Marana, Az.

Oct. 15th.,16th, 17th, 18th,We were in Little Rock, Ark. had to have the motor home software upgraded(the engine light was blinking ) and while we were there we had to have a new transmission put in the P.T. Cruiser. We sat in the parking lot of the repair place for 4 days. Finally got the Tanny replaced and started on our way to Az.
Oct. 19th We traveled from Benton, Ark. to Ranger, Tex. 415 miles and still not across Tex.
Oct. 20th We spent the night in Carlsbad, NM. traveling  345 Miles that day still trying to get away from Tex. Had planned the route to go to Cloud croft, Jay figured it was to high this time of the year. (9,000 ft.). So back down to Tex. we go dropping into El Paso and coming across to Las Cruces, NM 206 miles.
Oct. 21, 22...We stayed still for a couple of days to get caught up with ourselves.
Oct. 23, heading for Benson, Az. we could smell something hot in the motor home pulled over of the freeway, we just lost 2 water hoses to the engine had water and coolant all over the engine Jay made a phone call to Cat (Rush Truck Serv.) in Las Cruces,they said try to fill it with water and get back to Las Cruces will work you in and have you out in a day. So back to Las Cruces (43 Miles) to the shop 2 days later at 7:45PM we get out of the shop talk about two frustrated old people ...we qualified. While we were bumming around Las Cruces we went to the Wed. Street Market. Rather nice for a change.
Oct. 25th Finally in Marana, Az. at my niece and her husbands home. Going to set back and relax for 5 days then head for Yuma for 5 weeks. 
Oct. 30th We left the kids place and now we are setting in the parking lot of the Casino in Winterhaven, will go into the park( Pilot Knob) tomorrow will spend about 5 weeks in this area.  We had a wonderful time with the kids.
This is the end of the Trip....Had good company (Rudy, Doris, Dave and Eva.)
spent a lot of money on fuel, RV Parks, repairs and sickness.  All of these things could of happened at home as well as on the trip. This will be the most memorable excursion , we can laugh, cry and thank god it wasn't worse.
We saw a lot and missed a lot.  Wouldn't trade it for anything.

Memphis, Tenn. Oct. 12,13,14th

Arrived in Memphis at the Tom Sawyer RV Pk.  Saturday, we took a tour of Memphis, this town is really rundown. We got to walk down Beale street this is the motley crew on Beale St. , get out at the information center where there is a big statue of Elvis and B. B. King , Went to the Peabody Hotel watched the Ducks come out of the elevator and get into the fountain in the lobby, they come down at 11AM and go back up to the penthouse(Roof) at 5 PM, drove by the pyramid,drove by the motel where Martin Luther King was killed, stopped at the St. Jude's hospital we couldn't go into the hospital we went into the shrine that was built for Danny Thomas and his wife with a beautiful garden it showed the research,the developing of the hospital some of the story's from the different families,they have hotels for the parents of the children in the hospital this is no cost to the parents,drove by Graceland to see Elvis's House, the trees were so big you couldn't see a thing. We got to see the jails around Memphis, this was not the best tour we have been on. Sunday morning we had a good rain storm. Where we are parked we can watch the barges go up and down the river. They are pushing 24 hrs. a day.  Today is the last day we will all be together. Dave and Eva are heading for New Mexico, Doris and Rudy are going with us to Little Rock, Ark. and then across Oklahoma.

Nashville, Tenn. Oct. 9/10,2012

Oct. 9th Tuesday 176 Miles

We stopped at Bowling Green, Ky at the Corvette Museum for 2 hours then on to Nashville, Tenn.

Oct. 10th Wednesday

Doris, Rudy, Jay and I got on the" Hop on and Hop off trolley" and road around the city.Then we went around again and got off at the different things to see, you had 45 mins. at each stop then another trolley would pick you up. We stopped at the farmers market, then the Marathon automobile station, and the Nashville hall of fame. Walked 4 blocks and took in the sights in town, stopped at the ice cream parlor and had a cone. Of course, we had to do the two bit shops(junk stores). That pretty much took care of the day.
Nashville is a very expense place. The people are very friendly and nice.

Charleston, WV, Louisville, Ky. Oct. 6,7,8, 2012

Oct. 6th Saturday  154 Miles.
 We arrived at the Elks in Charleston...NOT recommended for RV you go up a steep grade make a sharp turn arrive on top and there is a place for one RV well guess what there was three of us. Jay had to maneuver around the parking lot so Dave and Rudy could get their rigs parked.  What a night mare...I  couldn't sleep just thinking of coming down the hill. Made it down...

Oct. 7th Sunday  266 Miles
We are now in Louisville, Ky at the Eagles with electric, weather is beautiful, cool at night.

Oct. 8th Monday
We went to the Louisville Slugger factory, watched them make the bats we also got a little bat of  our own from there we went to Churchill downs race track and toured the tracks and saw where the Millionaire got to set.  All betting is done by 'CASH' only anything from a $2.00 bet up to what ever.

This flower was at  Churchill Downs

Hershey, Pa. Morgantown, WV Oct. 3,4,5, 2012

Oct. 3rd Wed.   220 Miles.
We arrived in Lebanon , Pa.just out side of Hershey, Pa. We are staying in a 1,000 park, its a beautiful park, but we had more stink bugs that you could shake a stick at. they got in the Motor Home all over the outside of the Motor Home.

Oct. 4th Thurs.

I took Dave to the hospital in Lebanon, he couldn't get up , set down he had pulled a muscle in his back or Eva and I sat all day in the ER so they could patch up Dave.  Then we met Jay, Doris and Rudy at Hershey's Chocolate factory and did the cute little tour. Its just a fun thing ran out of time didn't get to tour the grounds of the Hershey family.

Oct. 5th....Friday   261 Miles
We are now in Morgantown, WV. at the Elks, we are packed in here like sardines. when they say a little lot believe them...But we are happy and cozy. Today I swatted stink bugs all the way here. We stopped every hour so Dave could get out and walk about 10 min. That helped his back.

Warwick , NY Oct. 1,2,3, 2012

Oct. 1st......Jay is still  in the hospital, he is still very sick, as of today ( Oct. 2nd) he is still in  the St. Anthony Hospital in Warwick just 5 miles from the campground.

Oct. 2nd...They did an upper GI and a lower GI last night.  So maybe today we will find out what this is all about. His color was back to normal and so is his attitude, he wasn't able (or should I say they wouldn't let him have anything not even a sip of water for the past 24 hrs.) to eat or drink. He was letting them know he was hungry.

 Jay was released, has to take antibiotics for a week and lots of fluid. This is a picture of the quaint little Villa Jay staying in for 3 days.

Florida, NY Sept. 30, 2012

Sept. 30th, Sunday   275 Miles.

We left Gloucester, Mass. and traveled with Dave and Eva to Florida, NY. Doris and Rudy had truck trouble so they stayed behind to get it fixed today in Beddinger, they will join us in Florida, NY this evening.  Jay is still sick, I drove from Mass, across Connecticut and into NY, on the freeway a bus and I clipped mirrors...no damage just tweaked it so I couldn't see we stopped and realigned it all is great down the road we go. Took Jay to the ER yesterday, They put him in the hospital at least for over night. Has an infection in the stomach and colitis with blood in the stool. They are going to run more test on him today.  I think it was because everything went right thru him it irritate the bowels. But we are going to find out .  He hasn't enjoyed this trip from Pa. on to now.

Bar Harbor, Maine Sept. 24,25,26, 2012

Sept. 24th Monday...330 Miles


Today we started out at 7:15 AM from Burlington, Vt. went thru Vermont, New Hampshire and made it to Bar Harbor, Maine at 4:15 PM. It sure was a long trip, there was a lot of signs telling us to look out for MOOSE, never did see one. Darn..... We made it across the US in 30 days.  All six of us was really tired and Jay is still sick, it been a week.

Sept. 25th Tuesday....Bar Harbor

 

Today we took a tour of Bar Harbor, Cadillac Mountain, Thunder Hole, and the Acadia National Park the tour was 2.5 Hours. Good Guide and very informative. Had LOBSTER when we got back to town. Very good ate it all. After lunch we walked the town and checked out the little shops.  Lot of goodies but didn't buy.  It is really windy today our park is right along the bay.  The guide was telling us we could go to the top of Cadillac Mountain at 4:30 AM, yes AM and be the first to see the sun rise...OH, Yes right along with about 500 other people...No thank you said "Jay" Wed. it was cold and rainy, Doris and Rudy went with us to grocery shopping                                                 

Sept, 27th Thursday,Old Fort Knox in Venon, Me. as we were heading for Boston, Mass. It is now a Museum.   Arrived at the park just a hour out of Boston, Have a pinched Nerve so Iam grounded for a while.. It is raining here today. Would like to do the trip around Gloucester a fishing community and Rockport which is a little sleeping village. Tomorrow will do some more LOBSTER.                              

 

Pennsylvania, New York State, Vermont Sept. 18/23, 2012

Sept. 18th Tuesday

We made it to Towanda to see Jack and Tami, Jay got sick on Wednesday, was in bed for 3 days.

Sept. 21st. Friday
 We headed for Gansevoort, New York. 254 Miles.  I drove,  Jay was still sick, spent 2 days in Gansevoort. It was the worst park we have ever been in, Jay was trying to park the Motor home in the trees, there was a stump that caught the side compartment door and bent it. Now his real unhappy. 

Sept. 23rd. Sunday

We went to Shelburne, Vt. to the Teddy Bear Factory. Jay is setting with his buddy.  He still isn't feeling good.

Then we head for  Burlington, Vt. to park at the Elks with Electric. Jay stayed home and the five of us went to the Ben and Jerry Ice Cream Factory and on to the Cabot Cheese outlet.  We grazed for about 45 min. then headed home. Tomorrow we will head for "Bar Harbor" that is what this trip is all about. Finally made it almost across the States.

Amishville RV Park Sept. 14/19, 2012

Sept. 19th,

Berne, Ind.  we were going visit an Amish Furniture Factory and take the tour watching them make the furniture.  They have been closed for several years. So we went to a Amish Bakery . They have a little store in their home.  It was go good , they have Fry Pie that is really good.

We went to the Hickory Furniture company.  We thought they made the furniture but they buy it and sell it from their home.  That was a little disappointing. The six of us stayed in a Passport America park it was nice..pretty much had the place to our selves.

Friday Sept. 14th    266 Miles
We are in Kimbolton, Ohio at an ROD Park...talk about out of the way.

Monday, Sept. 18th  254 Miles
We spent the night in Walmart parking lot (that's a first for us).. Rudy had trouble with his water pump, then the batteries died...thank goodness for walmart parking lot.

Tuesday Sept. 19th  161 Miles

We headed for Towanda, Pa. going over Bald Eagle Pass...at the top they have a map showing the down hill ( 8%) grade, you sure payed attention at the bottom of this grade there was a stop sign at the bottom of the hill and a little village with Gas street lights and windshield wipers.  We had rain all the way to Towanda. Will be heading for N.Y. tomorrow.

John Deere Factory and Fair Oaks Dairy Sept. 10,11, 2012

Mon. 10th  248 Miles

We went to Waterloo, Ia. to the John Deere Tractor Factory, they put us on a trolley that took an hour to tour the factory. We got to see the painting of the tractors by a robot, the mouse would move the parts around the factory where ever they were to be next for assembly. We also found out if the "John Deere" label was on the back window, the tractor had a heated seat and a wrapped steering wheel.  If you wanted they could put a boom box in the cab. This is for the poor farmer...HaHa
It was very interesting, every tractor being assembled was already sold

Tues. 11th  203 Miles.

We are now at the Fair Oaks Dairy, they milk 10,000 cows on this merry go around at this barn. They have 10 barns. We did the tour of the grounds: they make their own ice cream and cheese,  they break down the poop and make power for the dairy surprisingly enough there was no smell, the housing of the cows, they are like a controlled dairy and the cows lay on sand, its easier on their joints, we also went thru the birthing barn. They had 3 girls born today. One of the girls was born just a few minutes before we made it to the barn. They take the babies away from the moms and put them in a little pen of their own. The grounds are beautiful, we spent the night in the parking lot we had green grass, trees and flowers at our door.

Kellogg, Ia. Phillip 66 RV Pk. Sept. 7th thru 9th

This home is across from the RV Park we are staying in for 3 days.  It belongs to the owner of the Phillip 66 station and R. V. Park. This is just part of the decorations.

Friday, Sept. 7th we stayed put at the RV Park.

Sat. Sept. 8th ...Jay and I want into Newton for an Oil change on the little Car and visited the elks...boy, are they ever into Football and Racing....Look out they are wild.

Sun, Sept. 9th ..we took Doris and Rudy with us to Pella, Ia. it is a Dutch town, so we went off to sight see.....The streets were rolled up nothing open not even the bakery, no smoking or drinking in the park...there is 20 churches in this little town. We did see a  big windmill and the Tulip Arches.

Chappell, Neb. Sept. 1/4, 2012

Sept. 1st thru Sept. 4th
 Fri.
We roamed around the upper loop of the park. Friday night it rained real good.
Sat.
We pulled out of Yellowstone on the way out we say Elk, Mountain goats, Buffalo, and Deer. The animals came out after the rain.  We had a good time driving the park. There was a fire in the park, they had warnings of the smoke on the roads.
Saturday night  We stayed in Thermopolis, Wy. for one night at Boysen State Park for $17.00 for non-resident, we watched the deer come down to drink from the creek. We did 249 miles.
Sun.  Sept. 2
We stayed in Lingle, Wy. there is absolutely nothing across the bottom of Wyoming, rolling hills and very dry. We did 243 miles.
Mon. Sept. 3
We are in Chappell, Neb. will meet another couple here, today we stopped in Sidney for lunch at Pizza Hut , asked the waitress what time it was and she said "Oh, you must be from a different time zone", I felt like we just landed in our space ship.. ding, ding... she was a good waitress she took care of us like we were her grandparents then we went to  Cabala's and looked at their display of the animals...beautiful, roamed the store and back in the rigs and headed for Chappell it was 101 today when we landed....hot,hot,hot.  We have both air conditioners on and my artificial flowers are wilting..HA HA.. 160 miles to day we have been traveling with Rudy and Doris since Yellowstone and it has been fun.
Tue. Sept. 4
Today, I took Doris to do their laundry, we had to go 13 miles for a washing machine, does that tell you how little the town we are staying in. Right now Iam in the Motor Home looking out the window and watching the deer graze in the pasture. We will be out of here tomorrow. Its  6:30 PM and 97degrees.

Yellowstone Nat'l Park Aug. 29/31, 2012

Rudy, Doris and Jay
waiting for Old Faithful

Yellowstone Nat'l Park with co-pilot Doris

The four of us spent the day in Yellowstone Nat'l Park
 we drove 133 miles and only did half the park
tomorrow we will do the upper half , we saw a
herd of Buffalo today and that was all the animals
There is a fire in the park, so maybe the animals are on           Old Faithful

the upper rim.

Rexburg, Id. Aug. 27, 2012

We are in Rexburg, Ida. at Thompson R. V. Park....This is what the guys do and Doris and I do the hard work like go shopping. Rexburg is a very clean and friendly town ,Will head for Yellowstone tomorrow to see ole faithful.  The weather has been beautiful warm during the day and cool at night.

Rexburg, Id.

Saturday we left Mountain Home and made the trip thru the crater of the Moon. We call it Lava.  It was really black and they had walking trails thru it.
Sunday we spent in Idaho Falls at the Elks lodge.
Monday we are staying in Rexburg for two nights and this is where we met up with Doris and Rudy.
Wednesday we will be in Yellowstone....Yah.
The weather is nice. Now we can set out side and have coffee with some  friends.

Mountain Home, Id.

Aug. 24, 2012

Last night we spent the night in Nyssa, Or.
today we are in Mountain Home, Id. at Fort Running
Bear RV Park...its at the end of the road 3 miles of gravel
This is a picture of our neighbors. they are all over the park.

There is a fire over the ridge from the park it has destroyed
109 Thousand acres, its only 10% contained.

                                                                      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

East Coast Travels

Aug. 22, 2012

We are heading for the North East part of the states. Will be joining two other couples One couple in Yellowstone and then we will pick up the other couple in Chappel, Neb.
We stopped in Redmond had lunch with some friends , now on the way to Prineville will spend the night at the Elks Lodge.
The big trek was big 145 Miles.
Oh boy, to be on the road again....can't wait.
My favorite computer guru cleaned up my computer and helped me get the blog started.