3/6/09- Did anyone get the license number of that truck that hit us?  It didn’t get down to 13 on Saturday night; it got down to 6 degrees. It was colder in Lees Summit, MO than Minnesota. The ride home was cool but uneventful. It sure was nice to end the trip where we started visiting with Pat and Christine. They are the greatest.

Man, real life it hitting us fast and hard. However, we can’t complain. We are very blessed, I have a job that still wants me and Bruce has appointments to run. AND…we made it home with no problems (virtually no problems) safe and sound. The generator in the engine decided not to work on Sun morning but Bruce started the exterior generator and off we went on our last leg home. The generator in the engine started working three blocks after we started moving. The anti freeze leak in the bus didn’t happen until we got home so after unloading on Monday we brought it straight to the mechanic. We have some hardworking and fantastic guardian angels.

I headed to work Tuesday morning wondering if the last two months was a dream. What a dream it was! We want to go back to On The Beach and back to a life of no stress but in good time…

Here is our view from home. It is 45 today and the ice is starting melt off the river. The snow is almost a memory. Soon the boats will be unwrapped and in their slips and the trees and flowers will be blooming. Spring is in the air and we are very excited to plant our tomatoes.


It sure is interesting never knowing where you will spend the night, showering and doing laundry someplace different everyday. We love the nomadic life and are looking forward our next trip practicing retirement. Hopefully those lottery tickets we bought will pay off and we can be nomad’s full time. What a life!

It was a trip of a lifetime with memories that will last forever. Thanks to all our friends new and old for making our trip better than we could have ever imagined.

Signing off

Janna, Bruce & Scooter
(Three Peas in a Pod)

2/28/09-Can you say rude awakening?

Holy cow...we didn't expect this. There was supposed to be a little snow but we woke up to 4 inches and got another 2 or so during the morning. We were going to go to a WW1 museum and Union Station (in Kansas City) but the weather put us in a movie mood. So we are heading to the movies. It is supposed to be 13 tonight.

Scooter, the poor thing, is wondering why she can't have water out of the faucet, where the seagulls are and where the warm breeze went. She is very confused. I keep telling her to hang in there, we will be home tomorrow. If only she understood the human language.

It is supposed to be sunny, cold but sunny, tomorrow so we are heading out as soon as we wake up. Only 450 miles to go. Then we have to get all the liquids out of the bus right when we get home. Then we will unpack the rest on Mon, then Tuesday off to work in more snow!

I must keep in mind spring is just around the corner! Right....?

Until next time...
2/27/09- Did I say excited to be going home? Let me elaborate. Since we must go home we might as well happy about it but we are very, very sad our great adventure has to end.

Sadly we left Olive Branch, MS and wonderful Linda (she is beautiful inside and out) at 7 this morning. We decided to head out before rush hour traffic and made it without a hitch. We were fortunate that the storms came through during the night and we had little rain on the way out of town. What a nice time we had with Linda. She had to work, couldn’t get time off since we didn’t plan the dates far enough ahead of time. But we had the evenings to chat and hang out. She is a most gracious hostess and it was so nice to spend a few nights in our Olive Branch home.

While Linda was working during the day we winterized the bus (ok, Bruce did while I was on the computer and cleaning the inside) for the second time this winter. You should never have to winterize twice in one year, but it was worth it. We hung out Tuesday night and had a great soup Linda made for dinner. Then just chatted.


Scooter trying to scam some people dinner.

Wednesday afternoon we spent about an hour trying to turn the bus around. Linda’s house is in the middle of a tall pine tree forest so it was quite the production just getting the bus headed in the opposite direction. We also did some trimming of the trees so we wouldn’t get the bus all scratched up. We probably did a little too much trimming but we were planning ahead for next year. Then that night we had Bruce’s wonderful meatloaf and watched the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2”. Linda and I had to explain the movie to Bruce, as it really is a chick flick!



Then on Thursday Bruce and I stopped to say hi to my step-brother Barry and his wife Shari. We didn’t catch Barry home but we had a nice, but short, visit with Shari. Then we went to city hall to see the Olive Branch museum and the hall of fame. My Dad was inducted into the hall of fame last year because he was so significant in the development and growth of Olive Branch. They have a tennis tournament in his name every year and an annual Jack McCauley award that goes to people who have been instrumental in community service. My father would be proud (embarrassed but proud) to know that his name will live on in Olive Branch. He loved that little town. For those of you that don’t know, we lost my father in May of 2007. He is missed by so many and it is still hard to believe we won’t see him (in body anyway) again. But we sure felt him in that house and know he was there with us. He loved that house.

Then Thursday night Debra, Linda’s niece, came by to say hi and chat on her way home from work then we met Linda’s sister Alene for dinner. We love Linda’s family and have adopted them as our own. We are proud to call them all family.


Me, Alene, Bruce & Linda

So now we are on highway 55 North (eeek) in Arkansas heading back to Lee’s Summit, MO to spend a few nights with Pat and Christine to end the trip where we started. The highway is lined with downed trees from the ice storm in January. Looks like the destruction just happened!

I am confident we will have at least one more interesting adventure to report, so until next time...

2/24/09- Well…we said our goodbyes to Laura, Todd, Alex & Zach yesterday and left Destin this morning. We had a most wonderful time together and were sad to say goodbye. Destin wasn’t the warm Florida weather we had hoped but we managed to have a great time regardless and got an hour or two in the sun. We had a few fun filled days playing cards, shopping and hanging out. Had a great seafood dinner on the water Saturday night. It was fantastic. On Sunday we hit up the outlet malls and Goodwill (Alex and my favorite store!) and found some great deals. I finally found a purse! We also went to the Harbor Walk and had a great lunch. There happened to be a Mardi Gras celebration going on with a dog costume contest. We saw the cutest dogs. But none were as cute as Saka (did I spell it right Laura?), Laura & Todd’s dog. If we had known that dogs were welcome we would have taken Saka, she is the sweetest dog! We were hoping Scooter and Saka would be pals but we don’t think Scooter is interested in any dog friends. She tolerates them but simply isn’t interested. Bill, one of our new friends from our Texas stay, said dogs are part of a family and cats have a staff. How true is that?




Click  http://s362.photobucket.com/albums/oo69/william1048/Destin%20FL/  to see more pix of Destin.

Anyway, we had a great time in Destin and are now on our way to Olive Branch, Mississippi to see my Step-Mom Linda. We are very excited to see her! It will be nice to spend some time with just the three of us. Things were rather busy during our last few visits. Bruce is looking forward to having a real oven to make his fantastic meatloaf.

We are fighting the sad feelings that our wonderful adventure is coming to a close. But on the other hand we very excited to get home and resume our life. We are very blessed and love all aspects of our life together. We miss our friends and family and are very excited to see them. And...spring is just around the corner.

You can bet though that we will be working hard so in the coming years we can stretch out our practicing retirement trips. Who knows, maybe we can do three months on the road next year.

Laura made a good point regarding the website. She said I posted a picture of the bus when it was a mess but didn’t have any pictures of the inside all pretty and clean. So here it is. This is what the bus looks like when it is in order.




That is all for now. We are also looking forward to one more visit with Pat and Christine before our last leg home. I have a feeling a few more adventures and fun times coming our way before we get home on Sun.

So, until next time…

2/20/09- Just when I say nothing interesting is going to be happening, interesting things happen. We stayed in New Iberia, Louisiana Wednesday night and were informed by many paper publications and billboards that we are only 6 miles away from Avery Island and the Tabasco plant. So of course we had to tour the plant. Thursday morning we went into town (New Iberia) to check out the history and have breakfast. What a beautiful southern Cajun town that reminds us of New Orleans before the levies broke and ruined the town.


Then on we went to the Tabasco plant, you could smell it the moment we opened the door of the bus! Avery Island is a beautiful island with beautiful gardens and bird sanctuary. The plant itself was interesting (smaller than I would have guessed) and was a short tour. It is pretty cool that the business has stayed such a family business. It seems that all of the McIlhenny clan work very hard to insure only the best peppers get used for their products. Boy do they have products! We spent two days budget at the gift shop! Bloody Mary mix, salsa, etc.



Click  http://s362.photobucket.com/albums/oo69/william1048/New%20Iberia/   to see more pictures of New Iberia and the Tabasco plant.

Then on Thursday night we stayed in Biloxi, Mississippi! What beautiful beaches! Too bad it wasn’t beach weather but that’s ok. The casino kept us busy for the evening! We donated our $20 but played for a long time on that $20 and got free drinks! So it all evened out. They really have done a great job rebuilding after hurricane Katrina but you can tell that many did not rebuild. There are cement slabs all over the place that once held big buildings. Lots of slabs! The old grand homes were wiped out also and some are rebuilding but how do you rebuild old homes? It is a very nice new town though, very clean! I am really bummed I didn’t get pictures but we really didn't spend much time there.

We are almost to Destin, FL to meet up with Laura & Todd and are very happy they drove such a long way to hook up with us. We again are staying on the beach but a little different than Texas. This is a resort with two pools and lots of luxuries! We will be too far from the beach to hear the waves but that is ok. We are on the beach one last time!

So that it is for now. We sure hope all is well with everyone!

Until next time…

2/17/09- Well, with heavy hearts we left OTB RV park and Port A yesterday. Our new old friends (feels as if we have known them all forever) came to see us off. We felt so special they were there when we left. Thanks all you guys for helping Bruce move the trailer. Let’s just say there wasn’t much room on the roads in the park and the best way out was to disconnect the trailer, bring that to the front then back the bus out. As usual Bruce drove this rig like it was nothing and with so many men helping to move the trailer I just watched while the rest of the women took pictures of the guys backsides! Now why didn’t I take more pictures? I guess because I was so overwhelmed that all these wonderful people came to see us off. Here is the only picture of sendoff I took.



So to our new friends we ask, do you do this for everyone? It was quite the sendoff and you made our hearts smile. We are so looking forward to next year as we will all be together again in January but don't forget...if you are in or near MN please contact us. I bet we can figure out how to connect up with you.

We took the long route through Corpus Christi since we didn’t want to wait for the tide to rise so we could take the ferry off the north end of the island. We met up with our friends Bruce 1 and Linda one last time. Linda made the best ever (really) lasagna. Thanks again you guys for everything. We wish you well on your new adventure.

We are now in Beaumont, TX slowly making our way to Florida. We don’t expect to see or do anything interesting but if we do I will be sure to post the experience.  Everyday is an adventure on the road but some are not necessarily worth mentioning.

Until next time…

2/15/09- We sure hope everyone had as great of a Valentine's Day as we did. We had to check out the belt sander races one more time. They had them on the island this time so we went with our new friends from the RV Park and had a great time. We heard the bar had the best pizza on the island so of course we had to check it out. It was a great time with great pizza and great new friends. I can’t emphasize enough how serious this sport is down here! It is NASCAR for the retired woodworking people! They name their sanders and the only names we can remember are “Morning Wood” (a big old silver belt sander that looked like a locomotive) and “Blue Santa” (the winner from Minnesota!). It is such a trip. They sing our National Anthem before the races and everything. We got there early to get tables and we are glad we did. The place fills up fast. We had so many laughs. What an eclectic group of people with one goal in mind…to have a good time.



Clockwise from left Carson, Pat (Carson's wife), Rose, Janna, Bruce, Bill (Pearl's husband), Mike (Rose's husband), Tom, Peggy (Tom's wife) and Sandy (the other Bill's wife). Don't know the other people.


Clockwise sitting from left Tom, Peggy, Sandy, Bill (Sandy's husband), Carson, Pat, Mike, Rose, Bruce & Pearl (the other Bill's wife).


Click  http://s362.photobucket.com/albums/oo69/william1048/Belt%20Sander%20Races/   to see more pix of our friends and the races.

Every Wednesday the bar hosts a pub crawl in a vehicle that looks like a pirate ship but you can only go if you are dressed as a pirate. So needless to say we are bringing our pirate costumes next year! How fun is that?

I am envious that the rest of this group RV’s full time and we have to go back to work in a little over two weeks. Somehow, someway we will figure out how to do this full time! But we are signed up for next year to be here for two months so we will see them all again next year. Hopefully they will make their way up to see us this summer and we can see them before next winter!

After the races we came back to the RV Park and the park was hosting a comfort food potluck in the clubhouse. So we went up there to mingle a little more but were still full from the pizza so we didn’t eat. Then we all went back to our rigs and this place became pretty quite … oooo la, la!

We are packing up today as we will head out tomorrow morning to slowly make our way to Destin, FL to see our good friends Laura & Todd. We are very excited to see them. We will then head to Mississippi to see Linda, my Step-Mom we are very excited to see, then back to where we started at Pat & Christine’s house for a night then home. I am trying not to think that we are making our way home. But on the other hand we really miss our friends and family.

Well that’s is all for now, we sure hope all is well with everyone. Until next time…

2/9/09- It is a big day today for our granddaughter Lauren, she is 4 today! Happy Birthday sweet Lauren. We miss you! We sure hope you like what's in your package. We are so sorry we will miss your party but we will be thinking of you honey. We are so sorry you are sick and hope you feel better real soon. We love you very, very much.



We had a great weekend. Met up with our friends Bruce (Bruce 1) & Linda and went to the beach for a little while on Fri.




We had to get back to the bus so Bruce (Bruce 2-Murray) could make his famous chili for the chili contest here at the campground. He won hottest (which is very strange since we didn't think it was that hot and we ARE in Texas) and he tied for first place! The three that tied for first place drew numbers for first, second and third place so Bruce drew third. He is such a good cook.

 

Then on Sat we went to the South Texas Belt Sanders Association belt sander races. Yep, I didn't type wrong, they race belt sanders! They spiff them up, decorate and sup them up. They have stock and modified classes. Do you believe that? Belt sander races. It was a trip!




Look close, this is a modified belt sander!


The starting line. They are attached to 100' cords!


Super suped up sander!


Race in progress. Look at all the people! What a riot!

Bruce (Bruce 1)  and Linda were kind enough to cook us up a great steak dinner. Thanks again guys. Then they let us use their car so we didn't have to ride the motorcycles back in the dark and after some (ok, lots) of cocktails. We have to take the ferry across Aransas Pass which is a trip. The dolphins escorted us across the channel, they are so beautiful.

Then we brought back the car and picked up our bikes on Sunday and had a great lunch on the bay. Grouper sandwich and sweet potato french fries. You're right Linda, they were great! Got a little tour around town then headed back to Port Aransas on our bikes.

So it was a fun filled weekend. Thanks Bruce (Bruce 1) and Linda for a great weekend and your hospitality.

It is raining this morning so it is a good laundry day...then who knows!

Our condolences go out to Gary and Ruth. Gary lost his Mother, it is so hard to lose a parent. Ruth lost her mother a few months ago. You are in our thoughts and prayers.

Until next time....


2/5/09-It's official...we have turned into beach bums! We couldn't be happier. We wake up about 8 - 8:30, have coffee, listen to the waves while watching Fox News and all the blurry eyed people taking their dogs out for a walk. There is every kind of dog here that you can think of. It takes three people in shifts to walk the Great Dane from Canada!

Anyway, our hardest decision is whether to take the bicycles, electric scooters or walk into town for breakfast. We take the motorcycles when we need to go to the grocery store. You have got to love a grocery store that sells boogie boards! Then after breakfast we wander around town and end up back at home base by sunset. We have nothing that needs to be accomplished or tended to and we love it.


This is the trolley we can take into town for $.25! Pepper (our 75 year old driver of the trolley that we took home yesterday) drove like a bat out of hell and we were sliding around the seats, laughing so hard. Some of the bus stops are on the beach and she drives so fast as not to get stuck that we fishtail. She was a riot. She would slam on the brakes to show us something then floor the accelerator and we would slide down the wood seat. We know how the seats stay so shiny!

This is Barnacle Bill's where we got a bite to eat. We understand the name, it has been there a while!

Just a shot down the beach. There are bathrooms all long the road and you can camp right on the beach with a permit. Not many people here as this is the slow season.


Access Road 1A looking onto Beach Roadway. Our view everyday.

We sit on the beach and watch the oil ships line up to get into port. They have to clear customs then wait for the harbor master to bring them through the channel, apparently this could take up to 48 hours.

We also watch the city clean up the massive amounts of sand washing on shore. They use plows and pile it up, just like they do with snow. Apparently due to hurricane Ike in Galveston, all of Galveston's sand is being washed down here. They are getting ready for spring break. We hear they are expecting record numbers of kids since South Padre was devastated in the last hurricane.

We have met so many nice people from all over continent. We were headed to the beach for a sunset walk tonight and never made it because we were talking to so many nice people then before we knew it an hour had gone by!

That’s all there is to tell. It is a very simple life and we are so grateful everyday to be able to do this. I don't ever want to forget the sound of those waves.

Our condolences go out to Jimmy’s wife and daughter, they are in our prayers.

Until next time…

1/30/09-Well we just signed up to stay at On The Beach RV Resort in Port Aransas, TX until 2/16 and it will be wonderful to be in one spot for a while.  Here are a few pix of where we are. You can drive on the beach! I tried with the scooter but it didn't work out. I got stuck and those scooters are heavy when they get stuck!




Scooter enjoys the view too. This is out our front window.

The electric scooters don't work very well on the beach! I got stuck.


Scooter wanted to hang with us so we got her in our card game!


She was rather bored winning...she was falling asleep!

We sure hope all is well with everyone. Hang in there, we will try to bring spring back with us!

Until next time....

1/29/09- Well we are exactly half way through our trip and it has been a most wonderful adventure.

Let’s see, where did I leave off…Oh yes, we were in Bandera, TX. We decided the night we got there to get Chinese food (it was great). So we took the scooters into town and my scooter ran out of juice about half way back to the campground. So Bruce towed me by sitting on one arm of his jacket while the other arm was wrapped around my handlebars. It worked (he is so smart) and we laughed until his ran out of juice, then we really laughed.

Remember our trek into Roswell with our bicycles? Well all of our tires were shredded (we just bought these fold up bikes) from the bull thorns. Man those bull thorns are tough.

The next day we were going to ride the motorcycles to the beautiful hills/cliffs that we drove on the way there but it rained all day. So we walked into town and had breakfast O.S.T. (Old Spanish Trail, a cowboy place est. 1921 with saddles as bar stools) and a got few things to fix up the bus and the bikes.

Once we got the tires repaired we rode around the RV Park. The Skyline RV Park and Ranch was most definitely a ranch. There were hundreds of deer that we spooked (and created kind of a stampede), long horn steer, donkeys, roosters, etc. It really was a ranch and was quite beautiful.

We left Bandera in the rain on Tue 1/27 and headed to San Antonio. We never did find out why Bandera is the cowboy capital of the world. I must admit it was nice to have some moisture in the air! It was still raining when we arrived but the temps dropped about 30 degrees an hour after we got there.

Then on Wed my Wild Rose sister Toy, her wonderful daughter Chelsea and most beautiful Granddaughter Lillian picked us up and we did the tourist route. Saw Mission San Jose and Mission Espada. It was very interesting as the missions functioned primarily as religious centers and training grounds for the rudiments of Spanish citizenship. Indians were taught obedience (hummm) to the Crown along with the vocational skills needed for economic self-sufficiency. Seems to me they were self sufficient enough before the Spanish got there but what do I know. Enclosed within massive stonewalls; each compound offered it resident’s security from enemies. The San Antonio missions also served to defend the King’s dominions.

We also went to the Tower of the America’s, a 750’ high tower that was built as the theme structure of the 1968 World’s Fair, HemisFair ’68. It was the tallest observation tower in the US until the Stratosphere in Las Vegas was built. We had lunch on the top in the spinning restaurant that had a great view of the city. Toy was very informative, explaining all the points of interest.

Then onto the Alamo (Mission San Antonio de Valero) which was very interesting. The Battle of the Alamo was the most famous battle of the Texas Revolution. After an insurgent army of Texian settlers and adventurers from the US drove all Mexican troops out of Mexican Texas, Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna led an invasion to regain control of the area. Mexican forces arrived in San Antonio on February 23, 1836 and initiated a siege of the Texian forces at the Alamo Mission.

It was a beautiful day and we ended it taking a boat ride (thank you Toy) along the Riverwalk. The Riverwalk was fantastic! San Antonio is a very interesting and beautiful city. It was a wonderful day with wonderful people. Miss Lilly was a very good girl for such a long day. We can’t get over how beautiful she is! Her Mom and Grandmother are pretty fantastic too. Thank you ladies…it was so great to spend the day with you.



Click  http://s362.photobucket.com/albums/oo69/william1048/San%20Antonio/   to see more pictures of San Antonio.

We are now in Port Aransas, TX on Mustang Island. One island up from Padre and we are right on the beach (ok, as close as an RV can get). We lucked out and got in the On The Beach RV Park. We can see the beach and hear the waves (such sweet music to our ears). We are going to hang here for a few days and do the beach thing. We will get some sun on our legs if it kills us! As an added plus this is the first RV Park we have been in since Oklahoma that will let us wash the bus and bikes. Bruce is very excited to clean all the Bandera bird poop off the roof!

We will sure miss the Superbowl party this Sunday but will be watching it somewhere thinking of you all.

That is all for now (probably more than enough, huh?), so until next time…


1/25/09 – It’s Sunday today. Wow, how times flies… Fri night we went to a “horse race” game our campground was putting on. It was really fun. You bet on your “ horses” then six people are picked to be “horses” and you get to buy one horse for one race at the start of the evening. If your horse comes in 1st you get all the money in the pot from the purchases of the horses. Then they roll the giant dice and when the matching number of the horse is rolled the “horse” moves one space. It was a blast and the people were so nice. If you are picked to be a horse you got a prize, so Scooter got a new laser light from when I was a horse! She loves chasing that light around. Then we got a free movie rental with popcorn and 2 sodas when Bruce was a horse. Bruce won in the fifth race so all in all we made out on the deal and had a great time.

Yesterday it was 30 when we woke up and we tried to find a rental car to go see the Carlsbad Caverns but to no avail. Then we found a moving truck but it would have cost $50 and we were only 20 miles away. So we bit the bullet and got on the bikes at 10am while it was still in the 30’s and headed to the caverns. I was so intent on getting all my gear on (sure wish I would have had my fox hat!) that I forgot the camera. But I did get some bad pictures with my cell phone. I am sure you can find more pictures online if you are interested.

Apparently the cavern was formed starting 250 million years ago with the creation of a 400-mile long reef in an inland sea that covered the region. The horseshoe shaped reef formed from the remains of sponges, algae and seashells and from calcite that precipitated directly from water. Cracks developed in the reef as it rose. Eventually the sea evaporated and the reef was buried under deposits of salts and gypsum. Then a few million years ago uplifting and erosion of the area began to uncover the buried rock reef and the uplift became the Guadalupe Mountains.

There is much more to the story but these caverns were, next to the Grand Canyon, one of the most spectacular sights we have ever seen. We took the elevator down 750’ (75 stories!) and walked for 1.5 miles around the Big Room that was one cavern connected to many and is big enough to hold 14 football fields (what’s with the football field measuring unit?)! One part of the room was 92’ high and the pit below it was 87’. It was enormous! The formations from the water dripping all these years created stalactites, stalagmite and columns and are the most interesting statues made by Mother Nature herself.



Click  http://s362.photobucket.com/albums/oo69/william1048/Carlsbad%20Caverns/  to see a few more bad pictures from my cell. Keep in mind the big column (you will know it when you see it) is 62’ high.

We are in Bandera, TX.  If we had heeded the warning signs for the truck route we wouldn’t have seen the beautiful road we must ride tomorrow. Let’s just say this bus is NOT designed for the switchbacks going up hill and twisting. OMG, I haven’t been that scared in a long time. Since I had my eyes closed (while sitting on the floor keeping the drawers from flying out) I didn’t see a lot of the beauty but we will ride it tomorrow. I think I will appreciate it much better on two wheels. Then on to San Antonio to see my Wild Rose sister Toy.

That’s all for now so until next time…..

1/23/09- Resistance is Futile….as most of the stores boast. Roswell was not exactly what we expected. We pictured a little town with a few cheesy stores and some weird people. It turns out that Roswell has a population of 30,000 people and the cheesy stores are in the heart of downtown. We were some of the few tourists in with all the business people going on about their daily business. The museum was something…quite funny actually. We must admit though that the facts from the military don’t add up. We believe! Bruce’s Mom worked on project Blue Book that turned out to be the project investigating the Roswell incident. She was a true believer of UFO’s while downplaying the creditability of the witnesses and observed facts to the press. Very interesting…


Click  http://s362.photobucket.com/albums/oo69/william1048/Roswell/  to see more pix of the aliens.

Imagine our surprise when we headed out on our bicycles thinking we were only about a mile away from the shops/museums only to find we were about 3 miles away and had to dodge work traffic on the main road! We are not regular bicyclists and aren’t exactly in bicycling shape. On the way back my rear tire had a flat and we walked about 2 miles down the back roads in a not so great part of town (who knew Roswell had a bad part of town). Crossed a field while watching out for Tarantula’s and rattlesnakes. It is always an adventure.

It was a beautiful day, about 70 with cloudy skies. It looked like we were going to get caught in the rain but it never rained.


Oh yes, and don’t forget the “These are our friends, please don’t step on them” (referring to the Tarantula’s) signs all over the RV park. I was very carefully walking to the laundry the other night! I don’t want to step on them. As a matter of fact I don’t want to see them! The night we got here I was lying in bed imagining them crawling into the warm engine and our bed is on top of the engine. I was very relieved to find out they only come out in the summer!

That is about all for Roswell, we are glad we came. We are heading out today to Carlsbad to see the caverns. So, until next time….


1/21/09- We love this desert weather! We must remember to drink more water; our bodies don’t seem to be getting enough moisture. Even Scooter has dry mouth!

We took the bikes off the trailer yesterday and went into Tombstone, AZ for breakfast. The ride there was spectacular! It was warm (I still wore a jacket but took the lining out…and no chaps!) and sunny. Mountains all around us. We loved the town so much we stayed all afternoon. The dust was blowing down the main street, just like in the movies!! I must admit I was rather disappointed that Kurt Russell and Sam Elliot were not there (oh la, la)!! But it was a great place to hang for the afternoon and stand at the spot where the shootout at the OK Corral took place. What’s with Big Nose Kate? Doc Holiday couldn’t find a better looking woman? Wow, she was something! They had a 30 min movie that we watched about Tombstone and they asked us not to take pictures since the technology was copyrighted. But it was copyrighted in the 1960’s and it was something (in the ‘60’s maybe!). What are they worried about; we are going to steal the technology? Funny. The reenactment of the gunfight with the plastic guys was kind of cheesy too. But basically it was pretty cool being there. Then we rode back and got in the hot tub, did some laundry, had a hot shower and chicken on the grill. It was a fantastic day!



Click http://s362.photobucket.com/albums/oo69/william1048/Tombstone/    to see more pix of Tombstone.

We are really getting used to this retirement lifestyle. We keep forgetting to buy lottery tickets so we had better not get too used to it. We passed the White Sands National park and missile range. Many missile ranges out here and I can see why. There is nothing out here. We also went thru the San Augustin Pass in the San Andres Mountains and the Apache Pass (this was not on the map). Linda, Pat and Wanda know what it is like to climb a mountain pass in this rig. 12 miles and hour blowing black smoke out the back. Seems almost like we are going to go backwards we are going so slow! Then we reach the summit only to zoom down in minutes what it took us so long to climb. Oh well, that is RVing at its finest.

Scooter has turned out to be a great RV cat. She doesn’t even jump anymore when we start the bus. However, she is feeling the walls closing in and had to get some exercise last night. She took off from the bed and ran like a bat out of hell to the front, then back and forth again. We figure she has about 35’ before she runs into the front or back. She did a peeerrrrfect job. Ok, very corny.

We went thru one of many border patrol check points. We don’t seem to be that close to the border but whatever. One of the border patrol agents asked Bruce what he is hauling and he said, “just my wife, I take her wherever I go”. The guy laughed and waved us through.

We just settled into Roswell, NM at the Town & Country RV Park. We must check out the aliens tomorrow. What a kick, can’t wait. We will tell you all about it in a few days, so until next time…


1/19/09 – So much to tell, we have been having a wonderful time.

On Saturday we got on the bikes and got them washed. Holy cow were they dirty! Then we headed to Jerome, AZ. Everyone told us we must so we did. We rode a beautiful canyon road then up into Jerome. What a great little town. It is built on the side of a mountain so it has levels! One could really get their exercise checking out that town. We were told by several people we had to go the Haunted Hamburger (level three or four, or something like that) so we did. It had a beautiful view of the valley surrounded my mountains. Quite a history that old mining town has. Several fires, but they kept rebuilding. We had a nice time and a great burger then headed out to Montezuma’s Castle. It is a five story, 20 room cliff dwelling from about 1100 about 100’ up from the valley. It was so interesting. The Aztec were the most clever people, and we think we are the be all to end all!



Click http://s362.photobucket.com/albums/oo69/william1048/Jerome%20AZ
to see more pictures of Jerome & Montezuma's Castle.

Sunday we went to Sedona and man o man was that beautiful. We stopped at the Red Rock Valley; I think that’s the name. The beauty in this area is most breathtaking. Sedona did not disappoint us either. We were very impressed with the architecture; you don’t realize how many houses there are because they are so in tune with the surroundings. We loved that town. Then we had to experience one of the vortexes so on to Boynton Canyon we went. Apparently people report uplifting of spirit and energy when they enter these vortexes. We found the vortex and I must admit, we feel GREAT! Now whether our great feelings are coming from the vortex or the fact that we are on a two-month adventure across the country, we will never know! Words can’t describe the beauty. The pictures really don’t do it justice either. After that we went to Montezuma’s Well, which is a lake with lush vegetation in the midst of desert. The well is a limestone sink formed long ago by the collapse of an immense underground cavern. It not only has cliff dwellings but also many pit houses surrounding it. In about 1100 about 150 – 200 people lived there. The springs that feed it flow continuously, so the people used this water to irrigate their crops. Again, that just fascinates us.


Click http://s362.photobucket.com/albums/oo69/william1048/Sedona%20AZ/
to see more pix of Sedona and Montezuma's Well.

Our plan was to leave Camp Verede today and spend some time in Phoenix to visit with friends but there isn’t an RV spot to be found around Phoenix. Might have something to do with the Cardinals in the playoffs, the marathon and the Barrett Jackson car auction. Who knows but we are sorry we did not get to see Joni, Sharry & Susan. Sorry ladies, we are very disappointed.

We just arrived and settled into a spot in Benson, AZ. It is 27 miles north of Tombstone, which we will go see tomorrow then leave again Wed. We must check out Roswell, NM so that will be our next destination.

We sure hope all is well with everyone. Until next time…

1/16/09-We made it...warmer weather! We are in the Zane Grey RV park in Camp Verde, AZ. It is about 75 miles south of Flagstaff and about 150 miles or so north of Phoenix. The weather difference is amazing only 75 miles away. Right now we are charging the bikes and getting the cooling issues figured out. We want to figure out how to attach screens on the windows before we head into 80 degree temps. Sorry, not trying to rub it in. I see it is -6 in MN right now and I feel really bad for you all. I heard from 5 people yesterday saying (without actually saying it) to quit whining about 16 degrees! I must admit I am glad we are not there.

Not much to tell today and no pictures to post. The pictures I took yesterday on the way here didn't turn out. Maybe because we were "zooming" down the mountain. The grade was only 6% but it is amazing how it feels more when one is in an 11 ton vehicle. We went from an elevation of 7900' to 3100' in about ten miles (or at least it seems that short!). Boy, is the air nice down here ... there is actually some oxygen in it!

The RV park is very nice and we will be tinkering on the bus for most of today. Bruce just mentioned how this RV park almost too nice. Pristine red rock drive and RV spots (we can't wash the bus or the bikes because the rock will get dirty), seems almost like a Stepford Wives sort of deal. We feel like the Beverly Hillbillies pulling in here with filthy bus and bikes when everyone elses rigs are spotless. Oh well.

Hopefully we ride around a little bit today. We will stay until Mon morn then head to Phoenix/Scottsdale area to hang for a longer while and visit with Joni (our downstairs neighbor at Sunnyside), family friend Susan (maybe, huh Susan?) and my Wild Rose sister Shari. We will really start to slow down on the bus miles and speed up (or at least start) getting miles on the bikes.

One funny note I forgot to add about our trip to the Grand Canyon. You would think that if they were to sand and salt anywhere that it would be on the trial with no guard rails at the rim of Grand Canyon. It was sheer ice and everyone was slipping and sliding the whole way. One lady was talking about landing on her ass. Man, I say salt and sand the darn trial! I doubt it would have that great an affect on the canyon.

Hang in there everyone, I understand warmer temps are on their way.

Until next time....


1/14/09 – I am so happy to report that Bruce is back on his feet and we went to the Grand Canyon today. Most of you don’t know that Bruce has been very sick the last three days. Lower GI problem with vomiting, diarrhea and a temp above 102 that we could not get under control. I took him to Urgent Care Monday and they had him hooked up to an IV for a while to re-hydrate him and took x-rays, blood work, etc. Poor guy just couldn’t keep anything in his system including Ibuprofen. The Dr gave him an RX for stomach pain and also an RX for Cipro (he was himing and hawing about the cipro since he wasn’t sure it would do anything! I finally talked him into it). Bruce woke up the third day with a temp above 102 again and we started him on the cipro. I called the Dr and he also was concerned with the high temp and told me to take Bruce to a Flagstaff hospital. By the time I figured out how to get us to Flagstaff, Bruce’s temp was down to 101+ (dropping all day and now it is 96.2, did we overdo it?) and by the end of the day he was eating and we were playing cards. Bruce has only been sick one other time since we have been together….he gave me quite a scare. But he woke up this morning and said “we are going to the Grand Canyon today and getting the heck out of here”. Oh sweet music to my ears. So we got on the train and Bruce took his Pepto and Ibuprofen cocktail while I had my Ibuprofen and Alka Seltzer cold plus cocktail ( I seem to have caught a cold again!), we were quite a pair. But needless to say we took it slow and mellow and had a great day. The Grand Canyon is one of Mother Nature’s finest.



This guy was our entertainer and he was good…singing and telling jokes. The “robbers” on the other hand were quite lame. The train stopped in the middle of nowhere and picked up two guys standing on the side of the tracks. They came around and collected money. I didn’t want to give them any (as I keep telling Bruce, it isn’t that I am a tight wad…it is the Scotch in me. I want value for my money!) but Bruce insisted and so we gave them a few bucks.

We upgraded our seats when we booked to first class (didn't want to sit on plastic bench seats for 5 hours!) and somehow we got in the dome car on the way back. We were looking forward to taking a little nap but no, we had games, robbers and entertainers! But one game we played was a question posed as follows:
“We just saw one of the seven natural wonders of the world, can you name the other six?”
We were quite surprised at one of the answers. Do you know? Bruce suggested Pamela Anderson but I quickly reminded him they were asking for “natural” wonders of the world!

I am so grateful to have my buddy back! While Bruce was down I did laundry (two times), cleaned the bus (several times) and headed into “downtown” Williams, AZ to check out Route 66.


Click http://s362.photobucket.com/albums/oo69/william1048/Grand%20Canyon/ if you would like to see more pix of the Grand Canyon and Route 66.

Well, tomorrow we are heading to warmer temps and hopefully will be so busy having fun in the warm weather that I won’t post for a few days. So, until next time…


1/10/09 - Wow, this just keeps getting better and better. We left this morning to Williams, AZ. Stopped in Flagstaff for breakfast and some sightseeing. We didn't stay long since it was very windy and cold but the sun is out so we can't complain. We are settled in Grand Canyon Railway RV park and are getting ready to go get our tickets for tomorrow. We are going in style and can't wait. It sounds like a kick. Train ride 2.5 hours there then hang at the south rim of the Grand Canyon for 3 hours then 2.5 hours back. We will stay here again tomorrow night. It is supposed to be 17 tonight and tomorrow night and we are getting the hang of tucking, sealing, heating, etc. Just in time to head to the warm weather!

We think our next stop will be Camp Verde, south of Flagstaff, where the weather is warm and the bikes can finally come off the trailer. Sounds like great riding and beautiful scenery. We can check out Sedona, looking forward to it.

Click http://s362.photobucket.com/albums/oo69/william1048/Flagstaff/ to see shots of Flagstaff taken today.

 

We are going to go and get our tickets for tomorrow and hit the hot tub! We really are making the best of it being cold in these snow covered places!

I may not post as often as things are going to get very busy so don't worry, ok Mom? Once those bikes are off the trailer watch out! Scooter will be alone a lot and very happy to see us at the end of the day. She is kind of sick of us now and seeks out secret places to find some alone time. She is quite used to everything now. When we start the bus she heads for "her" spot on her blanket in the front of the bus. Funny to watch her watch the scenery. She can see out the window perfectly from her perch.

That's all for a while...until next time....

1/9/09 Evening - We are settled in for the night at Meteor Crater RV park. It is a VERY nice park! We are tucked in with heaters blasted, it's going to get down to 17 tonight and since the furnace doesn't work when it is that cold we use the space heaters. Bruce figured out (he can figure out anything) how to have both ceramic heaters going without blowing a circuit! So far we have water but that tends to freeze up at night. We are comfy warm and scooter is on my lap.

Funny thing, we are in such close quarters that we must always stash! Funny that we don't remember where half the stuff is...but we are getting better!

Finally I have a good signal to get pix downloaded.
Click http://s362.photobucket.com/albums/oo69/william1048/New%20Mexico%20Route%2066/ to see pix of New Mexico       



Click http://s362.photobucket.com/albums/oo69/william1048/Arizona/ to see pix from today of Arizona

We are going to play some cards and have Bruce's mom's burnt burgers...it gives him a warm fuzzy to have those! Like I said before, life is good.
Good night all...until next time.

1/9/09 - I understand it is Friday today. It certainly is strange not knowing what day of the week/month it is. Anyway, so much to tell I will try to make it short. Our signal is fluctuating making it very difficult to add pictures so they will have to wait until we get a steady signal.       

On 1/7 we rented a car (if you want to call it that. More like a junker but it was the only game in town) and headed to Santa Fe. Stopped at the Peco's National Park and saw the Pueblo pit dwellings and what was left of a church from the 1700's. Then on to Las Vegas (New Mexico of course) for breakfast. A nice old town with juke boxes still in the booths! Then onto to Santa Fe. We didn't take any pictures as we didn't realize we were in the area where we should be taking pictures. The art district (seemed to be all art to us) was quaint with old adobe buildings. Stopped to do a little shopping. Ha, little did we know we couldn't afford to shop there. I just wanted a purse since mine broke. I don't consider the sale price of $345 a deal. So on we went to Los Alamos. How interesting to be standing where they developed the nuclear bomb. It was so interesting how the "town that didn't exist" stayed quiet...now that is patriotism! The scientists worked night and day to develop the bomb before we were attacked again by the Japanese. What uneasy times!

We were in that junk car for 400 miles that day and were ever so happy to get back "home".

Needless to say, without being here  to feed Scooter she realized her own food was quite tasty. We can't stop her now. She is an eating machine. She has the routine down and eats once the bus is shut down for the night. She has turned into quite the RVing cat.

Anyway, we left yesterday morning and made it to Gallup, NM taking as much of Route 66 as possible. We found out a few things.
1) Not much of Route 66 exists anymore.
2)What does exist is rather rugged.
3) This bus is not built for rugged.
4) Route 66 is a trip you take in the spring or fall.
5) It is cold and snowy.

So we are kind of blowing off Route 66. Last night we stayed in a KOA (not plowed) and did out laundry. Trudging through the snow hauling our laundry and our shower stuff. Then we beat feet out of there this am.

Who knew New Mexico and Arizona was cold in the winter?! At least the northern part. So we are blowing off Laughlin, NV too.

We just left the Painted Dessert National park and it was painted all right. What you could see of it since it was covered in snow. Then we went to see the Petrified Forest. Very cool. We are now on our way to Meteor Crater. May spend the night there at their RV park then onto Williams, AZ to take a train to the Grand Canyon. They have a great RV park and the Grand Canyon train ride is an all day deal. Then after that we are headed south to warmer temps.

Can't wait to get a steady signal to add pictures. We sure hope all is well with everyone...until next time.

1/8/09-We are in Gallup, New Mexico and have a very bad signal. Tried twice to update and locked up. Will update when we have better signal!

Well it looks like we are arriving in Tucumcari so I have to run. It is sunny and beautiful! Until next time....


1/3/09-What can we say...life is good. We left Pat & Christine yesterday at about 11:30. Carol called right before we left to announce here test came back good. Her cancer has not spread! God bless you Carol. You go girl.

From there we went to Carthage, MO (60 degrees!) which has a lot of history of the Civil War. Union advances were reversed at Carthage resulting in several successful battles led by the confederate forces. What an interesting place to stand knowing many men died fighting for their cause. Lot's of bloodshed here. Here is a pix of the park, river and cave. I bet it is pretty when it is green.



After that we picked up Route 66 (yea!!) in Oklahoma and took it to Claremore, OK to the Will Rogers Downs & Cherokee Casino. We spent the night last night, had a great dinner. We figured beef would be a good choice here so we split a 24oz prime rib. I wish I would have had the camera, 1 1/2 inches of fantastic beef. I was laughing so hard because it was so big! Then we donated our $20 and came back to the bus. And guess what? The heat is working! Bruce figures Pat & Christine's house just didn't have enough extra juice for our furnace. Needless to say we were toasty warm last night and he is hooking up the water as I type. It is supposed to be 70 today!

The smell of summer is in the air and it is oh sssssooooooo sweet. The horse track is right outside and we are watching them train the horses for the races Feb - May. We are spending the day & night here again and will work on the bus. Get it all fixed up as there are many little things that need to be done that didn't matter on our shorter trips. We are also going to wash the bus and bikes and leave here tomorrow squeaky clean. We will probably get to Texas tomorrow but will see. It is supposed to be 40 here tomorrow and 35 the next day so we are out of here! There wasn't much to see on Route 66 up to now so we will play it by ear and see how far we get. We sure hope all is well with everyone.

That's all to report for now...until next time.

1/1/09-Happy New Year! Hope everyone had as great of a New Year's Eve as we did. How can you go wrong starting with wild Australian lobster (is there tame lobster)? We got a late start to the party since we kept blowing the power in the bus and in Pat & Christine's house. Sorry you guys. After shutting down the fridge in the bus (it was cold enough we didn't need to keep it going) and shutting down all but one space heater we were ready to go. Pat (Bruce's oldest and dearest friend for 40+ yrs), Christine (Pat's wife), Carol (Carol & Christine are great friends & I can see why), Tom (Carol's husband of 30 yrs) Bruce & I went to their country club for many drinks, much dancing (man, are we out of shape...our legs are sore!) and more laughs. What a great way to ring in the New Year. Great friends who have beaten the odds. Christine is a breast cancer survivor (20 years) and Carol has been battling stage 4 bone cancer for many years. Even though she is on her third round of chemo she was on the dance floor more than anyone. Please say a prayer for Carol, she had her scan last Wed and will know tomorrow weather the cancer has spread. These ladies are quite an inspiration!

Bruce, Pat, me, Tom, Christine & Carol

Click on this link http://s362.photobucket.com/albums/oo69/william1048/The%20Trip/ if you would like to see more pix of the trip. I will keep all pix here and only post one one the website per day.

 

Right now it is 2:53 in the afternoon. Pat is watching movies/football, Bruce and Christine are napping! Could life be any better!?

We leave tomorrow for warmer temps (hopefully, the forecasts don't look good for Route 66). I told Bruce I want to change our trip and had straight to Brownsville, TX! Forecast for there is 70's-80's. I have become quite accustomed to the luxuries in life such as heat and water. As soon as we reach temps consistently above freezing we can fill the water tanks! Also we can work on figuring out why we don't have heat. Aaahhhh, the simple things in life. Well, we are free as birds and can go wherever. Who knows where we will be tomorrow. How fun is that! Well, for now that is all...until next time.