ramble on. Now that I can put in comments too, I’ll try to do it more often and hopefully be less wordy. Thanks to all for keeping us in your prayers and keeping track of where we are. Some days knowing that is happening really helps! Our Love to everybody…I hope that our paths cross soon, as time and distance allows. Bye for now - Loretta At Home in IllinoisBy David Well, since we have been back in Illinois, we have been keeping busy cleaning Heathers basement out! We got rid of some at Priceless days at FCC. Still working on it. Mike, Luke, Zachary and I went to the Men's retreat in Goodfield, Illinois Aug. 5,6, and 7th. We all had a good time. Heath was promoted to Major last week. He will be taking a position in Kuwait for about nine months. His job will be computer related, writing web pages, and programs. Please pray for him and his family. They have some decisions to make concerning where they will live after Heath returns. As you may have noted when you clicked on the link I have a new web page for my blog. Since I had my own web site I decided to put it here. I can make it like I want it and I will have more control over it than they other one. I hope to add some pictures later and who knows what else. I do have an itinerary with our upcoming travels and a link to a map that will show where we are currently located. Enjoy the rest of the summer!!!!!!!
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