Having spent the night in Camp Verde, Arizona at a pricey park, 39 dollars, with the Good Sam discount, we were off to an early start. 
we had made it………well not so fast, that mountain in the distance, we were going over it! Course we did not realize that till once again we were past the point of no turn around. The only thing I can compare this part of the trip to was driving up Pike’s Peak.
Chuck has to be the bravest driver ever, or else he was so scared he could not utter a word. The truck pulled us up and over without even working up a sweat, and the jake break took us down like we were a feather. Have a feeling if it knew where we were it would have threw up in it’s exhaust pipe. I can guarantee you there will be a new route next time.
Now to the best part, we are all set up on our huge site. Wow, we have space to park 3-4 vehicles. And a nice large storage shed, so will be able to leave some of the stuff we use in the winter months here. That will be so nice. The weather when we got here was great as was yesterday, but today rain off and on. Yesterday we ran into Temecula and found a family doctor and got appointments scheduled. Then ordered a golf cart, which we will need in these hills. Don’t have pictures of the area yet, but soon. Think we will be happy to spend the winter here, and in years to come, lots to do, great shopping in Temecula, casino about 8 miles, plus San Diego and L.A. Not that we will be running to the big cities, but they are there, along with all they have to offer. And I’ll be able to get my ocean fix as it is about 40 miles away. All that for the price of 230 monthly, which includes cable, water, garbage. The only extra we have is electric, don’t think we could beat that. Of course there is the 4.30 diesel!
Life is Good
Our great-granddaughter had a Halloween party in the parking lot of her school, on Saturday It was a trunk party where the parents did up the backs of their cars and the “goblins” went trick or treating. They had little games and balloon art. Great idea as it wasn’t crowded and some of the trunks were very well done. And the grown ups really got into the costumes. Scary.
From there we went back to the house where our SIL had smoked ribs, and they were out of this world. Went back again to night for left overs, and good byes. Short visit, but it was good to see everyone before going west for the winter. Long journey ahead, twelve hundred miles. Got some new audio books, with John Gresham's new one, among them, so that will make the time go fast. Our friend Barb gave us one in Coffeyville, and it was pretty darn good, really made those miles fly by. Thanks Barb.
Life is Good
It was not all that bad, but for us wimpy snowbirds this was a major storm. We had hoped that we would not have to deal with snow as we are only here for a week. Just needed to get a few things done, and pick up some “stuff” from storage. Being as we will have storage at Jojoba it will make it easier to have some things there, as we will be spending most of winter time there.
Roinn was so intense at his workout yesterday, and I got lots and lots of shots of the back of his head, very few from the front. He is in the first grade, but because of his November birthday almost 7. Very good big brother.
Kylee, is so precious, she is all girly girl, think Roinn will have his hands full once they get older, she takes martial arts on Saturdays too. No ballet for her!
The sun is out, got the water going, (which was a major job, it was 24 degrees this morning) then got to get my hair cut, nails done, hit the commissary, busy, busy. Having a family gathering Saturday, which will be nice. Everyone is so busy with their every day lives, that it is hard to get all together. So for now we will enjoy the time we do get to spend with one and all.
Life Is Good
Pictures have been lacking in the last few blogs, so I’m remedying that.
Lisa Hembree & Ric-Tony Hembree & Dave Sussman
Down the road we go. No pictures from Coffeyville, camera never came out, darn.
Color in Colorado
There's always a lot to be thankful for if you take time to look for it. For example
I am sitting here right now thinking how nice it is that wrinkles & fat don't hurt.
Life is Good
This past month we have been meeting up with old and new friends, and what a wonderful time we have had. Some times we feel like pinching ourselves, just can’t believe that we could have been so fortunate to have met so many wonderful people.
After leaving Defeated Creek, saying good-by to Lisa, Tony, Tez & Ric, along with Rich & Mary, Jenny and Don & Dave, we traveled into Branson with Mac & Netters. There we split company as we were staying at the Treasure Lake park, where John & Bridget are. Also Mike and Lisle are also there, and we had not seen them in a couple of years. We had a wonderful gathering and dinner, with a Suzie and Don and their friends popping in for a quick visit. The next day Nolan & Donna along with her daughter Carla, with Donna’s new little grandbaby, joined us at Golden Corral, where we all ate too much. From there we went back to the campground and talked and laughed till we hurt. If laughter makes you live longer we should all make it to 100. All was fun & games till we had to say our “see ya down the road” farewells. We got away early in the morning and made Coffeyville before noon. There we met up with Barb & Bob Williams, Ginger & Jesse, John & Laurie Newby, along with one other couple whose name escapes me now. Dang! Barb had prepared dinner which we all enjoyed, unfortunately the weather was threatening rain, and lots of lightning, and we had to break up early, but then most every one was having to work the next day, and their day was going to start at 4:30. And it was just the start of their 4, ten hour days. Everyone is counting the days till December 23, which will be the end of their employment.
Today our travel day was smooth, the roads in Kansas are wonderful, at least the ones we drove today, so it looks like we will make Colorado Springs tomorrow, if all goes well. After all the trouble we have had these past few months, I’m not saying anything is final until it is over and done.
Looking forward to seeing our daughter and family. Especially the great grand babies, not really babies any more, almost 4 & 7. Growing way too fast.
Life is Good
Once the last check was done on the work at Mor/Ryde we were out of there faster than…….,well fast! The travel day was very uneventful, and we made great time. The leaves were just beginning to turn, and getting a good shot was almost impossible. Sixty miles an hour and a dirty windshield seen to that.
The traffic heading north in Louisville was backed up for at least 15 miles,
sure glad we were heading the other way, we had smooth sailing. We pulled into Grandma’s RV park, and across the street were a couple from the Montana rally. They were smiling behind their hands as I was putting the leveling boards under the tires, as they had just had the level-up system installed. Maybe next year. The next morning we took our time as we only had 140 miles, but they were all on back roads, up and down, curvy and slow, so it was more like 300, but we were all set up by 3 in the afternoon. This is such a pretty place.
Out our back window.
No trains, no traffic, a wonderful place to recharge our batteries. Unfortunately a lot of the people who had made reservations have had to cancel, so the remaining few are sort of spread out. Once a reservation is made and in the computer, changing the site is not possible. But we are doing fine, dinner at one site, campfire at Lisa & Tony’s. Tony is the official fire builder and a fine job he does! He also has the wood. The first few days the weather was perfect. But it has gone to normal, little rain, still nice and warm, and the best part NO wind. That will be here tomorrow, now that I’ve said that. Our friends Ginny & Don got here Monday, and Tuesday night he ended up in the hospital. They now have him in Nashville, and are checking his heart out. We are all hoping for the best, and he was in great spirits yesterday when we seen him.
We all piled in the vehicles the other day and went to Tony’s favorite catfish place. If I had to get there it would never happen, we ended up in Kentucky after taking a dozen different roads, but it was by far the best catfish I’ve ever had. It was all you could eat and they meant it. Some of us couldn’t finish the first serving, which was huge, where as others more than made up for it. Delicious! About the only other outing we have had is girls day out, where we hit Bed Bath and Beyond, Trader Joes, and a few other places. Of course there was lunch which was at the Cheesecake Factory. Now right outside, written in cement, was the saying “Life is short, eat dessert first”, but did we pay heed…….oh no, we had lunch, and were so full we couldn’t even think about dessert. Darn.
Have another few days here before we start west. Hope to make a short stop in Branson, then see our good friends in Coffeeville, who are working at Amazon, then on to Colorado Springs for a quick stop. Gotta get out of there before the snow falls.
Life is Good
P.S. the wind is blowing!
We were up very early this morning, Chuck backed the rig into the shop and we were free for the day. Spent the first couple of hours in the very nice guest lounge here. Met another couple who were having some work done, and low and behold they knew some of our Hitchhikers friends. Barb and Roger Maxie! What a small world we RVers have. We then took off and I had my nails done real quick and we made a run to the surplus store in Michigan for a few things, now that we had the correct measurements. From there we thought a quick lunch at the Rise N’ Roll, but we decided to hit the cheese factory first. Bad move, we are now in possession of a whole lot of cheese, never shop on an empty stomach.
Finally made it to the Rise N’ Roll, split a sandwich, and did not even buy any of there fabulous donuts.
Phone booth, they are allowed, but not in the house and no seat or chair in them. Of course with the cell phones those customs are going the way of the horse and buggy…..hmmmm.
To kill a little more time we went to see the movie The Help. Had read the book, and the movie was great, held pretty true to the book, but filled some of the gaps, take more than 1 Kleenex if you’re a softie. Finally we got back to Mor/Ryde and there was our home …..in pieces, but almost ready to go.
Tomorrow should see us hitting the road if they are done early enough, other wise bright and early Wednesday.
Life is Good
What a great rally the Montana Owners Club had. And of course there was way too much food and drink, but it all contributed to the good time we had. The seminars were very informative and all the reps were extremely helpful. There were 4 to 5 Keystone reps who addressed any problems we were having with our rigs, appointments made, and with in the week, everyone left doing the happy dance. We were so fortunate that they discovered a major problem with ours, like the frame and the hangers were no longer connected, (something like that) but the fact that it was not safe to take on the road. Sure scared this ole lady, when I think of all the miles we had probably traveled with it like that. We spent a couple of nights in their campground while they got everyone scheduled to getting it fixed, and we were out of there. If you are ever going to need major work Elkhart is the place to be. Everything they need is here, all the parts, anything and everything. Being there was no bill for all this, and we are over 2 years out of warranty, well, it don’t get no better than that.
We are now in Mor/Ryde’s camping site, and they will get the work done starting Monday, that we had scheduled for earlier this week, but could be done due to the other problem. There will be a bill for that, but hopefully this will resolve the issues we’ve had. Then our rig should be better than new! Must be time to think of buying a new one…..NOT!
The beautiful home the Montana group went for an Amish dinner. Ran into this couple at the rally, they were there for the rig weighing, and joined us for the dinner. They put on the the very first rally we had ever attended in Branson.
Howard & Linda Payne http://www.rv-dreams.com
The McHenry’s Mac and Nette's Road to Retirement are in the area, and we have met up a few times. Tonight we decided that we had to try Lunkers as we had not done that this trip yet. Chuck and Mac had prime rib and cleaned there plates, but Netters and I had lasagna, hers was regular, I had the seafood. Good, good, good. But we both brought home more than we ate. Portions that would feed a family.
Today the sun finally came out for the entire day, that can make your mood change. We have had rain for an entire week, and yesterday the wind was wild. Time to move south, and we are trying so hard, hopefully by Wednesday.
I have been so remiss in keeping this blog up, that at times am tempted to quit, but maybe in my “golden years” it will give me something to look back at, shed a tear, a little smile, and just enjoy these days all over again.
Life Is Good
