111 days on the road and we're going to make it home tomorrow!

     I remember a country song where he sings "Six days on the road and I'm gonna make it home tonight"!  Well we will be 111 days on the road tomorrow and God willing we'll be home tomorrow evening.  We don't want it to end but we're not full-times yet so home base and obligations but me met.  We're already talking of the short winter time trips we'd like to make to California and parts of Arizona or even Texas, way down south Texas that is.
     This year we played a lot of golf at a lot of very nice courses all over the south, we traveled more miles than we had in the previous 8 years of travel.  We're roughly 421 miles from home right now as we sit here at this fine Route 66 RV resort, that being said when we get home our total miles for this years journey will be right at 8895 miles.  A lot of miles and a lot of beautiful country and a lot of beautiful people visited and met along the way.
     Some of the cities we'll never forget like Biloxi, Mississippi or Savanna, Georgia, the there was Port St. Lucie, Florida and St. Augustine, Florida and who could forget Bristol and the surrounding area of Abingdon.  I finally talked Bev into visiting Branson, Missouri and we loved it, the shows the golf it was worth the time spent visiting.  This rig we call home while on the road now has been in 44 of the 50 states of our country and one is impossible to drive to so 44 of the possible 49 states we can travel to.  Next year it looks like Bev wants to finish the New England states, so we'll see how that goes next year.
     The passing of my Mother came quickly, after our visit early in our journey to Iowa we anticipated seeing her once more next year.  We were lucky to be able to make it back and visit Mom once more and be by her side in her final hours.  Mom was ready to go and we all know she's now in a better place and has her memory back and with Dad.  It was also good that we could drive down to Texas get brother Dave and take him back with us to visit Mom before she passed.  We ended up spending quite a bit of time in Iowa, so much so it felt like we lived there again.  It was good being with family.
     I've enjoyed sharing our travels with those that visited my blog, and I hope those of you that visited enjoyed reading about our travels and living them with us via this medium.  I may or may not have an epilogue to this journey upon returning home, if not I appreciate your visits and hope you enjoyed traveling with us.  We thank the "577" visitors to the blog to this point and hope my rambling wasn't too boring.



 

Can Fall be upon us already?

     Here I sit in North Platte, Nebraska at 7:15 am and it's just now starting to get a bit light outside!  The cool breeze from last night with the windows open has turned into a bit of a chill as I sit here in this quiet solitude.  I just nuked a cup of two day old coffee and it taste wonderful, just like I've done so many times in the morning.  I first noticed it yesterday when I woke up to darkness in Council Bluffs, Iowa, it must be nearing Fall and winter darkness in the early mornings.  This has been one of our longest journeys (do you mind that I call these journeys?  Being retired I find it hard to say vacations because those always have to end and these do not, especially when I hear during the Cardinal game that it was 103 in Phoenix at game time.)  we entered Iowa with the corn green and about knee high already and left with it mostly brown and almost ready to pick!  Yes, the crackling of corn stalks in the breeze, the stiff dryness of the stalks tell you it's almost Pheasant season and Fall is upon us.
     Bev and I both say to ourselves numerous times "I don't want to go home yet" but then we think of the kids and grand kids and can't wait to get back to see them once more.  With the passing of Mom and the kids coming to Iowa for the funeral we got a taste, but then were ready to move on once more to being alone together.  I'm not sure two people can get much closer together than we have and do on these journeys, we love being together now more than ever in seems.................Beverly is truly my best friend!
     From here it's either a few days in Colorado somewhere or Moab, Utah, regardless whether we do either one or just head home it has been a wonderful 4 months of travel and adventure on this 2016 trek.  We're trying to get home by Matt's birthday on the 19th otherwise who knows what or where we would go from here.  Stay tuned to find out, all I know now is that I just might turn the heater on to take the chill off................I woke up to balmy 59* this morning and this old Arizona blood is thin and feeling a bit cold.

P.S. The Arizona Cardinals secondary better step it up or this might be a long season!  

All good things must end

     This could mean a lot of thing now that I think about it, not only our journey of 2016 but as most of you know our trip was delayed with our return to Iowa due to the passing of my Mother.  A deeply religious person was she and that being said I know she is now in a better place and back with Dad and all her friends and family that went before her.  We thank God for the time we were able to spend with her before she left, even though the Alzheimer/Dementia had pretty much left us wondering if and what she understood.  My last eye to eye contact with Mom was while I was at the foot of her bed, I teared up and she managed a smile and shook her head no-no-no as if to say "it's OK I'm going home to Dad."  Mom will be missed and remembered for a lot more that just that.
      After 13 more days in Davenport and parked at West Lake once more we left for Des Moines for another visit with Bev's family.........because as you might have figured, that's what we do!  When we're close to friends and family during our travels we make arrangement to pay them visits as long as their willing to have us.  Plans were for one night here in Altoona, Iowa Adventureland RV park and then head straight home to get Lisa and Jack back by Friday the 9th of September.  Yes, plans were for Lisa and Jack to ride back with us to save a little airfare after all that we had spent to this point getting everyone back for the funeral.  But wait a minute!  Maybe we'd like to spend a little more time on the road and not get home by the 9th, that sounds much better!  Both Bev and I neither one are ready to return just yet...........so Jack and Lisa will fly out Friday for Phoenix and Bev and I will continue our travels as planned towards Utah and then south towards Arizona and Phoenix to get home on or near the 19th of September.  We will continue to visit family in Des Moines until Friday morning and head west and might even get another round of golf in here in Des Moines!
     As much as we miss family, believe it or not we can't wait to be alone and on the road again and maybe out of country that rains day after day after day.  Yes, we had a few days of sun and nice temps before leaving Davenport and now we're in Des Moines and it's raining once more.  Being from Arizona where we get roughly 7 inches of rain a year we have definitely had our share for the year on this trip, hell we've been where we've had almost 7 inches in a day!  I've mentioned this as being one of ...............no this has been our longest trip yet in the motor home.  As of now sitting here in Des Moines, Iowa we have put 7308 miles on the coach since leaving Phoenix back on May 27th, now with heading to around Zion, Utah and then towards Phoenix we ought to end this trip with over 9000 miles traveled.  This amount of miles will end up being roughly 2500 to 3000 more than any other journey to date!  Let's all knock on wood that this old girl gets us back home without any problems....I see you all didn't knock on wood, let's do it now together!  Thank you!  By the way, the price of gas has made this a most enjoyable journey in one respect, right now we're paying the highest prices since leaving Phoenix back in May, right near $2.20 give or take a few pennies either way.
     The blogs aren't over, I feel a couple more before we end up in Phoenix so stay tuned to this channel for more updates we enjoy sharing our adventures.

Mike & Bev





   
   
   


 

Up's and Down's...High's and Lows of the past week.

     Plans to leave Bristol and head westward towards maybe Colorado or Wyoming for a week or so changed when my sister called with news of my mother being put into the hospital.  We learned she was admitted with pneumonia and other complications from that and it's causes.  Within hours of that first call she calls back and we have to make a decision according to the doctor weather to DNR or start a feeding tube, since at this point she hadn't ate in 5 days.  Shocking phone call to say the least, with me and Bev on the road in Tennessee, brother Dave in Texas with literally no way to get back to Iowa and Russ and Nancy in Davenport.  Bev and I decide we need to do something about Dave so we arrange to head the motor home to Texas, pick up Dave and bring him to Davenport long with us.       Where in Bristol, Tennessee on Sunday and ready to head out, about noon or so we decide to head to Jefferson, Texas to pick up Dave.  Mine you I usually only drive between 300 and 400 miles a day and stop for the night, now I'm under the gun thinking we need to get to Mom ASAP.  We're assuming her condition according to the doctor is dire and if we want to see her again we need to move out.  From Tennessee to Texas and on to Iowa two days (stopping once at an RV park to sleep for about 7 hours), it was like 39 hours of driving in 48 hours and my ass was kicked!
     As we're heading north we get news that the doctor is dumb founded, why...........Mom had a 180 degree turn-around and now was breathing on her own but still fighting the Pneumonia.  We had folks and friends praying from all over the country and by God's will it helped and we got there in time to visit and are still visiting as she still fights to improve.  Far from out of the woods yet, but eating a bit and talking even though she still has a very hard time knowing who we all are.
     So..........we had no plans to revisit Davenport, Iowa on this years journey but here we are and as of now will be here at least through Tuesday the 30th when we fly Dave back home.  Yes, we're flying him home because we don't want to make that trip in that direction when we do leave and he has stuff to take care of in Texas.
     Up's and Down's..............one day you're on the phone with your siblings deciding your Mothers fate and the next day there is a little hope!  We find out this morning she still needs some breathing assistance during the night, and her lungs are still not clear but we have hope this too will improve.  At 92 years old it's hard because the body and all it's parts are not working as they once did, but those decisions we had to make I really don't want to have to revisit.  We hope she goes back to the home soon and when that happens we'll probably start heading west once again.
     Facebook has been a real comfort to Bev and I and the family, so many prayers and best wishes that it's just so nice to have so many friends and family respond in the ways they have.  I do know I have some folks that most likely have me blocked on FB because they might not agree with my views on a lot of things,  you can see who most of them are at times like this when they might be absent with well wishes etc.............but we know they still care and I for one appreciate all my friends and family and their well wishes in times like this.
     It's nice to be camping again at West Lake here in Davenport, good to be off the road after the past few days of hard driving, but we also can't wait to continue our journey and hope Mom gets better soon.  This journey is coming to an end very soon, we hope to be back in Phoenix by mid September but are playing it by ear now.  Thanks again for all the prayers and well wishes for Mom and hopefully the next blog will be lighter and full of travel tidbits.

Jam packed two weeks..................

     I know........I can't believe it's been two weeks since my last blog posting, but it has been a jam packed two weeks!  We have now been in the Abingdon, Bristol area of Virginia and Tennessee for long enough to start paying taxes.  This area call the Tri-Cities on the border of these two states has been home since the 8th of August in two different camp/park grounds.  Hell let's add the 3 days in Fayetteville, NC visiting family on a surprise visit and we're coming close to becoming "Red Necks."
     It was good to surprise my sister Nancy and her grandson and his family in Fayetteville, we were in the area and with help from Teresa we pulled it off.  Teresa's son and my sisters grandson is stationed at Fort Bragg with the Army, it was a nice reunion for all of us.
     Carlisle and Sherri Cox were are neighbors while living on Tanya road in north Phoenix for like 8 years, where we became very good friends.  There was no way we were going to be in or around Abingdon, Va. where they call home now and not visit.  We spent 6 days in the Abingdon area and had some great memories recalled and new adventures started.  From dinners to a day of pontoon boating on the lake and throw in some golf with Carlisle and one of his school mates, it was much fun and reminiscing.  I must add at this point, we dodged a lot of rain while visiting these folks, down pour here but dry as a bone at camp on and off for those days.  We could play golf in the mornings and have the rain hold off until we finished it seems, all was good.
    Then we have Bristol..............Yes "Bristol Baby" as in NASCAR racing and Bristol Motor Speedway!  My cousin Darilyn and Ed Smith are joined by cousin Robin and Johnny each year (at least for the past 10 years or so from what I can gather) for a week of camping and taking in all the BMS racing and festivities for the week.  Ever since we've been taking these journey's Darilyn has been after us to join them for one of these festive weeks.............and so with Abingdon being just 10-20 miles away we made the commitment to join Ed, Darilyn and their group of friends for this happening!  They have been camping at a place called "Farmer Bob's" for the past 10 years or so and we made arrangements to join and their group camping at Farmer Bob's.  This would be dry camping, yes, dry camping with no hook-ups, all self contained camping in the motor home!  Up until now we have only "dry camped" for maybe a day no more that two, we like our rolling hotel to be hooked to power and water and sewer!  Question was............can we live with 60 gallons of fresh water, 42 gallon tank of solid waste and 42 gallons of grey water waste and generator electric for a week or 8 days?  Let me add right here that it's now the 6th day and we are doing great, still 30 gallons of water and only used up about half of our waste tanks...........I think we'll make it, and believe it or now we don't stink!  Conserve, conserve, conserve has been the word of the day each day.  The group is 16 strong and we all eat meals together and party together and drink apple pie together.........seems like a lot of apple pie (shine.......moon shine........home made stuff)!  One cook, Ed and you better stay out of his kitchen, and what a great job he does with breakfast and dinner, lunches we're on our own, feeding a group of 16 of us can be a real job.
     Now the bad, the rain has not stopped at least part of each day.  It got so bad the other night there was a flash flood that washed out the sight the rest were camping in, Bev and I were across a lane and on a hill side 20-30 yards from their setup.  Farmer Bob's is a cow pasture for all but 2-3 weeks a year, the Bristol races and Drags I guess.  After the rains stopped that evening the group moved their entire camp behind us on the hill in just 2 hours...........a major feat to be sure!
     Beverly and I didn't have tickets to the races, Truck racing on Wednesday night, Xfinity racing on Friday night and Cup racing on Saturday night, and just planned on hanging around camp and watching on TV.  That was fine with us, we were a late committing pair for this week at Bristol.  As it turned out another couple couldn't make it and we were offered the tickets to buy, so now we're going to the races.  Wednesdays truck racing did take place after long delays of rain and drying the track but the evening became very long and they got the race completed.  Now we're all praying the rain comes during the day and stops come evening time, especially the Saturday night event, the big guys.
     Today is Friday the 19th and we are looking forward to tonight's racing, we hope they run without delay and finish at a decent hour, if not oh well...................the past two weeks have been full of fun with friends and family and we're so glad we made these stops.  Along with paying taxes in this area I think we might be picking up bit of that southern drawl, not all bad folks because we have so enjoyed all the southern hospitality shown us and appreciate all that has been shared with us.  Love all these folks and will miss them when we finally head farther west and homeward.

P.S. Yes we bought NASCAR shirts with drivers and Bristol Baby logo's and #'s!!!!  Red Necken!  






      

Places we've like so far

     It came to me this morning, the question of where have been that we really liked being on this journey of 2016.  There have been many roads which have been new roads traveled for us since starting these treks back in 2008.  The routes from Phoenix to Iowa pretty much have been the same over these years, but after Iowa it has been like spider webbing across this great country.  Beverly has answered the question for me quite a few times on this trip, we've like them all!  If I've heard this once I've heard it quite a few times after a day or so in each of our stops.......Beverly: "if it wasn't so far from Phoenix I could live here."  I must say from all our stops along the Gulf Coast to the West coast of Florida to the East coast of Florida all the way down to the Keys, we've enjoyed each place very much.  Have you ever heard the term "Southern Hospitality" well we have witnessed it first hand so many times on this journey.  Oh it hasn't stopped, leaving Florida, Georgia and on into South Carolina we have met nothing but friendly and helpful folks.  No matter whether it's a camp site or grocery store or the many golf courses we've played to Camping World for minor repairs each has been pleasant.  If you've ever been in a Camping World you know for service there's always a long wait, they are always busy.  We needed two this trip, one for routine oil change and generator service and two days ago to fix the connection between the coach and the car so we would have lights on the car.  In both cases after hearing we were passing through and from Arizona they bent over backwards to get us in and back on the road.  I'm talking to the service manager and getting the paper work done for the wiring problem and believe this, by the time we finished the paper work and I went back to the coach they already had a guy working on the 7-way (which was the problem and then replaced it with a new one) and we were back on the road in about an hour.  Mind you we are ready for long waits or even overnights but that hasn't been the case on this trip, we are so blessed to have these types of folks taking care of us.
     I'm writing this from Summerton, South Carolina at the Palmetto Shores RV Resort, got here yesterday and leaving in the morning heading in North Carolina then onto Bristol, Tennessee.  After a few years of being invited were going to join a couple of cousins and friends for a few days for the NASCAR races there the weekend of the 13th.  In between we'll be squeezing in a little R&R around Abingdon, Virginia while visiting some old neighbors of ours who moved from Phoenix back home to Virginia a few years back, it will be good to see all these folks again.
     The time has been creeping up on us and before we know it we will heading home for a while, yes a while since we plan on a couple of winter trips this year yet.  Bottom line Beverly just said the other day that she hadn't warmed up to the idea of this southern loop on a summer journey, but she is now glad I pushed for these roads we've been traveling.  Beautiful country, much history, and friendly folks makes for a wonderful journey so far!  On the road again and loving it.............