Haboob !

(Photo borrowed from Phoenix TV

We're not sure if they officially called it a "Haboob" but last week we had a terrific wind storm.  The day had started out beautifully and we enjoyed our morning tennis game.  Mid-afternoon the sky started to turn a strange color and eventually our cell phones sounded with a piercing alarm and a "weather alert" message...wind and sand were on the way...travelling up I-10 from north of Tucson up to Phoenix.  Casa Grande is right in the middle.  Both of us were away from the RV and we hurried home from our activities to be certain that all the windows and vents were closed, outdoor furniture put away and the awnings were brought in.  We joined with some neighbors to pull in the awnings and clean up yards of several other neighbors who were out of the park.  The weatherman told us that wind gusts reached 50mph at some point.  Normally we can see I-10 traffic - about 1/2 mile away - from our windows...but not that day!   Fortunately, the "haboob" lasted only about an hour and we later gathered outdoors for our traditional "happy hour" in the neighborhood.

No running in the halls!

We made it to one of our favorite destinations late on September 7...Abilene, TX  -  the home of our three granddaughters and their parents.   After getting the RV hooked up in a new-to-us campground we headed immediately to their home across town.  We were greeted with hugs as we got started on getting caught up on all the family activities.  We've been busy ever since, taking turns at school day pickup, a few small chores, transportation to classes and fixing some meals.  Having #1 granddaughter with a driver's license and a car only slightly helps the daily schedule.   The girls are older now and school work takes a lot of time, but we have gotten in one evening game of dominoes.                                                 Monday night we gladly accepted an invitation to attend open house at the high school.  Along with Matt and Ann we attended eight periods of five minute classes...switching back and forth between the schedules of Close and Coffey.  There are certainly lots of changes since even our own kids were in school...much of it thanks to technology.

We were like new freshmen looking at the map and the schedule while trying to hustle to the next class before the bell rang.

Jelly Belly, Jelly Belly!

We've been hanging around the Newmar service parking lot since Saturday.  RV friends we met years ago are here as well, so we have enjoyed meals and movies out and some games of dominoes as well as having some good visiting time.  We were not alone in taking advantage of free parking over the holiday weekend as there were close to 30 rigs parked here.  We even got some free samples......

The residents of this Newmar RV travel around the US for about 10 months each year to attend State Fairs, festivals and visiting retailers.

Clip-clop, clip-clop!

We had a wonderful 6 weeks stay in the greater Toledo area.  We were able to see lots of friends and family and we sure did eat a lot!  The weather settled down and it was mostly a pleasant summer stay.  We had a few "ups and downs" working our way through our stay with medical appointments, some RV problems and family concerns, but enjoyed our stay.  Saying good-bye to all we have moved on to Nappanee, Indiana and are camped at the Newmar factory for several days awaiting our service appointment.  To make it all the better, our RV friends Rich and Diane, also 13 year fulltimers are parked next to us and we'll share some adventures over the next several days.  And, of course, in this part of the country we need to watch where we drive (and walk!) as there is always the clip-clop, clip-clop sound nearby...

A pause along the road

We've settled in once again for a several week stay...this time in the area of our old hometown, Toledo, OH.  After leaving Charlotte, MI and our two week stay at Spartan Chassis, we moved on to the Ingham County Fairgrounds in Mason, MI.  While there we were able to spend time with our son in East Lansing and also to do a little exploring in the area.  We enjoyed having Reid and his friend Kathleen for brunch one Sunday as well.  Next stop was Jackson, MI where we parked for several days in front of Mary's Mom's condo.  We had no special projects while there....just thoroughly enjoyed the visit...in spite of the high heat and humidity.  Then it was on to the Toledo area...we spent Sunday night parked in the lot at the Cummins service center so that our engine would be cold when the techs came out first thing Monday morning.  By noon they had replaced all our manifold gaskets and we were on our way to the Big Sandy Campground.  Unfortunately it was raining.  But, we got parked in the same site we have used the last several summers without any problems.  We're looking forward to some time with friends and family.

Free at last!

Well, we "chilled" all right!    We spent 15 night at the Spartan Service Center parking lot....not the most luxurious campground!  We had great 50amp electric service which kept us comfortable in the high heat and humidity, but no water or sewer hookups.  We had arrived several days early for our scheduled appointment and had figured we would be at Spartan less than a week total....so, by day seven our fresh water was about gone and our holding tanks full.  And then to top it all off, Spartan told us we had a cracked steering gear bracket and the coach could not be driven on public roads.  So, that meant no trip over to the local fairgrounds to use the dump station.  One of the office staff happens to run a pump-out service, so for $75 we had our tanks emptied and then drove out in front of the office and hooked a hose up to Spartan's faucet to refill our fresh water.

The new part we needed was ordered and we settled in to await its arrival...along with three other coaches who discovered they also had the same problem.  Coincidentally,  Spartan was also hosting an "RV Owners Training School" which had 5 coaches attending, so with other coaches arriving for service we sometimes had 14 coaches in the lot.  The class attendees were a lively bunch, and got the rest of us to participate in their evening happy hours.   We were also able to spend some time with our son and Mary's mom on several occasions as they live in the general area.

So, after 15 nights we were repaired, paid a hefty bill, said good-by to all our new friends and have moved about 30 miles to the next county and the Ingham County Fairgrounds and will spend a little more time with family before moving on sometime next week when a Flea Market and a Horse Show overtake the fairgrounds.

Just Chillin'

Well, we've been parked here in the Spartan Motors customer service lot for a week tomorrow.  Over last weekend we had a chance to chill-out and relax.  We drove to Battle Creek and met our son and his friend, Kathleen for dinner at the Arcadia Brewing Company...a great visit and a tasty, fun place for dinner.  Reid stopped by our place for dinner on Sunday, and we enjoyed catching up with him.  On Monday Mary spent the day in Jackson wih her Mom and Tom worked on little projects around the RV.  Tuesday began our adventure with Spartan.  The "44-point Inspection" discovered that we have a cracked steering bracket and our rig was deemed not road worthy.  A badly damaged inside dual tire was also found and we were strongly urged to replace it.  I guess that's why we have the inspection done...but the dollars always add up!  The usual oil, transmission fluid and air filter changes and lube were made as well.  The steering bracket part has been ordered, but will likely not be here till July 11...so, along with two other rigs facing the same problem, we wait.  At least we have some family in the area to visit.

Wishy, washy, wishy, washy!

Today's adventure was with the washer repairman.  Our combo washer/dryer has not worked for three or four months now.  We had communicated with the service techs in the state of Oregon when our problem first began, and they agreed with our assessment of the problem. Over the phone, they had given directions on how to take the machine apart to find out for sure what the problem was.  When they got to the task of turning the machine on its side in our tiny bathroom, we decided it was beyond our capabilities and we'd head to the laundromat.  Several months later the tech in Indiana quickly diagnosed the problem (exactly what we had suspected) and said it would cost close to $700 to repair and only a couple hundred more for a whole new machine.  Considering that the machine was 10 years old, very well used and has had several other repairs in the last three years we decided to spring for a new one.  It supposedly has a few better features including a faster drying time.  It took about an hour to install and another hour for us to put the cupboard and doors all back together!  So, off we headed to Michigan where we have another service appointment....and are parked without water and sewer hookups...so can't even use the new machine for a while.

Rain, rain, go away!

Good things about being in Indiana.......acres and acres of green things growing, friendly service people
Bad things........rain and more rain,  thunder and lightning, power outages, puddles, construction traffic

But, our door latch has been fixed and we don't need to worry about being locked in or out of the coach, and we have a new floor vent so we don't cut our feet when walking into the bedroom, and a repaired blind that will now cover the window once again.   It felt good to be in a familiar neighborhood in Nappanee and we always enjoy seeing the acres and acres of crops growing and the many neat and tidy Amish and Mennonite farms.  Of course that also means we have to be careful driving among horses and buggies and bicycles.

Checking things off our "to do" list, we've moved up to Elkhart in hopes of getting our washer/dryer repaired after quite a few months of treking to the laudromat.  Time will tell.

Oh, give me a home where the Buffalo roam!

We went for a walk last night around the property of the Downstream Casino which is operated by the Quapaw Indian Tribe.  A large fenced area along the main drive has beautiful flower gardens and five (that we saw) Buffalo roaming around.  Several sat in a big pond - no doubt trying to keep cool in the 98* heat.  We didn't even go inside the casino, but enjoyed our walk and retreated to the RV for the evening, thanking the Indians for their free hospitality and hook-ups.  Today we had a pleasant drive across I-44 through the Ozarks and were happy to see that there was very little traffic through St. Louis...so we kept going!

O-o-o-o-klahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' cross the plains....

We spent two nights at the Fire Lake Grand Casino east of Oklahoma City near Shawnee.  Driving up from Texas, we chose state and US routes and avoided the toll road and were on I-35 only a short distance near Ardmore.  It was a pleasant drive on rolling highways and it was nice to see more and more green fields as we got further north.  Curiosity would have had us drive straight up I-35 through Moore as we have done in the past, but we decided to avoid city traffic and gawkers along the recent tornado route.  As it turned out, it was the one-month-anniversary of the devastating storm and the TV stations all had on-the-scene reports.  They said clean-up is about 40% accomplished.  As we approached Shawnee we did see places where there was much damage as it also touched down in that area briefly.  The reason for a 2-night stay was to break up the drive and we drove into Shawnee on Thursday and to Midwest City on Friday to run some errands.  The Casino has water and electric hookups and we took advantage of that to run our A/C as the temperature hovered in the high 90s.  Typical of Indian casinos, we took advantage of the free soft drink stations and this one also has free soft ice cream…yummy on a hot and quite windy day.             We headed on east again on Saturday morning (missing the opportunity to attend the Elvis impersonation contest that night!) and drove on the I-44 toll road to our next stop at the Downstream Casino at Exit 1 in Missouri.  The casino itself is actually in Oklahoma, the hotel in Missouri and the RV parking lot is in Kansas…how’s that for a Tri-State stop?

On the Road once again....

The travelers returned from Peru and Merrick returned from camp...all about the same time last Saturday afternoon.  They were all tired.  Close and Ann managed to bring home food poisining or some sort of bug and had quite an adventure on the three plane flights and 24 hours it took them to get home.  We retreated to the RV until Monday.  The next two days were busy with errands and running the three granddaughters to dance, horseback riding and school projects and doing a little "lifeguarding" around the pool, fixing meals and doing laundry.  Today Mary had her checkup with Dr. Rocky and he was pleased with the progress of Mary's eyelid surgery and cleared us for travel.  So....we hit the road...not planning to do much driving each day...and heading first to Newmar in Indiana to pick up some parts.  We came through some heavy rain and wind, but luckily it didn't last long and by the time we got to Wichita Falls it had stopped.  Hopefully we're headed to sun and cooler temperatures!

Have bags will travel!

But this time, we're not the travelers.  Last Friday, our daughter and two oldest granddaughters drove to Dallas and from there flew to Peru with the Spanish Club from the high school.  We are getting daily updates via Facebook and Skype of their adventures.  It is winter there, so they have escaped the Texas heat, and they are finding the high altutude somewhat of a challenge.

Our granddaughters are a couple of those dots at the top of Machu Picchu.

On Sunday, we tagged along as our son-in-law drove the youngest granddaughter to YMCA Camp.  She was excited to stop at Culver's for lunch (a favorite from their time in Illinois and a rare find in this part of the country) and then to get to camp where she will be riding horses all week.  The camp also posts on Facebook and Twitter daily and also puts several hundred photos online daily!

Residents of the "Eskimo Cabin" at YMCA Camp
Merrick is at the rear.

Meanwhile we are keeping busy with a few chores and enjoying a slightly slower pace for the week.

Rocky on the road

We've been keeping busy here in Abilene doing all the same stuff....driving the girls around to their various activities and keeping up with their last week of school schedules.  They're Free!  So let the summer activities begin!  Close and her friends like to go to "The Doghouse" which is the fitness center at the high school which is open to all the athletes to keep up with their conditioning over the summer.  Since the coaches aren't allowed to coach the kids, there is a "trainer" on board to delp them do what the coaches prescribe.  Merrick lives for her horseback riding lessons and spends a lot of time in the swimming pool (happy that grandparents are on hand to be lifeguards.)  Coffey, with her learner's permit in hand, will drive us anywhere we want to go!  We've enjoyed hanging out with the family, doing some chores around the house and cooking hot dogs and S'mores at the fire-pit.

Today we met Rocky.  He is an opthomologist, and was the second doctor we'd met today.  The first was a dermatologist who performed a MOHS procedure, removing basal cell cancer from Mary's eyelid.  After doing that procedure he decided that his buddy, Rocky, should finish the job, so he sent us down the road to another office.  He introduced himself as Rocky, and from all the diplomas on the wall, we think that's his real name.  Both doctors were great guys with efficient and friendly staff and we feel so far, that they did an excellent job.  Time will tell, I guess.  Meanwhile we're dealing with one of those "rocks in the road."

S'Mores anyone?

We had a pretty "laid-back" weekend once the dance recital was over.  On Saturday, we joined the McCurdy's for grilled burgers at dinner time.  Afterwards, friends arrived and enjoyed the pool.  At sundown it was time to gather at the fire-pit and make S'Mores.  On Monday we were in charge of transportation to horseback riding lessons, making lasagna in the crockpot for dinner and a few other chores before the evening meal and games following.  The last week of school coming up!

A busy week

Our days since earlier in the week continued to be fairly busy....we continued afternoon "bus service" from the Jr. Hi and the High School, and some dinner preparations to follow.   Thursday we had a cloudy, windy day and by dinnertime it wasn't looking good at all.  Our drive back to the RV was made exciting as the thunder, lightning, wind and rain ramped up to mega-proportions.  Once we got back to the rig, we brought the slides in to protect the canvas "toppers" and spent the rest of the evening "rockin' and rollin'."  Friday was a bit cooler but by Saturday it was hot and sunny once again.  On Friday there were more costume alterations to be made for the dance recital, and on Saturday afternoon we went to the Abilene Civic Center for the grand performance.  It was a well organized and quickly moving show.  Merrick and Coffey both did well.  We celebrated afterwards with dinner at Red Robin and a rousing game of "Herbie" back at the house.  With no big plans for the holiday weekend, we should have some restful days.

Coffey's pirate costume, minus the big hat,  and Merrick as a "techno-robot"

Into the routine

It didn't take us long to get back into the "Abilene Routine."  On Monday Tom provided the school pickups and then drop-offs at dance and horseback riding in the late afternoon.  Meanwhile, Mary got dinner started for the family plus Alex (Close's friend).  Once dinner was over, the McCurdys headed to the pool to cool off.                                    

Tuesday morning we reported to the "mega-church" across from the Wylie Jr. High to attend the Awards Day for the 6th grade.  Merrick received two awards.  From there we headed to the McCurdy house where Mary spent some time making final adjustments to Coffey's costume for her dance recital coming up this weekend.  Evenings the rest of this week will be busy with rehearsals for the recital in which both Coffey and Merrick will participate.   

                         

Mindful of the tragedy over the last several days in Oklahoma, we watched the weather here in Abilene.  We had some extremely dark clouds, high winds, spits of rain and the temperature dropped about 20*.  Luckily, that is all that happened, and by late afternoon it was sunny and 80* once again.

Abilene, Abilene, Prettiest town I've ever seen

Well, maybe!  But we were glad to arrive here this afternoon and get settled in our familiar campground.  After relaxing a bit from the windy drive, we headed over to the McCurdys.  As usual, the family was involved in various activities...Matt and Coffey spent the sunny 100* afternoon at tryouts for a softball team, Ann and Close tended to various shopping chores gathering stuff for their trip to Peru, new swim suits to meet specifications for Merrick's stay at a camp and groceries.  When we all were finally together Matt cooked burgers on the grill for us and the family enjoyed a dip in the pool.  A pleasant end to a great day!

I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles!

We woke up early today, even without an alarm clock.  Our bodies must still be on the “get up early for golf” schedule.  We walked up to the clubhouse/office to pay our electric bill and check-out and joined some other RVers for homemade cinnamon rolls.  They may have been homemade, but they didn’t compare in the least to Mary’s Mom’s rolls!!!  We went through the morning routine checking the tow hitch and running the car through its gears, checking the vehicle lights and signals and were on the road a little before 9:00 MDT.  We cruised past Las Cruces and through El Paso, then switched drivers for the ride to Van Horn.  Mary’s cousins, Bethann and Geoff called on the phone while we were stopped for lunch – finally catching up on messages we’d left earlier in the week asking if they were at their New Mexico house.  Since we’d passed on by several hours earlier, we were glad to hear they are still in Virginia.  This drive from Arizona to Abilene is through 800 miles of rock, thorns and scrubby bushes.  We can see for miles and miles and miles and miles in any direction!  We arrived at the Escapee’s Tra-Park in Pecos, Texas around 4:30 CDT (we’d lost another hour today!).  The park is in an area of Texas that has lots of oil drilling going on and they have leased many of their sites to oil workers, and it’s a pretty “bare bones” park in the Escapee’s system.  The park is quite full, but at least they keep some open sites for travelers.  This is where we were parked when our engine failed last fall.  Hopefully we’ll be on the road in the morning with no problems!

The Wheels on the Bus go 'Round and 'Round!

After sitting for seven months, the engine started and the wheels turned!  Hooray!!!   At about 8:00am this morning we pulled out of a very empty Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort and headed east on I-10.  We had enjoyed the last six weeks or so of a more “laid back” routine in the park.  Day by day residents departed and by the time we left there were very few people still in the park.  In season the poker games have about 80 people playing.  It’s now down to about 15…and we’re not sure where they come from because as we ride around the park, it looks nobody is around.  For several weeks playing on the golf course was free…and we took advantage of that daily.  The day we left, however, the “back nine” was closed due to all the new construction going on.  We are looking forward to seeing all the changes around the park when we return in the fall.

Our first stop today was at the “Speed-co” just six miles down I-10 from the park.  We had some service done, but they weren’t able to do everything we wanted, so we’ll have to arrange some service stops back east.  From there we continued east, stopping at one of the prettiest rest areas on the Interstate, Texas Canyon, for a lunch break.  It felt good to be back on the road!  From there it was on to Deming, New Mexico and an overnight stop at the Escapee’s “Dreamcatcher RV Park.”    

We pulled into the park just at 5:00 New Mexico time (we’d lost an hour entering NM) and found a space in the almost empty park.  Almost immediately a neighbor came over and asked us about our Ford Escape.  Seems he burned up the transmission in his Escape for the second time just the other day.  We’ve met several people this way!

Our destination tomorrow is Pecos, TX.  

Getting Settled!

We're certainly enjoying the perfect weather here in Casa Grande...low 90s in the daytime and mid-60's at night (good sleeping with the windows open!)  The various chores on our list are slowly getting checked off, but there are still lots of things to do before we're truly ready to "play" for the winter.  We stopped by to see some tennis buddies today and they tell us we're expected at the courts at 7am daily, so perhaps we'll get in some tennis early in the day and work on some chores a bit later.  We did go to Phoenix today for Tom's routine check-up at the neurologist and all was well...so good, in fact, that he doesn't need to return for 6 months.  While in the city, we also stopped at "Golfsmith," allowing Tom some time to try out various new golf drivers.  He found one that looks promising, but we're going to do a little more shopping before he makes his decision.   Do you think he needs a new one????

We also checked in at the front office here at Palm Creek, paid our annual rent, had our new photo-IDs made and picked up our accumulated mail.  So I guess we're "legal" for the time-being.

Home, Sweet Home!

Today’s first chore was to make phone calls about replacing our now shattered heat pump cover.  The people in the office at the RV park gave us a name to call and it was the same one we had found on the internet.  The man who answered the call said his shop is closed on Saturday but he’d be willing to help if he could.  He did not have the part we needed in stock, but said he didn’t feel there would be any problem with us driving 200 miles to Tucson unless it was raining.  So, we were on the road in short order.   We arrived at the Camping World in Tucson around noon Arizona time.  Our friends Art and June Nelson were waiting for us as we had plans to visit over lunch.  Art had also made some phone calls to Camping World and the Lazy Days RV Dealership and had information for us.  Camping World had a cover in stock and Tom and Art took it up on the roof to make certain that it would fit our model.  It did!  They tightened the screws and we were protected once again.  Tom will need to remove the cover again to clean the heat pump area and to install the insulation and perhaps paint the cover.  There were no cracks visible on the second heat pump and Camping World only had one cover anyway, so the second one was not replaced.  We had a great visit with Art and June over lunch in the restaurant on the Lazy Days property behind Camping World and hope to see them again soon.              From Tucson we continued on I-10 to Eloy, Arizona where we visited the Flying J and topped off our fuel and propane tanks – ready for the winter stay.  We arrived at Palm Creek around 4:30 and got all parked in our usual site with the help of our neighbor and Chief Ranger, Bob.  Once we were hooked up we enjoyed a visit with our neighbors Harry and Marilou and their son Mike.  It’s good to be “home.”

Back on the road

Cummins South Plains in Odessa, Texas went right to work on our RV first thing this morning.  They discovered that in order to install our new part they would have to remove the muffler from the coach.  After the new part and the muffler were installed, they took the coach for a test drive and declared it repaired.  Around 10:30 they presented us with the bill for the part and about 5 hours of labor plus taxes and fees….close to $900.    We paid the bill and hooked up the Escape and got organized for travel.  We hit the road around 11:30 and drove back to Pecos where we topped off the fuel at Flying J and continued west.  By making minimal stops to change off drivers, we made good time and arrived at the Dreamcatcher RV Park in Deming, NM around 5:30 local time.  (We’d changed time zones near Van Horn, TX)  From Las Cruces, NM to Deming we were driving in very strong winds and we kept an eye on the large awning which we had secured with extra straps.  As we pulled into Dreamcatcher we heard a loud banging and thumping and thought the awning had indeed come loose.  But, no, the large plastic cover on the rear heat pump had come off, crashed around on the roof and part of it onto the ground, in lots of pieces.  Nine years in the sun obviously is not good for plastic!  We picked up the pieces and got registered and parked before Tom climbed to the roof to get the rest of the pieces.  The wine came out shortly thereafter!!!  Tomorrow will be another day…and we had already planned to stop at Camping World in Tucson to meet friends for lunch

Definitely, NOT our best.day.ever!

We had arrived at the TraPark RV Park in Pecos, Texas Wednesday afternoon around 4:00.  We settled into a site and had a relaxing evening.  It had been a pleasant day’s drive from Abilene and we had two more ahead of us to get to Palm Creek in Casa Grande, AZ.  Thursday morning we went through our usual departure routine and were ready to head to our next stop in Deming, NM.  When we turned on the engine a loud, constant alarm sounded and the “check engine” light came on in the dashboard display.  We made several phone calls to Spartan Chassis and Cummins Engine service centers.  They had several suggestions, which we followed, to check the coolant and the engine oil levels.  The coolant was at the proper level, but the oil was a little low.  So, we unhooked the car and made a trip to Walmart to purchase oil which was then added to the engine.  After the 15 minute run-time we still had the alarm and the lovely light on the dash.  At that point Cummins said we should not drive the coach. 

Calling “road service” was our next step and it was an hour and a half before they returned our call to say they had found us a tow truck that would be arriving momentarily.  Sure enough, in about 15 minutes a truck arrived.  The drivers took one look at our rig and said they could not tow us!  They would damage the generator and exhaust if they did.  Luckily, they had a flat-bed truck available and made a trip to their garage to trade trucks.  Another plus was that they were from Pecos, not a far away place!  So, they directed Tom to drive the Dutch Star up onto the trailer which they could tilt by moving the wheels forward…pretty neat!  Then we were off on a 75 mile drive to the Cummins service facility in Odessa, TX.  As we followed the truck in our car, we cringed every time we came to an overpass on the freeway.  Our rig is 12’3” high and it was sitting on a flat bed that looked to us to be 3 or 4 ft. off the ground.  Tom had discussed the height with the driver before we departed Pecos.  The only really “close call” came somewhere along the I-20 route when the driver pulled the truck over to the edge of the road and inched his way under an overpass marked 15’4”…while we held our breath!

When we reached Odessa and the Cummins facility, their driveway had a low hanging utility cable.  Fortunately, the driver noticed it as he was making the left-hand turn into the drive.  He held up traffic on the busy street while he back up and drove in sideways.  Whew!  They got the Dutch Star unloaded and pulled up to a service bay about 4:30.  It was after 6:30 when the service manager was able to tell us they had followed their trouble-shooting procedure and had come up with a defective electrical diode.  They couldn’t find a part number on the diode or their computer program, so had to search through parts books to come up with a number which they used to search their inventory.  Hooray!  They have the part in stock.  It will be installed first thing Friday morning.   Meanwhile, we’re spending the night in front of the service bays with an electrical hookup.  Hopefully we’ll be on our way again late Friday morning.

Considering we are not too far from last year’s vehicle fiasco, maybe next year we should go from Abilene to Casa Grande by way of Denver!

A step back in time!

Not quite 45 years ago we drove our '67 Mustang (with all our earthly possessions packed in the back seat and trunk) from Ohio to Arizona to make our first home in Arizona.  I don't remember how long it took us, but we made it a leisurely drive as it was our honeymoon.  We drove the famous Route 66 much of the way as that was before the days of coast-to-coast Interstate Highways!  Ever since that trip we have often repeated the story of our one-night stop in Lebanon, Missouri and our stay at the Munger Moss Motel.  We've driven through, and even stopped in Lebanon numerous times in our RV travels (there's a Russell Stover Candy Outlet, Cheese Outlet and Antique Store that is a favorite stop) but today as we approached on I-44 heading west from St. Louis we noticed a big billboard for the Munger Moss Motel.  Could the place still be in business?  We got off at the appropriate exit and sure enough, there it was!  We parked in the lot across the street at a bowling alley and went over to the motel and met the owner, Ramona Lehman.  She's been there since 1971 and has preserved the motel pretty much as it was then. (Although they now have Free WiFi...didn't have that 45 years ago!) The motel is frequently a stop for travelers reminiscing the "good old days of Route 66."  We had our own little bit of nostalgia...we had stayed at the motel, eaten at the adjacent (now gone) restaurant and bowled a couple games at the bowling alley across the street...all for the grand sum of $10 for the evening.  Mrs. Lehman was glad to see us and hear our story.  She even gave us a couple of small souvenirs.  She is active in a group to preserve the old Route 66 and posts stories on her Facebook page for The Munger Moss Motel.  There is even a web page www.mungermoss.com that tells the history of the place.  It was a fun stop!

Once more...with feeling!

We drove through St. Louis again today...that Arch is looking really familiar...I didn't even take a photo! Our GPS took us on a really different route and we didn't realize it till it was too late to change lanes.  That caused a few stressful minutes, but we recovered and found our way along a pleasant route through the city that we hadn't seen in all our times going through St. Louis.  We're at a Walmart where we stayed last year and tonight there was no problem getting permission to stay.   The weather has been great and is getting warmer each day...in fact it may be a little warm tonight without the A/C...our last night without electricity if all goes as planned.  We'll be moving on again tomorrow.

Spartan territory

Friday morning, August 31, Reid picked us up at the motel we had stayed at and we returned to his WV house to finish packing and loading.  For a guy who lived in a tent all that time, where did all this stuff come from?  It was decided that we did not need to stick around for Reid's closing, so we took off in the truck heading to Ohio and Michigan.  We reached the Toledo area around 8pm and rather than continuing on to East Lansing and a MSU Football Friday night game, we decided to "crash" in our own bed in the RV parked in storage in Swanton.  Ah, that felt good!   Saturday morning came quickly, but we were up and on the road.  Reid had called around 10pm Friday night to say he was in Columbus and heading north, so he was waiting for us when we arrived in East Lansing.  By 2:30 the truck was empty - much of it piled next to the backyard shed where Reid organized and stored his collection of outdoor gear and kayaks.

What do you think?  Will it all fit in with the lawn equipment already there?

I'm not so sure, but let's get started.

 Inside the house, Tom began assembling bookshelves while Mary tackled laundry and Reid tried to find places for his stuff and whipped up a quite delicious dinner.  We all slept pretty good Saturday night.   Sunday morning we headed out for breakfast and then to the local Farmer's Market where Reid stocked up for the week ahead. More laundry and bookcases and some new chairs occupied the crew in the afternoon.  Then Tom and I met up with some RVing friends who happened to be in the area...a great visit over dinner at the Texas Roadhouse.  Labor Day will find us heading south for a bit.

Wild and Wonderful West Virginia

We made it to Reid's house in West Virginia about 5:30 on Thursday.  We'd left the Evansville, IN area about 8:00 and made our way across the rest of Indiana and Kentucky.  Just as we were reaching the West Virginia border, Reid called from Columbus and was on his way south.  He arrived at the house about an hour and a half behind us.  We'd had a chance to unwind and relax a bit by then.  We got almost all of Reid's things loaded into the truck but decided we'll need to do some repacking in the morning to get the last things in and everything stable for the ride to Michigan.  Friday's agenda includes errands and closing on the WV house, but we're hoping it also includes the start of the drive north.

More Miles!

Didn't we just pass this a couple weeks ago?

We left Salina, Kansas around 7:15 this morning with Mary at the wheel.  That way, as we approached Topeka and Kansas City it would be Tom's turn to drive through the city traffic. After Kansas we drove across the state of Missouri...more and more miles!  We switched drivers again after lunch and again in late afternoon so that Tom got the honors of once again driving through St. Louis at rush hour.  It's only been a few weeks since we did that in the RV.  Our stop for the night is on I-64 just north of Evansville, Indiana and still in Central Time, so we'll loose another hour tomorrow.  We're looking forward to being at Reid's house in Fayetteville, WV by late afternoon.

Miles and Miles and Miles

It was pretty cool when we got up this morning in Leadville, CO...somewhere around 48*.  We were on the road around 8:00 and headed through the historic town center and on route 91 up to I-70.  What a beautiful drive!  It was a little hazy, so my photos taken from a moving truck aren't the best, and don't show the streams and lakes along the side of the road either.  Passing Lake Dillon in Frisco, where Reid used to live and work, we noticed that the water level was extremely low...sad!

 Once we got to the Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70 it was "all downhill."  We were out of the Rockies and east of Denver in about an hour.  Then it was just miles and miles of I-70 stretching out in front of us.  We stopped for the night around 8pm in Salina, Kansas.   The goal for tomorrow is somewhere in south central Illinois.

Kansas is the "sunflower state", right?

It's a little bit smaller than the RV!

Reid's friend Kristin was kind enough to pick us up at the Fairfield Inn this morning and taxi us to the Home Depot/Penske Truck Rental facility in Salt Lake City.  It took a while to get all the paper work taken care of before we drove from there over to the home of Reid's former boss, Brandon, to pick up some of Reid's belongings.  In short order we had things loaded and we were on the road heading south to I-70 and then east.  We made a stop at a Walmart to stock up on road-trip necessities - food and water - and then several more during the day for fuel and stretch breaks.  Around 8:00pm, just as it was getting dark, we arrived at the home of Reid's good friend Ken in Leadville, Colorado.  Ken was another helpful soul and the pile of Reid's "stuff" that Ken had been storing was quickly loaded into the back of the truck.  The last 100 or so miles of the trip will likely the most scenic of our trip.  This section of Colorado is gorgeous!  We settled for the night at the Super-8 Motel in Leadville and will be on our way again in the morning.  The ride in the Penske truck has been very comfortable.  It's almost new with only about 4000 miles on it when we picked it up, but we miss the ammenities of the RV!

Step one of our journey has been accomplished!   Our driver, Dick Lehto, picked us up at Big Sandy Campground a little before 7am and drove us to the Detroit airport.  Thanks, Dick...we appreciate the early morning ride!  In spite of having one-way tickets, we had no trouble getting through security.  Our plane actually departed a few minutes early and we had a relatively short ride to Baltimore on a very crowded plane.  With only 35 minutes between arrival and our next departure in Baltimore we really hustled through the terminal from the A wing to the B wing...whew!  But, it seems that we had no crew for the connecting flight.  It was another hour before a crew was assembled and we departed for Salt Lake City.  That flight was not full, but we were lucky enough to have to sit in a full row for the almost 5 hour flight.  The Fairfield Inn shuttle picked us up at the terminal curb and we are now comfortably settled in a nice room.  Arrangements have been made for us to get to the truck rental in the morning and we'll begin the next part of our journey.

Tomorrow's the day.....the start of our Great Circle Adventure.  We'll be flying from Detroit, Michigan to Salt Lake City, Utah via the Baltimore, MD airport. After an overnight stay, we'll rent a truck, pick up some of our son Reid's belongings and drive on to Leadville, CO.  There are more of Reid's belongings waiting for us there.  After those things are loaded in the truck we'll head east, taking several days to reach Fayetteville, WV.  Reid is planning to meet us there and help us load even more of his things into the truck, emptying out the house he had purchased a year ago near the New River Gorge.  With the loading chores completed, our plan is to drive to East Lansing, MI where Reid has a new job and a new home.  We'll get to unload all the collected items and do a few things to help him get settled in the new place.  We're hoping to get all that accomplished in a week.

We'll be in touch!

Back to work!

We've begun the "settling in" process at our winter home, Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort in Casa Grande, AZ.  Each day we have taken care of a few more chores like collecting saved mail, filling the bicycle tires, putting together a new grill and taking care of previously scheduled doctor appointments.  The weather has been hot and sunny in the daytime and comfortable in the evenings.  We've made our way through the park and the city, checking out the changes that occured while we were gone.  Best of all, we're checking in with friends and neighbors as we go...catching up on everyone's adventures.  Bright and early Monday morning it was "back to work" for both of us as we joined the group of tennis players at the courts at 7:30 am.  We even had to set the alarm!  This is the work we enjoy!  Let the season begin!

Tom playing with partner, Trisha, serving to Bob.

Can you hear me now?

We had a great visit in Abilene, Texas with our grandchildren and their parents....learning our way around their new hometown and taking the grandparents role at ball games, dance lessons, horseback riding sessions and more.  We also enjoyed touring some of Abilene's new neighborhoods as the family researched building a new home.

Months ago we had scheduled a string of regular medical appointments in Arizona, so it was finally time to head west once again.  We departed Abilene on Monday, October 10.  Our planned stopping point that night was in Sierra Blanca, Texas at an RV park listed in our Passport America Directory.  When we got to the small town we found that the RV park was abandoned and went to another down the road that didn't look much better.  But, there was working electricity and a lock box to deposit our $10 fee for a night.  Shortly after arriving, we discovered problems with our brand new tow car.  We started making phone calls to get roadside help only to discover that we were in a very marginal area for cell service.  We were alos on the edge of a time zone change.  There was much confusion in trying to get someone to understand where we were located and what help we needed, and then when help would come.  "Can you hear me now???"

A contact was finally made and help arrived.  Our AAA driver, Joe, managed to get us relocated into El Paso, an 80 mile drive, on Tuesday morning.  We spent two days 'camped' in an alley behind a Ford dealer in El Paso before deciding that we would have them totally disengage the drive train and transmission and we would tow the car on to Arizona.  We drove directly to a Ford dealer in Gilbert to drop off the car.  The service department there has been completely helpful and says they will help us recover from our "catastrophic failure" and work with us to prevent it from happening again.

Greater downtown Sierra Blanca, Texas



Load 'em up, move 'em out!


The RV is now happily parked at our winter home at Palm Creek in Casa Grande, Arizona.  There are still details to work out, but it appears that Ford will cover our expenses under warranty.  After all, the car has barely 2000 miles on it and the transmission failed!  We are looking forward to a relaxing winter.



    

Friday Night Lights!

Friday we went to the Abilene-Wylie High School homecoming football game.   We had noticed the big stadium earlier in the week and decided that we'd check out the action on Friday night.  Our granddaughter is a new member of the marching band.  However, since she and a group of other new students are not quite up to speed on the routines and also having to learn a new instrument, they are uniformed "go-fers" for the time being.  I think Tom and I were the only people in the stands NOT wearing bright purple shirts, but we enjoyed being a part of the Wylie spirit for the evening.

The stadium is quite impressive for a high school and is part of a large complex of facilitiess for all the sports.

The football team entered the field running through the giant inflatable helmet.

                                                       

The visiting team brought their leopard along.

The giant scoreboard has a video feed in the center for current action on the filed as well as instant replays.
There were even flat screens mounted above the concession stands and restrooms under the grandstands so you won't miss a minute of the game.

The visiting band arrived in two big busses and two Penske trucks full of instruments. 

 The football team had their own fleet.

The Wylie band takes the field on artificial turf painted with a giant bulldog in the center.  Our granddaughter was in charge of the big drum in the center foreground.

Sadly, the Bulldogs lost the game...but we had a good time!

Happy Birthday, Merrick!

We've managed to keep busy this week...exploring the Abilene area and running various errands.  We are about 14 miles from Ann's house - about a 20 minute easy drive.  We have attended softball games and the open house at Merrick's school.  We're learning our way around town and relearning how to drive on the crazy Texas road system which we first experienced years ago visiting Mary's parents in the Rio Grande Valley.  Today was Merrick's 11th birthday and we enjoyed sharing dinner with the family at CiCi's Pizza Buffet.  Matt will be coming from Pennsylvania for several days and there are lots of opportunities for fun over the weekend.

Abilene!

We made the drive from Oklahoma City to Abilene on Friday...had a slight delay when we stopped for lunch and discovered that the car battery was dead again.  We managed to get it started and charged a bit before we continued on our way.  Our planned stay at the VFW Post did not happen as they were overbooked.  So, we headed to our old standy-by...Walmart.  Ann and the girls came to meet us and we had a fun dinner and reunion.  On Saturday we drove all around Abilene, checking out all the available RV Parks.  None of them are anything to rave about or all that near to Ann's house, but we decided to stay a while at the Abilene RV Park on I-20....about 16 miles from Ann's but and easy drive.  Today we moved to the park and got settled in and caught up on laundry.  Ann and the girls came to dinner.  We've enjoyed being with the girls and hearing about their new activities and school.  More later.....

Wishy-washy....or not!

The rain left....but in it's wake (but not because of it!) the washer/dryer was not working.  We had thought we'd get all caught up on laundry while parked at the casino with hookups.  But, one load was all that happened before the machine was not working.  So, this morning we made phone calls and while en-route from Joplin to Oklahoma City connected with Nunn Electric in the OKC suburb of Moore  that said "Come on down!  You can park out front!"  Not only that, they gave us a 30-amp hookup and invited us join them at Golden Corral for dinner.  Their 14-year old son was the 'lead mechanic', and the machine is supposedly fixed.  Total checkout can't happen till we have full hookups.  All in all, a productive day.

Rain, rain, go away!

I guess the country needs the rain, but we sure don't like driving in it.  The thunder and lightning started around 3am while we were parked in the Walmart lot in Eureka, Missouri for the night.  We weren't excited when it was still going on at 9am as we were ready to hit the road.  The car battery performed well, but we had a small delay with concern about the "idiot light" for the security/theft system which was constantly flashing on the dash of the Escape.  It had not done that previously.  We made calls to Bryan Ford and to the service department we had visited in Indianapolis yesterday and were told not to worry about it for now.  Okay!  We later heard from our Palm Creek friend who tows an Escape that his does the same thing.  We continued our drive west with a couple stops at rest areas and arrived at Downstream Casino just west of Joplin, MO around 4:00 local time.  From the freeway we saw little of the damage from last spring's tornado.  We have stayed here a couple times in the past....free water and electric hookups and a shuttle to the casino if we so desire.  They are counting on that, I suppose, but we usually don't spend any money inside.  This is the place that the casino is in Oklahoma, the hotel is in Kansas and the parking lot is in Missouri.  :-)   This will give us a chance to catch up on some laundry.  And, WOW, the sun came out as we were getting hooked up.

Dead battery!

This morning's start was not the best.....the new car had a dead battery when we went out to start it and get ready to tow it away.  We had faithfully followed all the directions for towing requested by Ford.  Since we were in the Walmart parking lot we went into the Auto Center and checked out the options there.  They offer no service but do sell "Instant Starters".  We thought about purchasing one of those, but they have to be plugged in for 24 hours before they can be used.  So, we called AAA and they were there within minutes.  We drove the car to a local Ford dealer and discussed the situation with their service guy and the opinion of Ford and the AAA guy is that we need another wiring job to connect the car and the RV while on the road.  We'll look into that at some point soon.  Meanwhile we finally got on the road around 11:15 and arrived in Eureka, MO west of St. Louis around 5:00 Central time.  We made several stops along the way and while at Flying J, besides dropping $430 for fuel, we ran the car for about half an hour.  It started again when we got to Eureka, so we'll see what happens in the morning.  We sailed right through downtown St. Louis on the early side of rush hour and will continue our trek in the morning...batteries permitting.

Where did the summer go?

    We left Palm Creek on May 17, heading east. We barely missed being in the midst of tornados as they devastated Joplin, Missouri and a few other places along our route. We arrived in Berrien Springs, Michigan in time for the Memorial Day weekend and the GLASS (Great Lakes Area Spring Spree) rally of the FMCA. Our good friends, Kathy and Dennie Dew from the Toledo area met us there just as the heavy rains began at the fairgrounds. In spite of that, we had a great rally and fun with our friends we hadn't seen in months!

    Leaving Berrien Springs, we made stops in Jackson, MI to visit Mary's mom and in the Toledo area to see more relatives and friends for a few weeks. Then it was on to central Ohio to "crash" a Bounder rally and renew friendships with some of our original RVing buddies. Next stop was Fayetteville, West Virgina and a great visit with our son, Reid. He had just moved into his first house and we are proud of his purchase and enjoyed helping him to a few things to make it "more like home." (Tom got a reminder of what it's like to keep up a yard!) By then it was July and we headed to the J&D Campground in Catawissa, PA to be near our daughter, son-in-law and three granddaughters for a month. As usual for our summer visits, it was very hot and humid as we attended lots of softball games and ferried the girls to various activities. We had to extend our stay while waiting for a new refrigerator cooling unit – which arrived damaged, so we moved on to Ohio to await another shipment. After a month without a refrigerator, and with the help of a couple of friends, we got a new unit installed and so far, the fridge is working! We stayed in the Toledo area for another couple weeks again visiting friends and relatives, taking care of a few business and medical chores and getting a new tow car purchased and set up for towing. Our son arrived for a short visit and his class reunion.

                Suddenly, it was Labor Day. Whew….the days had flown by! We started our return trip to Arizona on September 1 by heading back to Jackson and Mary's mom's. Over the holiday weekend we helped her out with a few chores and made more preparations for the long trip west. Our next stop was in Elkhart, IN where we had several repair and maintenance items taken care of at Elite RV Service. They did an excellent job with items that were mostly needed because of our spending a good part of the last eight years in the hot and sunny southwest. They were great to work with and provided us with hookups for the week we were there. Leaving Elkhart, our goal now is Abilene, Texas. We have passed through there before, but not made any extensive visits. Now, however, our daughter and her family have moved there due to a job transfer, so we'll be making a stop to see their new home and check out the area. Life is always an adventure!



      

The “Countdown” has begun!

Out of about 250 sites in our section of Palm Creek, maybe a dozen are occupied…only 2 or 3 of them being RVs.  The annual flowers have been pulled, the ponds and creek on the golf course drained, the activities rooms cleaned and locked up, staff is down to a minimum, we rarely have any sort of traffic on the roads around us or see people following us on the golf course……..do you think its time to move on?

We have our list of “things to do” pretty well completed.  Mary will have one last tennis match, and Tom a round of golf on Tuesday morning.  By lunchtime the few last items should be stowed in the shed or the RV and we should be on the road heading east.    Stay tuned!

Getting Ready

Palm Creek has fewer and fewer residents each day...total population is about 600 right now compared to the close to 4000 in mid-winter.  "It's a 'dry heat' ," they say.  The temperatures have been hovering in the high 90's and the humidity is a whopping 2%...that's two!  Golf and tennis begin between 6 and 7am.  We are enjoying the peace and quiet and lack of traffic and the slower pace of life.  And, we are working on our "to do" lists.  We plan to head east in another 10 days or so.

It's winter!

We're surviving the winter in Arizona...after a holiday trip to Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.  It was warmer in Detroit than in Phoenix the day we returned, and it has stayed pretty cold for Arizona...but we've had nothing like the winter they are enduring back east.  So, I guess we can be glad that we are comfortable with our flannel sheets and electric heater and a few weeks of long pants and socks on our feet.  This soon shall pass!       We've been keeping busy with our usual rounds of golf, tennis, bridge, sewing and gatherings with friends and a few doctor appointments thrown in for good measure.    We're looking forward to having a few out-of-town visitors and to the warming of the weather.

Ouch!

Not known for my love of medical procedures, especially injections, I was not looking forward to today.  We had signed up for the shot clinic here at the RV park.  But we dutifully arrived at the appointed hour, filled out the two pages of repeating information (how many times on one page do they really need my name, insurance ID number, and my address?), presented our insurance card and then "faced the music."  Since we were just recently eligible for Medicare we had never gotten pneumonia shots....so we each "got it" once in each arm, and we are now hopefully protected from flu as well as pneumonia.

Beyond that, we are still dealing with all sorts of issues trying to become established with new primary care physicians.  The Veteran's Administration may provide wonderful benefits, but they certainly don't provide clear and concise information on how to go about getting them, or telling you exactly what they are in your case.  It would help if they just answered the phone!  Private sector offices in this area don't fare much better for us.  They all are very crowded, seem impersonal and perhaps we'd do better if we spoke Spanish.  Fortunately, we have no great medical needs at this time.

The weather is beautiful and we continue to enjoy this idylic time of year at Palm Creek.

Back home at Palm Creek

We arrived back at Palm Creek a week ago, October 1.  The park is still quite empty, but there are new arrivals every day....none on our street, however.  When we first arrived the temperatures each day were around 105* so we have not started the task of washing and waxing the vehicles.  On Saturday we had a "haboob"...one of Arizona's famous wind/dust storms.  On Tuesday and Wednesday we had a round of wild and windy rainstorms complete with thunder and lightning.  Fortunately we missed the harshest of the storms and tornadoes that hit a bit further north.  We had close to 2" of rain...quite unusual for this part of the country.  Tom has played 18 holes of golf every day but one...hitting off the first tee at morning's first light (somewhere close to 6am).  The rest of the day has found us running various errands - getting settled once again here in Casa Grande - banks, laundry, dry cleaners, groceries, a couple doctor's appointments and a trip to Phoenix to deliver some packages we brought from Toledo for Tricia Lehto.  We're keeping busy!

"Standin' on the corner in Winslow, Arizona..."

We made it to Winslow tonight just as it was getting dark...good planning and a long day of 300 miles in the RV and another 50 or so in the car visiting the "Canyon de Chelly (rhymes with 'play')National Monument" in Chinle, AZ.  Not sure why we had skipped visiting there in the past, but it is a beautiful place!  The canyon was inhabited by Indians thousands of years ago and there are still some that live, work and farm there now...holding on to their ancient culture.  We had to park the RV in a campground and then take the car on the canyon rim drive.  Seeing the natives farming at the bottom really put the whole view into perspective.  After visiting the canyon we made our way to Winslow and put $276 worth of fuel in the tank and are being hosted by WallyWorld tonight.  On to Palm Creek tomorrow.

GOLD in them there hills!

We left Montrose and the Centennial RV park around 10am on Wednesday and headed to Ridgeway and then towards Telluride on the San Juan Skyway.  The aspens are in their glorious fall best colors.  There were all shades of green and gold splashed across the mountainsides as we wound our way along the highway.  Some of the mountains were topped with snowcaps, but we enjoyed temperatures in the 80s along with brilliant sunshine.  We stopped for the night at the Ute Mountain Casino near Towaoc and will head into Arizona tomorrow.

Along the San Juan Skyway, Colorado

A stand of aspens along the San Juan Skyway

Gunsmoke!

Today's jaunt was to the nearby town of Ridgeway.  We had a great pizza lunch at a place called "Panny's" and then stopped at the "Dennis Weaver Memorial Park."  Apparently Dennis Weaver and family had moved to Ridgeway in the late 1980's and loved the area.  They donated 60 acres along the Uncompahgre River for a city park.  After Weaver's death, a beautiful memorial was built...a huge bronze eagle in flight.   The sculpture is in the center of a Ute Indian "Circle of Life." There is also a plaque with one of his poems on it.  All in all, an impressive place.

Eagle in flight at the Dennis Weaver Memorial

A view from the Dennis Weaver Memorial Park

Out and About

After several days of hangin' close to home - thanks to Mary's painful pulled muscle - we ventured out on a road trip today.  First stop was lunch at the "Stone House" in Montrose...quite tasty!  Then, with our friends Art and June as tour guides we drove a little bit east of town to the "Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park."  We had visited here eight years ago, but it was well worth a return trip.  It was sunny and 80+* outside and we enjoyed stopping at the various lookout points.  The canyon is 50 miles long and 2000 feet deep - much smaller than the Grand Canyon - but just as beautiful and majestic.

Tom and Art saw a bear while talking to the park ranger  :-)

That's the Gunnison River down below...a little smaller than the Colorado.