Away we are.

The Paiute ATV Trail

2010-08-18T09:29:00.005-04:00

Every since we started ATVing and found out about the Paiute Trail in the mountains of south central Utah we have wanted to come here. So when we started making our "bucket list" we knew we were headed this way!

The Paiute ATV trail is a 236 mile loop over three mountain ranges and through rugged canyons and deserts that have been designed for recreational ATV riding. From the main Paiute Trail there are numerous side trips leading to spectacular scenery and all kinds of opportunities which make up over 800 miles of open roads and trails open to ATVs.

We made reservations for a week at Lizzie and Charlie's RV/ATV park in Marysvale, UT and that was the beginning of a "beautiful relationship"!! From our site we can see mountains on 2 sides of us and the Trail is right here! So cool! ATVs are allowed on the streets and they are everywhere. There are about 90 sites here in the park and at each site you will see at least one ATV and usually two or three. And everyone is so friendly. Marysvale was hosting a UTV rally and the park filled up quickly with campers and all kinds of ATVs and UTVs.

As soon as we pulled in and got parked our neighbors beside us and behind us came over to say hello and to welcome us to the park. Bob and Loretta, beside us, have been coming here for 6 summers and know all the trails and offered to take us out on some. Their friends, and our "behind" neighbors, Karen and Jim are here for about a month. Jim and Karen travel in a 37 foot motorhome with their family of 5 dogs and live in their motorhome fulltime. I can't believe we were so fortunate to have parked by these fun and friendly folks!

The first day here we explored just a little on a close portion of the Trail and the next day we joined up with Bob, Loretta, Karen and Jim and took off on our quads for lunch in the small ATV friendly town of Koosharem. By the end of the day we had traveled over 90 miles up and down and through the most beautiful mountains, large stands of aspen, and spruce forests with spectacular views from mountain tops.Wow. It was a fun day but our tushes were pretty tired at the end of it!

By the end of the first week we had ridden almost every day and we just couldn't get enough! The park sits at 5800 feet elevation and we have been up as high as 11,500.This place was everything we had hoped for. We decided we needed more time to see and do so we paid for 3 more weeks here at Lizzie and Charlie's and will ride ride ride!

We like the weather here too. It gets into the mid to high 80's through the day(sometimes 90)and down to 50 or so at night and day time humidity has been as low as 14%! Just right to leave the windows open for sleep. If we do run our A/C it is just for a short time in the late afternoon. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the Sevier River runs along part of the Trail and we hope to get to get on it in our kayaks! We will need to do that during the week though because the week-ends the river is busy with white water rafters. There is a lot to do in this area. So if you are ever near Marysvale,Utah be sure and stay at Lizzie and Charlie's RV/ATV park. You can read all about it on their web site www.lizzieandcharlies.com/

I will post more later in the week and hopefully some pictures. Until then you will find us on the trails!

Month 2 of Summer travel

2010-08-12T14:51:00.007-04:00

We started our second month in the upper peninsula of Michigan. We had enjoyed the lower part of the state so much we didn't think it could get any better. But it was great.

We explored the Lake Superior area for a few days and found it to be beautiful, peaceful and remote a lot of the time. We camped in a Michigan state forest campground along the great lake. We were able to hear the waves at night and ride the quads through the day. We had no cell service, no TV and no internet....again! But it was so much fun to take the ATV trails to some of the light houses and to pick wild blueberries that were growing along the trails and county roads.

We got suggestions from people we met as to what we should see while we were in the U.P. and did actually take in a lot of the places mentioned. One of these places was Tahquamenon Falls. They are touted to be one of the largest falls east of the Mississippi.The Upper Falls has a drop of nearly 50 feet, is over 200 feet across, and can propel a maximum flow of more than 50,000 gallons of water a second over the edge. There is also a Lower Falls located 4 miles downstream that is smaller but just as spectacular. We spent several hours there and were glad we got to see it.

We also drove(the truck this time) to Pictured Rocks National Seashore and it went on for miles! It was well worth the time we spent. We had great weather for our time in the U.P. We were able to leave the bus windows open at night and the days were just right for exploring.

We knew we only had so much time so after our day at Pictured Rocks we moved south a few miles to a National Forest campground on Lake Colwell and rode the quads on the trails in that area. Here the trails were also snowmobile trails and weren't as much fun as the actual ATV trails we had enjoyed up near Lake Superior and down in lower Michigan. But the area was just as beautiful and we are glad we got to see it.

We left Michigan and stopped in Crivitz, Wisconsin to see our friends from Texas, Ed and Karen Dimmick. Karen had told us when we all left Texas that if we got close to Wisconsin to stop in and so we did. They took the day and showed us around where they live. And let me tell you the U.P. has nothing on this part of Northern Wisconsin. Absolutely beautiful. They have the tall pines, blue water, waterfalls and much more. And while we were riding around they took us to see other Texas friends,Roger and Gloria, Rosie and Jim, and John and Carol(only John wasn't home)It was fun to see where everyone lived. What a great day with good friends.

Wow! What a month!

2010-07-27T20:44:00.006-04:00

Well, we loaded up our toys and left southern Indiana headed north on the 20th of June and are having a great time seeing new places, making new friends, and kayaking and riding our ATVs.

After a stop in northern Indiana to order a new couch for the bus we drove north to a wonderful National Forest campground near Hesperia, MI. Pines Point campground is a very popular spot for a lot of the locals to bring their families and cool off in the White River. They float on innertubes, kayak, paddle canoes and swim.

Our first day in Pines Point we met Mike Wambaugh and his great family and the next day we all loaded up in his truck and ours and hauled 9 kayaks and one innertube up river a few miles and floated back down to our campground. What a neat float! The river was fast enough with just enough ripples to keep it interesting!It was a great day spending time with new friends.The Wambaughs are a friendly and fun loving family and welcomed us into their group. We sure hope our paths will cross again.

The Wambaughs had to leave after a few days and new people were arriving daily. Most of them had tubes and kayaks and were there for a long 4th of July week-end. Jay and Sue were one such couple and they settled in the camp site next to ours. Right away Sue came over to introduce themselves and before you knew it we were making plans to paddle the White River with them! Only this time we went even further up river and had a great 4 hour trip on the water. Sue has been coming to this campground for years and years and knows the river pretty well and was a great guide. The next day we even went on a portion of the river she hadn't been on before but knew people who had. They told her it would take us 2 hours to get to the take out where her friend's truck was parked that would take us all and all of our kayaks back to camp. That didn't turn out to be the case but we had fun anyway! The good news is that we made it to the truck but... it took 6 hours to do it! It was an adventure that included having to portage our kayaks around log jams and shallow water. Our arms were sure tired though!

We spent 12 days at Pines Point and enjoyed every minute of it. We had no TV, no cell service and no internet and it was very relaxing. Terry cooked breakfast every day outside and we had campfires at night. What a great way to start our summer trip.

The next leg of our trip found us near my family in Cadillac, MI. We stayed in a campground near some ATV trails near Luther, MI in Lake County. We rode the trails and explored the area on our ATVs. All the county roads were open to the ATVers and we really hadn't been anywhere that friendly to the ATVers. If we wanted to go to town for icecream we just jumped on the quads and rode to town! But the best thing about the area was that we got to see my family a lot.

Before we left lower Michigan we stopped in Frederic, MI near Grayling at the Happi Days Diner and campground.This was about an hour north of Cadillac and near some awesome ATV trails. The owner,Todd was very friendly and helpful telling us everything we needed to see and do in the area. We stayed at Happi Days 7 days and played every day! We rode the trails and kayaked the rivers that Todd suggested. Since we didn't know anyone else that were going to kayak these rivers we found outfitters to take us up river with our kayaks and then we floated down to our truck.

Our favorite river was the Sturgeon, touted to be the fastest river in lower Michigan and that it was! It was a blast! It was hard work to get around the bends (and it was VERY winding!) without getting swept into the bank or a log jam and to keep from getting dumped. The outfitter told us it has an 85% dump rate and we were proud to announce that we made it without dumping even though we came close!

We wrapped up our time in lower MI with a visit from my stepbrother Larry and my sister-in-law Lynda, my stepsister Donna and her hubby Bruce and my stepmother Dorothy. We all went out to eat and say our good byes. We were so glad they came up to see us off!

We left the next day for more adventures in the U.P. of Michigan.

2010-05-21T10:59:00.000-04:00

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2010-05-21T10:39:00.000-04:00

Texas to south Florida to Indiana

2010-05-21T09:32:00.001-04:00

Here we are at home and have been for 2 1/2 weeks. We had good weather for traveling and arrived at our son's home in Lehigh Acres, Florida 3 days after we left Aransas Pass, TX. And that was after a stop in Livingston.
It was so great to see our son and daughter-in-law and grandaughter. It had been a while! We had so much fun! Troy was able to take the whole week off and we ran every day,BBQ'd every evening and played cards and games every night!
One beautiful sunny day we all went kayaking on the Estero River. Now that is quite a feat for me because we have spent entire winters in Florida with our kayaks and I refused to get into those waters. I just knew I would become some big ole aligator's lunch! But when our son mentioned going I was all for it. There were even warning signs to not swim in the river because of the aligators but we didn't see any and had a great day. The Estero is a beautiful river, I am hoping you can see the reflective waters in the pictures. It runs along side of the Koreshan State park where we pulled the boats out of the water and ate our picnic lunches. We got a little sunburned but had lots of fun. We returned to Troy's house where we were parked and Troy grilled some scrumptious steaks. He said with us there and grilling every night it was like they were camping too.
On our 7th day there we pulled out with lots of tears all around. We drove to Bushnell, Fl where we were meeting some "bus nuts" friends for a cook-out at the SKP RV park. Our friends Tom and Fran were stopping there on their way to Ohio in their Eagle bus and Florida Cliff and his wife Julie came over from their home near Bushnell and we had a good evening catching up and talking about buses and everything else!
Here at home we have been really busy cleaning up from the winter, mowing and mowing and mowing! It looked like a hay field in our yard! We also had a surprise waiting for us...a roof leak. So Terry tore out and replaced the drywall and we got it and the walls all painted and now are just about ready to lay new carpet.It is nice to be here though and be able to see our daughter and all the Indiana grandkids. We really miss them while we are gone.
We have also been preparing to do some ATVing this summer. We ordered a new rack for the ATVs and Terry got it assembled and it looks like when we leave again we can take both the quads and the 2 kayaks! Ya gotta take your toys!
I hope to blog more in a couple of weeks(we'll see if THAT happens!LOL!)But for now had better get busy.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T09:21:00.007-04:00

Wow. It's Easter already. We are still in Texas and soaking up the sunshine...finally! Our park is emptying out as our friends all head back to their summer destinations. Clark and Janet are back in Ohio, Bob and Linda in Indiana, Karen and Ed in Wisconsin, Kathy and Bob in Kansas and a whole bunch more...gone.
We have enjoyed the winter down here with them and everyone else. As soon as the weather got better the natives and Winter Texans took to the beaches, bays and the Gulf in droves.Due to the weather there hadn't been a lot of fishing so everyone was READY! When the waters warmed up and the fish we like to catch, Sheepshead, moved in we all got to fish! Woo Hoo!
I think we have finally got the boat to where we want it to fish. We have been out a few times but there are certain days that we don't like to go. Weekends, for example, are really busy on the water so we usually find something else to do.If the water is really choppy and the wind is gusting at 20 to 25 MPH we usually don't take the boat out either because we can really get tossed around. So... I guess you can say we are "fairweather fishermen"! We went out with our friends, Jerry and Mara the other day. They in their boat and us in ours and it looked like it was going to be a good day on the water. However, it was rough and none of us caught any fish. We couldn't even get tied up to anything but we enjoyed the day anyway. Jerry and Mara have been fishing these waters for many years and showed us good places to fish when the waters are calmer. And the live shrimp we bought for bait became our supper that night! Where else can you eat your bait when you come home with no fish!!
Speaking of shrimp. When Bob and Linda were here they had so much fun going around to the many shrimp boats in the area and stocking up on shrimp to take back home they almost ran out of freezer room! Oh they ate a lot here too. They would grill them outside and have all our mouths watering! And if one doesn't want to go to the shrimp boat there is a Shrimper who lives in our park and when he and his wife come in from the Gulf with their catch they just deliver however many pounds you want.That is so cool to have home delivery! They have been catching the really big ones lately, 9 to a pound. The last ones he brought us we froze. We are looking forward to grilling those. The ones we boiled(our bait)were smaller and nice and sweet.
We are probably going to be here for another 2 weeks before we head out. Our plans are in jello right now as to where we will go first but hope to be in Indiana at least by May 1st.

Still In Texas

2010-01-15T13:37:00.006-05:00

Well! Here it is the 15th of January! Good Grief! Where did the time go!?

As most of you know we are having a much wetter and cooler winter here in the Coastal Bend of Texas but we are just learning to roll with the punches. We have not been fishing or kayaking yet but we stay pretty busy. There is a lot to see and do in this area even when it is not 70 degrees and bright sun.

Our friends Clark and Janet are still with us and Bob and Linda Pease got here shortly after Christmas so we are having a good time with all of them. We have to check out all of the eating places around so that takes a lot of time! Last week we ate out 5 days out of seven!

Right after Clark and Janet arrived we all went down to South Padre Island to The National Seashore and even though it was a windy and overcast day we had a lot of fun. We are looking forward to returning there soon since it is warming up. The beach there is so clean and very serene.It is the longest undeveloped stretch of barrier island in the world. There are 70 miles of sand-and-shell beaches on the National Seashore and I can't wait to do more beachcombing. I have included some pictures but will post more after we return there.

Closer to us is the Aransas Wildlife Refuge just north of Rockport where we enjoyed a day of exploring and seeing the wildlife. We even walked among the alligators! I am not kidding either! They were sunning themselves on the banks of pools of water we were walking alongside. It was actually kind of cool! And of course there were many seabirds which I love to watch. The picture above is Clark hamming it up for the camera!

Some days we just stay around our park. We do a lot of walking and visiting with the neighbors when the weather is good. I am teaching linedancing in our activity hall twice a week. I thought I was just going to be ATTENDING these classes but that all changed when our teacher and her husband sold their property here in the park and I got elected! I didn't have to do it but I like to dance so I will relearn and learn some dances and lead the folks that want to dance. Besides, it is good exercise. And we have a lot of fun.

Today is windy but the sun keeps coming out at times so I think I will get ole Terry and we will take off for a walk. Since we feel that it is our mission to check out all these eating places we must exercise!

Hopefully I will post next week.

Channel Watching And Coffee On The Beach

2009-12-03T11:13:00.007-05:00

It has been a while since I have blogged so I will try to catch everybody up on our activities.

We are in Aransas Pass, Texas in the Coastal Bend of Texas and enjoying all the area has to offer.

After we arrived we stayed really busy cleaning up our sites here in the RV park. There is a pesty thorn that grows in the grass called "Goatheads" or "Puncture thorns" and they are awful. They are as hard as a rose thorn and will go through the bottom of a shoe quite easily. The best way to get rid of them is either concrete over them(as many of the people here have done) or keep a healthy stand of good grass. The grass thing is difficult to do unless you are here year round and can keep it watered and the weeds out. So, we have poured a lot of concrete and will have to pour more later as budgets allow!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with old friends over on the island in Port Aransas. In her RV, our friend, Ann Eddy, baked a big ham, pineapple casserole, corn, brussel sprouts, candied yams, cranberry salad, rum cake and pecan pie! What a feast! And we had a great visit with her and Ken and her nephew and his wife.

We still enjoy going over to the island on the ferry and sitting on the beach on the Gulf of Mexico and reading, napping, channel watching, and walking, too. A couple of mornings before we started our work for the day, we took our morning coffee and enjoyed watching the waves while we drank our coffee. It is a great way to start the day! We had nice weather for that sort of thing when we first got here. And we don't have to go to the island. Just 5 minutes from us is the Conn Brown Harbour and we go there to watch the boats go out and to watch all the sea birds.

Our friends, Janet and Clark have come for a visit and we are looking forward to showing them around but the weather is not too cooperative. A front moved in and brought lots of rain and cooler temps but today is nice and sunny so we will take advantage of it! We did take them to a big Winter Texan Welcome at Fulton, just up the road north of us. It was an all you can eat fish fry with baked beans, bread,fish,(of course)slaw and cake. All free! And there were many many Winter Texas there in spite of a rain that had gone on all day! We had a lot of fun. They gave away door prized and had a band to entertain everyone. I have never seen so much fish! The mayor was even there to welcome all of us.

Better go and enjoy the sunny day. More rain is expected tomorrow so we better enjoy the sun! Oh! I should add that we are very thankful that all we have is rain! Several times when Clark and Janet have joined up with us in the winter, it has snowed! Even in Tucson,Arizona! So, we are just glad all they brought is rain this time!

The Buffalo Camping and Canoe Outfitter

2009-10-10T15:26:00.004-04:00

The Buffalo National River

2009-10-09T15:22:00.011-04:00

We are out and traveling again! It felt really wierd to leave Indiana without our 4 wheelers! Usually we are headed to the desert trails of California or Arizona but this year we will probably not make it to the desert. So, instead of the ATVs, we loaded up our kayaks and took off!

Our first stop was in Branson, Missouri where we stayed at the Escapees park in Hollister and took in the sites of Branson and surrounding areas. While there we met a new friend, Pam Bristol, who had her kayak with her and invited us to paddle down part of the Buffalo National River with her and her dog, Mischief. Afew years ago we had paddled the upper river portion of the Buffalo where the white water is but never the middle portion.

The Buffalo National River is nestled in the, Arkansas Orzarks, which are bounded north, east, and south by the Missouri, Mississippi, and Arkansas rivers , respectively. The water is crystal clear and has high river limestone and sandstone bluffs.

We had a beautiful sunny day for floating and enjoying the scenery. It took us a little less than 4 hours to float 10 miles from Baker Ford where we put in and Gilbert, where we took out. The river is lined with authorized concessioners who offer shuttle service, rental canoes and kayaks, guided trips, and lots of information.

We started at Gilbert, Arkansas at Buffalo Camping and Canoes, an outfitter on the middle river. As it turned out we didn't need his shuttle service since both Pam and we drove our trucks. If we had only brought one truck, the outfitter would have shuttled us to the put-in and drove our truch back to the take-out for a fee, of course. The outfitter was more than happy to give us all the information we needed though even if we didn't need his shuttle service. We parked Pam's truck at Gilbert, along the river(the take-out) and threw all three kayaks in our truck and drove to Baker Ford (the put-in) where we unloaded the kayaks and our picnic lunches,and parked the truck. This portion of the river is a smooth ride with occassional gentle ripples and plenty of gorgeous scenery. I didn't get a lot of pictures of the bluffs since I had buried the camera in the cooler but I got a few before we started. We are so glad Pam wanted to go there or we might not have discovered the middle river.

We stayed in Branson for a few more days and then, after watching the weather forecast, left on a sunny day headed to Coffeyville, Kansas where our workamping jobs await us.

North to Michigan

2009-07-06T12:46:00.001-04:00

Here we go again! Yay!

It all started when our friends Teresa and LeeRoy bought a 'new to them' motorhome and wanted to take a road trip. They had been campers years ago but never in a motorhome. They had camped in tents, motorcycle campers, tag a longs and fifth wheels but never a motorhome and they wanted company to travel with and show them travel tricks they hadn't learned with their previous modes of camping. We knew they would be fine but we jumped at the chance to take off.

We took off the Wednesday before July 4th headed to Eastern Michigan, a place we had not been to before. Since it was holiday time campgrounds along Lake Huron were full so we stopped in Northern Indiana for a few days to visit the Surplus and Salvage stores and enjoy the Elkart/Goshen area and all the Amish influence and great food.

We started in Elkhart at the Elkhart Campground for one night and it was good we did. As it often happens in this lifestyle, you run into old friends when you stop somewhere where RVers are. Terry and Nick Russell were staying at the campground and we had a nice visit before we moved on.

We moved to Goshen the next day to the Elkhart County Fairgrounds and based ourselves there while we took in the whole area. This is a huge,beautiful and well cared for fairgrounds and they had plenty of empty spaces and lots of area for long walks. We stayed there until Sunday, July 5th when we left for the Lake Huron area. We had lots of good food and good times while in northern Indiana and even took in a large car show in Middlebury and enjoyed the Bluegrass music being played there.

We stopped in Au Gres, Michigan, a quaint little town close to Lake Huron. We stayed in a city park for a couple of days while we explored. Terry and I usually try to taste the local foods when we go to an area new to us and so near Au Gres we stopped at a little seafood restaurant on Lake Huron where they served Smelt among other foods. Terry and LeeRoy chickened out but Teresa and I ordered the smelt. Well....hmm...let's just say maybe it is better when it is caught fresh! We ate it but it may be a long time before we order it again! But we tried it!

We visited the lighthouses in the area and found them pretty darn interesting. We enjoyed learning about them and the people who manned them. We will move on up the lakeshore tomorrow and see what sights await us.

2009-06-01T13:11:00.001-04:00

Busy Spring

2009-06-01T12:33:00.007-04:00

Wow! June 1! Where has the time gone!

Things are drying up around here, thank goodness. Our garden is out and the plants are growing very well as are the weeds! We are keeping them at bay though so it's not too bad.

With working in the garden and flowers we are also keeping busy getting ready for our county's Relay For Life. Our team, Team Chemosabies, is in charge of the concession stand again this year and that requires a lot of work, but we are up to the task! I have been out gathering donations and Terry has been cutting wood! Our daughter, DeAnne is over the concession stand and has already purchased 95 pounds of pork butt which we are smoking for pulled pork sandwiches. They went over really well last year so we are doing them again! There will be other food as well but the pulled pork is the main attraction.

Terry got up today at at 5:30 to start the smoking process and it sure smells good in this neck of the woods! He has our smoker and our daughter's going. We utilized both the house kitchen and the bus kitchen to prepare all that meat to smoke and it's a good thing we have two kitchens! This will be an all day process and then we have to do it again in a couple of days to get the rest of the 95 pounds done. The pictures show how much we are smoking today.

We have been going to a lot of Bluegrass jams and have one to go to this week-end where we will take the bus and camp there for 3 days as long as it continues to dry up so we don't sink! We had one over Memorial Day but it was too wet to take the bus so we just went on day trips. It was close to us as is the one coming up this week-end. The one this week-end is a Festival but there will be a lot of jamming too. I played along at the last one and really enjoyed the fun. I can't wait for the next one!

I had better check on Terry and take him out some lunch. Gotta keep him workin' on keeping those smokers up to temp!

Mushrooms, Bluegrass, track meets, and Krazy Joe's

2009-05-04T14:29:00.007-04:00

Well we are home in Indiana and I am finally getting a minute to blog!
It feels really good to be home around family and friends. We are enjoying the grandkids and their activites. Our grandaughter Grace runs track and we have enjoyed watching her run and jump in the long jump event. It is hard to believe these kids are as old as they are! Two of our grandsons are now driving and have cars and that REALLY makes us feel old!
We got home to southern Indiana just in time for mushroom season and didn't even have to comb the woods to find them. As we were cleaning up the yard from winter storms we found them growing in the side yard and had a mess of them for the next day's breakfast! Nothing says welcome home like a 'fungus sandwich'!!
Where we live in Indiana is in an area of rolling hills,farmland, small towns, and the Hoosier National Forest. And it is very appealing at this time of year with everything turning green and in bloom.
Since we've been home,we have been going to some music jams near us and the most recent one was at the edge of the Hoosier National Forest at a little store/restaurant called Krazy Joe's Trading Post. This place has quite the personality.The restaurant part is in a corner of the store and has about 5 or 6 tables with cozy plastic tablecloths and I think it used to be an antique store because there are still antiques scattered throughout the place. It is located on the south side of Lake Monroe and just spitting distance of Hardin Ridge, a National Forest campground. The store is rustic and inviting and has supplies for campers and boaters and the restaurant serves hot meals and also hosts music jams every week. Very much country. Just our style. The owner, Krazy Joe met me at the door and when I asked if they served food he said "yep, it ain't good and the service is lousy but the beer is cold'! Well, the food was good as was the service but I don't know about the beer, whether it was cold or not since we didn't have any. It was a neat place and we enjoyed the drive through the forest.
Hopefully the ground will dry up some around here and we can get the garden out. Terry is getting antsy. He did put a few broccoli plants out since they need to be out early but the rest will need to wait on dryer soil. So I guess we will wait. Terry is not too good at waiting so maybe we will just have to scout around and find more music jams to keep him busy.

I have included some pictures of our wet but green yard and woods!

From Desert To Seashore

2009-03-13T10:36:00.009-04:00

Well! I am finally updating this blog. We have been so dang busy there is just not enough time to do everything!

We left Quartzsite about 10 days ago and came to Aransas Pass, Texas which is in an area we learned to love a few years ago. Aransas Pass is on the mainland along Redfish Bay and just a short ferry ride to Port Aransas on Mustang Island.

When we wintered here previously we stayed on the island and would take the ferry over here for Wal-Mart visits, different restaurants, fresh seafood, a bigger full service grocery store, and different kayaking trails. Now we don't have to do that because we are here! We take the ferry over there to see old friends and go to the beach.

It has been 7 years since we have wintered here and there have been so many changes. The Conn Brown Harbor is just 5 minutes away from where we are parked and is in the throes of a big revamping phase. It is the homeport for dozens of shrimp trawlers who fish the Gulf of Mexico and have earned Aransas Pass the title "The Shrimp Capital of the World". It is fun to go there and watch the boats come in and out. A few days ago we took a picnic lunch and sat and watched the boats, the sea birds, and the fishermen. The weather was beautiful for that sort of thing because it was in the low 80's the first 8-9 days we were here.

Yesterday we started getting some much needed rain and since we couldn't do much outside activity we headed to Corpus Christi just 20 miles away. We enjoyed the day just checking out all the changes there and we also ate at one of our favorite restaurants The Bayou Grill and had some delicious jambalaya. We made time to go see our friend Shannon Taylor who we hadn't seen for years and had a great visit. So it was a great day even if it was rainy off and on.

Since we started traveling during the winters 12 years ago we have been looking at each area we stayed in to see if we would want to return there often. We knew we liked the desert and all the ATV trails it provided and we knew we liked this area with the Gulf and all the water opportunities. And now we think we are ready to leave the ATVs at home next year and come back here again and bring our kayaks! When we had our kayaks here 7 years ago hardly anyone was kayaking and now there are tons of kayaks out here! And lots more kayak trails we haven't been on and are anxious to try. So maybe we have found a "home" for a while!

I have posted some pictures I took from the ferry and from the fishing jetties in Port Aransas and will take many more. Our weather is supposed to get back to being sunny and in the high 70's by Monday so in the meantime we will be thankful for the rain that the area needs so badly.

Don't forget to click on the photo to get a better view and then click on the back button to go back to the post.

A wonderful week

2009-02-28T09:48:00.008-05:00

We have had such a nice week! The temperatures have been in mid to high 70's every day and the sun bright. Just what we drove all this way for!!

We started the week off with a trip to Bakersfield, California, almost 400 miles from here , to get the bus tuned up. It may seem like a long way to go to get that done but Terry wanted to go to a Detroit diesel man that he trusted. It was a great drive to Bakersfield too. We started off from Quartzsite at 820 feet elevation and had to go thru the mountains with one of the passes being 3800 ft elevation. That was the Tehachapi pass and once we topped that mountain it seemed like we were in another world! Everything was green. Lush. It was gorgeous. Going down the other side of the mountain was like being in the Swiss Alps or somewhere.(I have never been in Switzerland butI am sure it looked like this!) Beauty everywhere. It had been a long time since we had seen so much green!

We stayed in Bakersfield for a couple of days and headed back on Wednesday. The bus ran great and we had made some wonderful new friends. We loved being around buses and other busnuts!

Back in Quartzsite we took advantage of the great weather to do some quad riding and geocaching in our mountains. We also stayed busy meeting up and eating out with friends and going to music jams. I will include a photo of one of our geocaches hidden deep in the mountains.

Yesterday Quartzsite had their 4th annual Bluegrass Festival and it was great entertainment. It is a three day event but we probably will only go the one day since we are preparing to leave.We took our lawn chairs and sat out in this wonderful sun from 9:30 to 5:45 listening to a lot a great groups from Arkansas to San Diago. At the end of the day we were sunburned, a little tired, but had an awesome day. We ended our day with our friends, Rose and Phil, that we may not see for another year or so. We are both pulling up and leaving Quartzsite in the next couple of days.

Today we will load up our quads, see some other friends and get ready to pull out tomorrow. It is always a happy/sad time. We are excited to get back on the road and see what other adventures await us but we are a little sad to leave Quartzsite and our friends Barb and Bill.

Hitch itch setting in.

2009-02-17T16:42:00.004-05:00

We are still in Quartzsite but we are getting the "hitch itch" so we don't really know how much longer we will be here!

We have had nice sunny days but sometimes the temperatures have not been conducive to ATV riding. But we really really enjoy the sunshine. We keep busy riding in the desert and mountains when we can, going to music jams, playing our own musical instruments here in the bus, and walking.(that is....Connie walking, not Terry!!)

I think I am finally getting my dental work completed in Mexico. We have been there a lot this season. Yesterday I got some fillings. Algodones was VERY busy with it being a holiday so there were lots of people. We got ready to get in line to go through Customs around 3:30 and the line was backed up to where we knew it would be at least a 3 hour wait so we went to Plan B. We decided to just eat supper while we waited for the line to get shorter. My feeling in my face and mouth was starting to come back and I was getting hungry so why not. We had a good meal and got into line about 5:30. The line was still long but shorter than it was. We ended up waiting an hour and 45 minutes. And we didn't have any purchases! The wait went pretty fast though since we were visiting and joking with the other people in line. We usually meet some very interesting folks in line!

The desert and mountains are getting green...well, green for here and it really is very pretty. Some purple and yellow flowers are starting to show up along with the green follage. I did snap some pictures on one of our rides last week but I don't know how well the colors will show up. The cacti will start to bloom soon but we may not be here to see it.

Better go. I need to practice my guitar. I won't get any better if I don't! Don't forget to click on the photo to enlarge it and then just click on the back button to return to the post.

Lazy Days and Friends

2009-01-30T20:30:00.002-05:00

What a nice relaxing day we had today with our friends Clark and Janet. We took off about 11:00 in their 4-wheel drive Blazer and headed for the mountains.

We drove south of Quartzsite a few miles before heading west toward the mountains near the little town of LaPaz Valley. I think it is actually just a little community, not a town, built in the desert. After driving through the desert for 3-4 miles we got to the bumpy, narrow and dusty mountain roads and it got a little exciting for Janet. I have been out this way many times on the quads so I knew what to expect and I was just enjoying the views and the steep hills were just 'old hat' for me. We had a lot of fun laughing at Janet even though Terry kept telling her we were laughing WITH her, not AT her! The trail across and through the mountains was pretty steep at times requiring 4 wheel drive. Pretty soon, though, even Janet got used to the hills because she was so in awe of the scenery and the views. I know this because she stopped squeeling!!I was so glad they got to see the area that gives us so much enjoyment.And they loved it. We showed them favorite places of ours and it was so nice seeing them enjoy the ride. We even had an unexpected surprise of seeing 4 mountain longhorn goats(or were they sheep?) up close and personal. Of course I didn't have my camera with me so maybe I can import the pictures Clark took providing I can figure out how to do it!

The trail ended a couple of miles east of the Colorado River and California at Interstate 10. So we just went on in to Blythe, California and ate lunch. We often eat at local eateries and not the chain restaurants but there is a really good Sizzler restaurant at Blythe and we were hungry so we stopped there and ate a very good lunch.

After lunch we drove north of Blythe to the intaglios which we had seen before but Janet and Clark hadn't . The intaglios are huge drawings on the desert floor and thought to have been drawn by ancient Indians to tell a story. We saw three of them but there were more that we didn't get to. They are fenced in and protected by the BLM. The intaglios themselves were worth the trip but the views from there were awesome.

We had a really nice day with lots of friendship and lots of laughter. And the 75 degree temperatures were pretty easy to take too!!

Show Time-almost over

2009-01-25T18:34:00.004-05:00

Boy oh boy, this season is going so fast.

Here in Quartzsite, the big RV and Sportsman show is almost over. The town is crazy busy with thousands of RVs here. I walked a couple of miles this morning to the Hi Jolly short term area and it was packed! The other 4 short term areas are pretty full too but they just got busy in the last two weeks. When the RV show ends the Craft show begins shortly but the crowds usually reduce in number. We have had great weather this year with mid to high 70's being the norm. It wasn't like this last year! The cool temps and wind last year made it less enjoyable.

1,500 to 2,000 vendors come to Quartzsite to be a part of these shows. The vendors' goods range from rocks,gems,minerals,fossils, RV related items and everything else imaginable. It is touted as one of the world's largest open air flea markets. And we haven't seen even half of it. Some of it we don't go to if it doesn't interest us (like rocks) but we haven't even seen all the things that DO interest us!

We have been busy visiting friends that we haven't seen for a long time and catching up on all of their lives and running back and forth to Mexico to get all of my dental work done. So, that doesn't leave a lot of time to shop. But , that is ok. We love catching up.

We wandered over to a bus group last week-end where they had 97 buses for their rally and just walked around admiring all the buses. There were a large number of Eagles and Flexibles and some Prevosts and MCIs thrown in. They were having a great time. We got a few pictures of the conversions.

I will blog more soon.

2009-01-14T12:39:00.000-05:00

Hi Jolly

2009-01-14T11:36:00.002-05:00

Quartzsite had their annual Hi Jolly Parade, their 21st, actually and it was a big success. The parade actually kicks off the tourist season here. There were 24 assorted entries and locals and winter visitors alike had a good time. Ah, life in a small town.

Hi Jolly, a camel driver whose real name was Hadji Ali was part of a failed military experiment here in the desert in 1857. President Lincoln knew horses weren't holding up very well in the arid southwest and authorized the purchase of camels from Arabia. They were to transport military and large quantities of freight to the frontier. Long story short- it didn't work! The camels and mules were not compatible and the Civil War halted the experiment when all military and human resources headed back east to fight the war.So anyway, Hi Jolly stayed in Quartzsite until he died in 1902.A local celebrity, of sorts! There is a monument in his honor here in town.

Right after the parade we broke camp and headed to Yuma to be with friends who had had an accident with their RV on their way to Yuma. A driver driving behind our friends Janet and Clark apparently fell asleep and rammed into the back of their towed car traveling at a high rate of speed. The impact snapped the tow bar off, their car traveled(as they watched,horified)across both west bound lanes of the interstate, across the median, and across both east bound lanes and into the field through a barbed wire fence. It became airborn a couple of times before it stopped. Luckily and miraculously no one was hurt.The car was totaled. So now here they are a long way from Ohio with no car. Their nerves were shot, to say the least. We went down to lend moral support and any help we could provide in helping them get all the arrangements for another tow car, and any other needs they had. We stayed in the Escapees RV park just down a few sites from them.

We left the Escapees park after a few days but stayed in the area for me to have some dental work done in Mexico. I had an abscess situation going on and needed treatment. I looked a whole lot like a chipmunk! And I felt like a train wreck!

So! That is why I haven't blogged for a while but am feeling much better and back on track. The weather is gorgeous with 70 degree temps and sunshine.

Gotta go. Sunshine awaits!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-02T20:33:00.009-05:00

We want to wish all our friends and family a very happy new year. We are blessed with good health, lots of friends, and a great family and look forward to a good year.

We don't bother too much with New Year's resolutions because we would probably break them anyway. So any bad habits we manage to break will just be a bonus!

We are having great weather and rang in the New Year with a long quad ride. We had constant sunshine, 68 degree temps, and blue blue skies. What more could we ask! We decided to try to find a geocache that was hidden at the top of a mountain. The name of the cache was Pyramid Point and had a difficulty rating of 4 out of 5 and the terrain was rated 4 out 5 but it should have been a 10!! The find involved a ride, preferably a high clearance vehicle, and a hike. A very strenous hike to say the least but we were determined to get to the top of this mountain. Well....... we didn't make it. Terry almost made it but decided it wasn't worth a broken leg-or neck! The cache was actually hidden in 2004 so I am sure the trail had changed considerably. So, bad as we hated to we had to admit defeat. Bummer. But we got to places on that ride that we hadn't seen before and had a fun day. We got home in time to sit out and enjoy the sunset.

Quartzsite is finally getting busier. We went down town today and noticed that the number of vendors had increased a bunch. Probably doubled. And the number of shoppers and visitors increased as well. I am glad of that for the businesses. My beautician told me today that her business was 1/2 of what it was the previous 2 years. That has to hurt.

Tomorrow is the Hi Jolly parade so I will blog on that tomorrow.... or soon anyway.

Barb,Bill, and Buddy

2008-12-30T16:59:00.004-05:00

The weather is very nice now here in the desert even though the temperatures start out at 38-40 degrees. Just as soon as the sun comes up though it warms right up.

Yesterday we left about noon on our quads to see some friends who just got here from Oregon but ended up going on a neat neat ride. Barb and Bill were on their way to town with their motorhome for some inverter service so we headed to the mountains in search of a geocache. Well! The search took us above Quartzsite and up a very exciting trail. We actually parked the quads 1/4 mile from the coordinates of the cache and hiked up another 1500 feet, sometimes straight up, or so it seemed! But the view was worth the trip. We got HOT with all that exercise! We are looking forward to more rides like that one.

Today, we didn't ride because I had to go to my new 'job'. I have been volunteering at the Quartzsite Chamber of Commerce and today was my day to work. I actually like working there and meeting and greeting all the people that come in. I especially like seeing the first timers to Quartzsite. I get excited all over again as I feel their excitement to be here. Many of them are parked in the desert but lots are parked in the many RV parks here. I love sharing not only the local info they are seeking but also my and Terry's experiences here.

So we will ride another day. This entire week is supposed to be nice. And even when it is 60 degrees here in the desert it is much warmer than when it is 60 degrees in Indiana with the higher humidity.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T19:14:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas from Quartzsite,AZ!

And what a nice Christmas it was. The temperature was 65 degrees and the sun was out a lot. We drove 30 miles north to Parker,AZ to the BlueWater resort and Casino for Christmas dinner. It was a very nice meal and the place was packed. We didn't gamble, just ate and then took a nice peaceful drive along the Colorado river. I really love the area and always enjoy going there.

In the morning we got and made phone calls to friends and family located EVERY WHERE. We wish all those we did not get to talk to a Merry Christmas.

A beautiful day in the neighborhood.

2008-12-16T10:05:00.002-05:00

Well, it is not 75 degrees here in Quartzsite but it is not 16 degrees either like it is in Coffeyville, KS. We hope to hit 60 degrees today and that is okay for now. We won't let that stop us from enjoying ourselves. I mean, we're not cold for Pete's sake, we are just not hot!

We will probably jump on the quads and take up where we left off last Spring, searching for one of the many geocaches hid around Quartzsite and surrounding areas. We rode last week with some new friends and neighbors who showed us some interesting places we didn't know about. We found what was left of an old WW II camp and some interesting intaglios. Although it was cloudy and overcast it was still fun just to be out in the desert once again.

Quartzsite isn't too busy yet. There are a few vendors and of course the big tent is not up yet. Businesses tell us that business is down from last year but they hope it will pick up after Christmas. There is still plenty to do though. It just depends on what you like to do. They still play a lot of Desert Golf, there is a music jam everyday at one RV park or another(sometimes two a day), ATV riding, and activities and dances in town. And if you are a rockhound, there's that. So, it is not boring!

Better go. More later.

2008-12-13T11:53:00.000-05:00

Sunshine update

2008-12-13T10:59:00.005-05:00

Since I have blogged we have spent some time near Algodones, Mexico and Yuma. We are now in Quartzsite at Pyramid Lane RV Park where we will stay until April. We are enjoying the wonderful sunshine and the desert view from our front windshield.

Near Yuma we were parked in the BLM 14 day area and saw that the downturn in the economy had affected the number of RVs visiting this area. This parking area is probably 5-6 acres in size and during the 3 days we were there there were never more than 6 rigs parked there. It is usually much busier than that at this time of year.

While we were there we did our Yuma shopping and also went to Algodones, MX. In Mexico we went to our favorite outside resturant and ate fish tacos... yum yum!! We also visited our friend and Terry's General Surgeon, Luis. We have known Luis for 4 years now and always enjoy visiting with him. Instead of Doctor on our first office visit with him he told us to call him Luis. We have met his entire family and they all treat us like family. We were sorry to hear that he and his family are moving to Sonora Mexico in February. I guess we will just have to go there to see him! I wonder how their fish tacos are !?

We're not in Kansas anymore!

2008-12-06T08:30:00.002-05:00

We are back on the road again and it feels great! It took us two days to find warm weather!

We are in New Mexico at Dream Catcher RV, an Escapees park that we always enjoy visiting. While we are still at 4,000 feet elevation it isn't 75 degrees but it is still very nice. We came in yesterday and are leaving today chasing those 75 degree temps!

The first thing I wanted to do when we got here was laundry and what a fun laundry trip it was! Ted and Donna Walin are here on their way to Arizona and and came up to the laundry room to visit with us and we had a great 'social' all our own! Not only Ted and Donna but Andrea and Peter came too after seeing our bus in the park! It was so much fun running into these people again. All of us are going the same direction so we look forward to seeing them again in Quartzsite. We last ran into these two couples in Ohio at the Gypsy Journal rally. Ah, that is what we like about this lifestyle. Seeing old and new friends where ever we stop!

The fuel prices that we are seeing on the interstate just blow our minds! $2.16 for diesel !! Terry says "we can almost afford to drive again"!! I am pretty sure the further west we go the prices will increase but it is still a lot less than when we left Indiana in October.

More later. We are outta here!

Happy late Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T08:32:00.002-05:00

We had a very nice thanksgiving here in Coffeyville, Kansas. We had signed up to work and did work until they shut everything down at lunch time. That was a nice bonus in itself plus we received holiday pay to boot!

Express Professionals, our employer, had a Thanksgiving dinner for all of us Workampers in a nearby Armory. Express furnished the meats, bread, and drinks and everyone else brought side dishes. It was a really nice dinner with lots of good food. There were probably 200 or so people there to eat. After we ate we went home to rest up for the upcoming 11 hour work days.

Amazon is going to trial the Shipping department on 11 hour work days (5:30 AM to 5: PM) for a couple of days and then let us know if it will continue after the 2 days. It all depends on the orders.

Friday we got up at 3:30 AM and did our 11 hour day and it wasn't too awful bad. I never thought I would say that standing for 11 hours would not be too bad but it wasn't. The Workampers have the option to only work 10 hours but we told them we would try the 11 hours and let them know how we felt after a few days.

I worked in Gift Wrap all day Friday. It is fun thinking about all the children and people getting the gifts I wrap and what they think of their gifts. Terry worked on the Toy line all day switching back and forth from scanning to making sure there were no glitches in the operation of the line. He has become the right hand man to the team leader who depends on him to help keep things running smoothly.

The weather is getting colder but we expected that to happen. We spent the day yesterday in Joplin, Missouri just shopping and exploring. It was 37 degrees and spitting SNOW !! It sure felt like Christmas! Last year at this time we were in Fort Myers, Florida and it did NOT feel like Christmas but that wasn't all bad! This isn't that bad either and it is short term so we will just roll with the flow and take what comes.

Coffeyville/Amazon.com Update

2008-11-23T09:38:00.003-05:00

Our campground is not as full as it was. Several people have left for different reasons. Some just can't do the physical work required, some just don't want to, some left for warmer areas (hmm-not a bad idea!), and some had previously planned agendas. We're ok for now even though it did get COLD a couple of nights. We were toasty in the bus though. 18 degrees IS cold!! But now our nights are about 31 degrees and not bad.

Amazon started part of the plant on mandatory overtime a week ago and then came around to our area offering VTO-Volunteer Time Off. Doesn't really make much sense. Plus, we get to work Thanksgiving if we want to for time and a half plus 8 hours pay. I know their orders are down but having said that, then why is mandatory overtime in place!!?? AND we were told Friday that our area will start 11 hour days next week. Good grief!!

We haven't done much this week-end off. Just resting up for the week ahead. Our bodies are getting used to physical aspects of the job that they were unfamiliar to!! We can now get out of bed without groaning loudly! I did get a haircut yesterday and some of you know how I dread getting a haircut "on the road". It is usually a crapshoot but I lucked out. I just started calling numbers in the phone book until I found someone with an opening that day and I got a great haircut plus some local information. The beautician and I even know some of the same people!

I really do like learning new things and seeing how different work places operate. Every morning before we start work Area Managers conduct a meeting. We are told about safety issues, production numbers, and the back-log of orders. After the announcements someone leads us in stretching exercises before we head to our assigned stations. That is different! But interesting. And it helps. Since a lot of the jobs require squating to fill orders the exercise session includes ankle squats. When we first started, I could hardly do these but now it's easy!

So, life is good here in Coffeyville even though it's colder here than in Quartzsite, Arizona. It won't be long though until we head that way.

Still in Kansas

2008-11-16T07:27:00.002-05:00

Coffeyville had a major flood in July 2007 which devastated much of the town especially the east side where our campground is located.The Walter Johnson Park, where we are parked is about 1/8 mile from the Verdigis river so we are hoping it doesn't rain much! The area is struggling to rebuild. I would guess that the number of us Workampers living here for a few months will help the local economy.

We have now completed our first week of 10 hour days, or should I say survived our first week of 10 hour days! I mentioned in an earlier post that this would be an adventure. Well....hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon was an adventure, kayaking down the white water of the Guadalupe River was an adventure, but this is WORK!!! It is just really physical and we are sore and tired by shift's end but we rest up on our days off and are ready to go by the time we return to work. The work is fast paced and the time goes fast as well. Yesterday after lunch we were told there were 3,000 pieces that had to be out by 4:30 and there were only 4-5 of us working on the line! So they moved more people over from another line and we got the order out with time left over.

Much of the plant is now working mandatory overtime which is 5 10 hour days a week but our department of Shipping hasn't started that yet. Workampers have the option of working the overtime and many of them are jumping at the chance. We will have to see how we feel about it when the time comes.

The weather here now is much like it is in our home town in Indiana except we do get the north winds that chill to the bone. But the sun shines and that is a plus. With us in a warehouse 10 hours a day, it doesn't really matter much. We get hot in there, in fact, many folks are still wearing shorts. But we only have 5 more weeks and then we will be in sunny Arizona. Woo Hoo!

The end of 'vacation'

2008-11-02T15:42:00.006-05:00

We got our work assignment from Amazon.com yesterday and start to work tomorrow. We will work what is called the donut shift which is Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday with Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday off. We will be on day shift and start out with 4 hour work days for a week and then will start the 10 hour days. We are ready! We have never done anything quite like this so it is somewhat of an adventure..... with pay! Everyone who has been here and working since September tells us it is not hard work but is physical and for us to expect to be tired for a few days. And sore since we will no doubt be using muscles we haven't used in awhile.

We have been staying pretty busy getting to know Coffeyville and the surrounding area. One day,we drove 27 miles on a road through wheat fields and prairie grass to a Bluegrass festival in the little town of Oswego, Kansas.

That was one exceptionally good festival! There were five bands and we stayed all day for the unbelievable price of $8.00 a ticket! The host band leader told us this was their third annual festival in Oswego and they were growing. She said that Bluegrass was kinda slow taking off in SE Kansas and that most of the music around here is either Country or Southern Gospel. Some of the groups there that day perform in Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. It was a great day where we enjoyed good food, good music, and good people.

A lot of our time is spent walking through our park and visiting with everyone and enjoying the warm sunny days. It is like we have our own little city here. Just in our park alone, (actually a city park and rodeo grounds) there are probably 80 or 90 rigs and we are all workampers here to work for Amazon.com. There are three other parks close by with more of us staying at those places as well.

Behind us,the city is finishing up a new section of this park with 60 new full hook-up sites that will be finished soon so we will have more room for more workampers. That is one reason we are glad we got put on the day shift because our friends and neighbors who work nights and sleep days are having trouble sleeping with all the heavy equipment roaring all day.

So, even though we will be starting to work we will have three days a week to play and explore. IF we can move! I'll let you all know!

Day trip to Tulsa

2008-10-24T15:40:00.004-04:00

After an ENTIRE day of rain yesterday and being confined to the bus, we were ready to DO something! So off we went to Tulsa, Oklahoma, just 70 miles south of us. We had a bright sunshiney day starting out and a great day in the city.

Tulsa is pretty easy to get around in. Especially with Bertha, our on board GPS. We don't know what took us so long to get around to buying one of these GPSs. We bought it in Branson on our way here and it has been great.

Since we were going to Tulsa anyway, we wanted to go to the BLM office and pick up our America The Beautiful pass(Old Age Pass) now that Terry has turned 62 years old and is elgible. We just 'told' Bertha the address and she took us right there! The ladies there were so friendly and helpful they felt like old friends by the time we left the office!

We pretty much just spent the day looking around, checking out some malls, eating, and grocery shopping.( we are VERY easily entertained!) Groceries and gas are cheaper there than in Kansas. We paid $2.29/gallon for gas and that is much lower than in Coffeyville. So, while we were there we just filled up with gas and loaded up on groceries. By the time we started for home it was well after dark and sprinkling rain. We will most likely make a few more trips to Tulsa while we are here.

2008-10-22T09:48:00.000-04:00

Just hanging out in Coffeyville

2008-10-22T09:07:00.002-04:00

Our work date got moved back due to the downturn in the economy. All the workampers due to start work 10/19/08 will now start 11/2/08. The orders for Amazon.com aren't coming in like they have in years past. They expect it to pick up soon and have assured us we will start work 11/2/08.

In the mean time we are having fun meeting folks and seeing the area. The weather has been nice so we can't complain.

A 'social' was held on Saturday and probably 75 people attended. All workampers. We are scattered in 4 different areas but managed to get together for friendship and networking. All the people already working tell us the best thing we can do while we wait to start work is to walk...A LOT. They tell us we will be better prepared for all the walking that goes with the job. So, that is what we have been doing.

We drove about 25 miles to Little House On The Prairie to a homestead where Laura Ingalls and family lived from 1869 to 1871. There we saw a log house that was a replica of the one the Ingalls lived in while here in Kansas. We also took a walk through the prairie grass to Walnut Creek that Laura mentioned in her books. It was pretty neat to walkwhere the pioneers did 150 years ago while they made their journey west. It was so quiet there we could almost feel like we were there back then. We hope to visit DeSmet, South Dakota where the Ingalls family settled in 1879 and was the inspiration for many of the books Laura Ingalls wrote.

If we hadn't accepted this workamping job we would probably never have had seen this area which is what we have found many times with other assignments. It is a pretty nifty way to see the USA.

Coffeyville,Kansas

2008-10-15T08:50:00.002-04:00

Well! Here we are in Coffeyvile, Kansas getting ready to start a new workamping adventure.

Coffeyville is in the southeast corner of Kansas just 5 miles north of the Oklahoma line. It has a population of 11,000 people and believe it or not some industry. It is the home of Amazon.com's largest fulfillment center in the world which is what brings us here to this little corner of the world. Other industry includes a John Deer plant, a refinery and nitrogen fertilizer plant, American Craftsman, and several others.

This little town also has a lively history, the Dalton Gang robbed the Conder bank in 1892 and the bank has been preserved and is very interesting to tour. The old jail is standing too with the dead gang members laid out on the floor! We will tour it all again on a day when we have more time.

We are actually employed by Express Professionals, a staffing agency located in Independance, Kansas. Express has hired 600 RV workampers made up mostly of retired fulltime RVers. Our campground is paid for by them and we get a salary! Cool! Express trialed a few workampers last year and were very pleased with the work ethic and have kicked it up several notches this year. We have met people here that we have run into(not literally) on the road. In fact, the people we parked next to turns out to be people who helped us put on an RV rally last Feb. in Casa Grande, AZ. We also had lunch with a couple we met while we all were helping out with the hurricaine Katrina disaster. It is so much fun running into old friends and making new ones. It will hopefully be a fun as well as a busy 9 weeks.

Today we will do more exploring and will go to a Senior Health Fair and probably get a flu shot.

2008-10-11T10:14:00.001-04:00

2008-10-11T10:13:00.000-04:00

2008-10-11T10:09:00.000-04:00

Calm and Serene near Branson, MO

2008-10-09T09:36:00.001-04:00

We really are enjoying Branson after not being here for 6 years. Our site here at the SKP park, Turkey Creek Village is right on the creek and very relaxing. A nice place to return to after a day of being in town with all the excitement and chaos it provides.

We started one of our days off with breakfast at Mels Diner, home of the singing servers and it was a great time for all! For $5.99 we had a complete fresh buffet breakfast and the servers sang to us. They were very talented and friendly and we could have sat there all day. The two servers working the day we were there were Jason and Tammy who visited at each table sharing info about themselves all the while never missing a beat with getting the food delivered. As you will notice Tammy was quite pregnant (37 1/2 weeks) but it never slowed her down and she could belt out the songs. Reluctantly we gave up our table and went out to completely wear ourselves out walking and exploring.

ON The Road Again!

2008-10-04T08:26:00.000-04:00

Well! After a long dry spell we are on the road again. Yippee!

We left Indiana after going to an annual Pancake fest with our daughter and family. The bus was ready to go with the fuel tank being filled yesterday to the tune of $548.00!! We traveled 400 plus miles to Branson, Missouri. Actually we are in Hollister, MO at the Escapees RV park. Hollister is just across the lake from Branson. Within walking distance if you like walking a mile or so.

It feels like home here, just like Raccoon Valley does in Eastern Tennessee. Several people are here that we know and it is fun meeting up again with old friends. The park is pretty full but there are a few open spaces. We are parked near the creek in a very nice space. Did I mention that if feels sooooooo good to be on the road again??!!!

In Indiana, Remembering Arizona

2008-04-15T11:17:00.002-04:00

There is not a lot going on here at home. We had 29 degree temps last night. Brrrrrr. (and why did we leave Arizona?!!) But today the warm up begins. Yeah!
I was looking through my photos of the desert so decided to post some of those since pictures of Southern Indiana are not quite so interesting...yet. It will be though. The flowers will bloom and the trees will finish leafing out and it will be beautiful.
Our daughter has tons of plants in her greenhouse just waiting for the soil to warm up. I can't wait. Of course I get some of those! She also has something like 181 tomato plants but I don't think we will be putting those in the ground just yet. Soon though. Maybe I will post photos of all those tomato plants!

Back Home Again in Indiana

2008-04-07T07:37:00.000-04:00

We are home now and it is good....and a little bad. The good part is seeing our daughter and her family. We have only been gone 6 months but the grandkids have changed. Taller and more grown up.

The bad part is the humidity but I will get used to it. In time. We left humidities of 10 to 17% and here it is 89%. No wonder I have a headache! But it is sunny and will be 72 degrees today so all is not bad. It will be a good day to get all the limbs picked up that the winter storms have strewn all over the yard.

We traveled 7000 thousand miles this winter. Good grief! That is a lot of miles. And we sat still for a lot of that time. We traveled 2400 miles just to get home. But it was fun and we had a safe trip. The ole bus did just fine getting us around. Now, we will sit still for awhile and hope that the gas prices go down by the time we travel again.

Leaving Tennessee

2008-04-05T16:26:00.001-04:00

This is our last day in East Tennessee. We love this area and always hate to leave but we really need to get back to Indiana.

The grass and trees look absolutely beutiful to us after being in the desert so long. Even though we like the desert, it is always a welcome change to see the trees leafing out and the Redbud and the Dogwood in bloom when we return.

It has been rainy most of our stay here but we really haven't minded. We have still been able to get to the music jams we like. There are jams here at the SKP park Thursdays and Sundays, and at the Volunteer RV park Tuesdays and Fridays. The Volunteer RV park is just about 1/2 mile east of the SKP park so we don't have to drive far. There is another one we like on Mondays at the Volunteer Fire Dept. of Paulette but we will have to miss it this year. We will hit them all when we return in the Fall. We have a lot to look forward to.

2008-04-03T21:44:00.000-04:00

Easter Dinner In The Desert

2008-04-03T12:52:00.000-04:00

Easter Dinner In The Desert

2008-04-01T09:02:00.000-04:00

We took our last quad ride for the season and went on some awesome trails. We will miss this area!

It is Easter and we had a WONDERFUL Easter dinner! Yup. Crackers, cheese, and summer sausage with tasty lukewarm spring water from a plastic bottle!

Goodbye Quartzsite

2008-03-24T09:05:00.000-04:00

Today we left Quartzsite headed for California(well.....JUST inside California)where we are boondocked in a 14 day short stay area of BLM. We like this place so we always come here instead of the Long term area 4-5 miles east where we have the permit. We will be here for a few days to visit Yuma which is just 10 miles away and also to visit Mexico which is even closer.

Diesel fuel here by our parking area is $4.46/gallon!!! Ouch! Needless to say , we did not buy fuel there! Just 10 miles from here in Yuma it is $3.96/gallon. It is hard to believe that it has gotten so high but if you are going to live this lifestyle you have to cut other places so you can afford the fuel!! Like, get eyeglasses in Mexico! And Tequilla!

We won't have internet hook-up for a few days while we travel so I will catch up with this blog as I can.

80 Miles Of Desert Beauty

2008-03-22T10:14:00.000-04:00

Today we set off to find a geocache and went through areas of this Sonoran Desert we had never seen. We were very near the Colorado River and went through the Ehrenberg-Cibola OHV area. We ate our packed lunch in a sandy wash with flowers all around and other than birds chirping, silence. It was very nice but we still had at least a 2 hour ride ride back to the bus, so we headed back and ended up putting 80 miles on the quads for the day! Whew!
It was a great day, sunny and just a little breeze that made wearing shorts quite comfortable. We really enjoy this desert.

It's not just more of the same.

2008-03-18T20:56:00.000-04:00

We had a great day to ride. We had been in this part of the desert but found new trails and new sights. We rode about 30 miles and got back to the bus just in time for a nap!

More of the cacti are in bloom along with many more flowers.

2008-03-16T23:10:00.000-04:00

We are still in the desert in Quartzsite,AZ. The desert flowers are beginning to bloom and we are trying to see them all as we ride our quads pretty much every day.

2008-03-16T19:47:00.000-04:00