Home At Last

Well, we made it home in one piece and we have our rig in storage a few miles from our home. Our last post had us in Ogden, UT where we spent the night.  From there, we drove to Boise, ID and stopped at Twin Falls, along the way.  If you are ever in this area, it is worth the diversion.  The gorge at Twin Falls is awesome and indescribeable.  You don't know the gorge is there and then Wham!, it is right in front of you. 

The next day, we stopped in Baker City, OR at the Oregon Trail Intrepretative Center.  Another awesome place that would take a whole day to see everything.  This is A double Wow!Wow!.  The view of the trail from the center is breathtaking and the museum is just awesome.  This is one place to go out of your way for.  We spent a few hours there and will definitely be back to spend much more time.  We then drove to Ellensburg, WA so that we we could into Port Ludlow reasonably early the next day.

October 13th--Arrived home around noon and spent the afternoon cleaning and putting more "stuff" into the coach.

Post Travel Thoughts:  Well, having had a boat made this new experience an easier one and certainly less stresssful.  For one thing, the motorhome has brakes!  The boat did not.  That meant that it stayed where you left it, unlike a boat that can go with the current and the winds at the time.

While some would not like the mileage of the motorhome (6 mpg) it was twice that of the boat!! so we, again, were pretty happy.  Here are some interesting comparisons:
 
                                                  BOAT                                             MOTORHOME
Fuel Capcity              700 gallons  or about $2,000              100 gallons or about $300
Range on Full Tank              1800 Miles                                             600 Miles
Ave travel in one day         25 to 30 miles                                          300 to 500

Well, we do have a list of things to change or fix just as we would have for the boat.  That part is the same.

Thats about it for now!  Thanks for following our trip!!

On the road again!!

Well, here it is 10/10/10 and we are sitting in an RV park in Odgen, UT.  But, let me start since our last post which was on October 3rd.  We left Lansing early and stopped in Columbia, MO to have dinner with Ann's sister Paula.  A quick great diner with great company.  We spent the night there are then headed to Topeka, KS the next day where we had lunch with some good friends that we met through the Human Service Finance Officers when I was working for Social Services. After lunch that day, we headed further down the road and stoped in Colby, KS.

Up early the next day (October 6th), we drove to Longmount, which we would be calling home for our stay and visit with Adam and  Becky (Atticus and Holden).  Atticus will be 5 on Thursday and we wanted to be there for the party which was held at a local park.  The next day was a visit to the Denver Childrens museum where we all played to our hearts content.  We especially liked the bubble room where we could make and break bubbles of many sizes and shapes.

On Saturday, we all headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park where we did a little hiking at Alberta Falls.  It was a beautufil hike and we even got to walk trhough some snow showers. What fun.

Sunday found us on our way again and we drove over 500 miles to arrive at Ogden, UT for the night.  Long day, but this should be the last 500 mile day for us.  We are now only 800 miles from home and have three days to get there.  Stay tuned for more......

A Blurr!!

Wow, our visit to Lansing is at an end!  We are preparing to leave early tomorrow morning for our trek west. Hours of playing with our grandson Kaden including fort building, pogo stick jumping, rip sticking in the driveway (form of skateboard), lots of wrestling, lego building, basketball shooting, remote helicopter flying, and on and on.  Kaden's 8th birthday party was a hoot.  He obviously has many loving friends and a very supportive family.

Spending time with Dawn and Nancy are always a highlight and this was no exception.  Seeing your children survive and thrive with all of life's challenges is a great experience.

We were also able to visit with some of our special friends whom we have known for year and years.  What a great time sharing stories and catching up!

Today was a quick visit to the cider mill where we made quick work of great doughnuts and fresh apple cider.

We have now been exposed to extreme weather.  Hot, Hot, Hot in Florida to Cold, Cold, Cold in Michigan.  It is supposed to freeze tonight, so will will be leaving just in the nick of time.

Long day tomorrow

Lansing at last

Well, we spent a day visiting Mark and Diane in Kentucky and then started our trek north. While we thought this would be a two day event for us, we just kept trucking and pulled into Lansing about 4:30 pm yesterday.  Nancy and Kaden showed up for a little while and we will be seeing Dawn for a while today.  Ann has been fighting a cold and is taking a "partial down day" whatever that is.  I waiting for enterprise car rental to come and get me so that we can have a car to run around town in while we are here.

I must say that the roads are definitely more challenging in the north with a bump here or pothole there!

We are staying at the Cottonwood KOA on Aurilius road near Jolly.  Nice place  but you cannot walk to anything.

I guess that is about all to report at this time.  See ya later.

Kentucky, at last

Well, here we are in Mt Vernon, Kentucky at a KOA campground. Big storm last night but today has not been bad and the weather is much, much better (and cooler)  Somewhere between Georgia and here, we lost a hub cap so we will add that to our "to do" or "fix it" list.  Quiet uneventful day today.  Meeting Mark and Diane Stypinski near here tomorrow before heading out to Lansing. Thats all for now.

A good day!!

Today was a good day.  We are beginning to settle down into a routine and driving the rig is enjoyable most of the time.  We are staying at a very nice "big rig" friendly RV park called Harvest Moon in Adairsville, GA.  We can recommend this to anyone traveling through the area.  Beautiful and very, very clean.  The laundry was even complementary (no quarters needed).

Today we traveled about 260 miles and got off the road fairly early.  We seem to like getting up early and then getting into a location early in the afternoon.

Ann got out the Segway today and went all over the campground in it.  It is a big hit wherever she takes it.  What fun.

Tommorow, we should be near Mt Vernon, Kentucy where we will hook up with Mark and Diane Stypinski, friends of ours from Michigan who live in the area.

Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.

Hot Everywhere

Well, things have been going as planned for us. We picked up the coach (no surprises) and spent a good part of the day getting a quick run through and then Ann had her time at the wheel.  She is a pro now and just needs more time at the wheel to become comfortable.  We (I) did manage to get my first boo-boo on the first day, so I learned a lot as well.

On the 22nd, we headed to Orlando and spent the night at Fort Wilderness, adjacent to Disney World.  A few people, including Disney told us that we could catch a shuttle over to Universal Studios, home of the Harry Potter attraction.  Well, we learned that no shuttle existed and abandoned our plans for a second night at Fort Wilderness.  Instead, we picked up the next morning and drove to Universal Studios where we parked for the day.  The Harry Potter part of the theme park was outstanding.  We did wind up on some Dragon Rollercoaster and I am still looking for my stomach!  We are way to old for that "****" and both vowed to never do something that stupid again.  It was super hot this day as well and it was very difficult to enjoy the day in the smothering heat.

After getting our fill of Harry Potter, we drove north to the town of Mt Dora for a surpise birthday present for Ann.  She is now the proud owner of a brand new Segway XT and I guess I just have to use the old one at home.  She was surprised and very appreciative.  From there, we headed north to Tifton, Georgia, where I am not sitting and catching up as they have WIFI here.

So, thats  my story today and I'm sticking to it.

Hot in Orlando

Well, so far so good.

Yesterday, our good friend Dean Mosier took us to Winslow (Bainbridge Island), where we caught the Ferry to Seattle.  From there, a short walk to the light rail that took us to the Airport.  We stayed near the airport and caught a 6am flight to Orlando this morning.  We got in right on time and the RV dealership had someone pick us up at the airport.  We are staying at a hotel within walking distance.  They even stopped by the dealership first to let Ann have her first look at the Motorhome.
Fortunately, she liked what she saw. 

Yea! All in all, a good, but long day.

Tommorrow, we will get briefed on all the systems aboard and Ann will get a brief driving lesson.  After that, off to the store to outfit the rig and buy supplies.  Should be a very busy day for us.  We will be on our own.  Watch out Orlando traffic.

Is is hot, hot, hot in Orlando and we appreciate our Washington weather very much.  We don't know how people put up with this kind of heat.

Anyway,

A New Adventure Awaits

Well, Ann and I decided that we were not getting any younger and that if we were going to see some of the things we wanted to see, we better get with the program.  A couple of months ago, I started to research motorhomes on the internet and talked with those people I know who had one.  Then, it happened; I found a listing on E-bay for one that was acceptable (as represented in the ad).  I placed a bid on it and a few days later, found that I had the highest bid.  Actually, I was the only bidder!  One big problem presented itself immediately.  The coach is in Cocoa, FL and we live in Port Ludlow, WA.  So you don't think I'm crazy, I did a lot of "due dillegence" on this "deal" before I gave them any money.  Then, after being satisfied that this was for real, I flew to Orlando to check it out and close on the deal.  The coach is a 2005 Country Coach with a little over 40,000 miles on it.  It is 40 feet long and comes with brakes (unlike our 42 foot Trawler).  It is in excellent shape and we are flying down again on Sept 20th to pick it up and drive it home via Michigan (grandson birthday) and Colorado (grandson birthday). 

So, out of the gate, with little to no experience, we will be driving some 4,000 miles home.  We will "tell it all" in this journal as we make our back to Port Ludlow.  Stay tuned.......