2017...Our summer journey begins

     We begin on May 29th, 2017 and for the first time since taking these journeys we head west out of town rather than towards the east.  We're going to hate missing the Anderson and the Ackelson reunions this year, but after last years marathon of 9000 miles and covering from the Midwest to the South, to the Southeast and back to the Midwest before finally heading home, we're sticking to the West.  As members of Colorado Rivers Adventures RV resorts our first few weeks will be cost free for the camping with full-hookups and many great services.  First stop Havasu Springs RV Resort for a week...........but dude we're starting off in the summer heat of Arizona!  Havasu Springs is a pretty nice facility with a very challenging executive golf course (made perfect for mountain goats though), it's a nine hole "walking only" course up and down very steep hills.  Maybe I'll attach a picture of a couple of the holes, very picturesque for sure.  From here it's into California and a place called Cherry Valley RV resort for another week or so of free camping through the CRA club.

     As you may or may not remember, Bev does do a little work in the mornings while on these journeys and internet/WiFi is a must for her.............not much here and that's the only downfall.  Today we've drove into Parker, AZ. to spend some time in the library to take care of her work and my blogging and catching up on FB etc.  As you might imagine, a very nice quiet place to get all these things done.

     It's times like this that I/we can't imagine the way it was before internet and all the gadgets we depend so much on today.  Some of you will be happy that I can't be on FB very often this first week, even though I believe I've toned down the political crap by a lot and still trying to refrain for the most part.  Anyway, this is the first installment of my blog for this journey of 2017 and I hope whomever checks them out over the next 3-4 months enjoy reading about our travels and adventures.

Havasu Springs Resort Golf club

   

More trouble ahead, more than some will admit.

    " My candidate for president is flawed, my candidate for president is nasty, my candidate for president is shady beyond reproach and I wish we all had another choice but this is what it is."  I'm afraid we all will be voting for what we feel is the better of two evils, the least of two despicable human beings that are or have been driven by money, power and not what's best for our country!
     Only because you may know me can you tell who my candidate is, those that don't know me from Adam might think I'm talking about either candidate in this election cycle.  The above can easily describe either candidate for president, the difference is as a Trump supporter I know what I will be voting for and can admit it, those on the left still have the blinders on and can't admit their candidate is exactly what Trump calls her.........."a crook" no doubt about it.
     This is not a Hillary bashing blog so don't just turn it off thinking that I'm going to spend this time just finding fault with your beloved Hillary or your beloved Trump!  
     Yes that seems to be the difference between conservatives and liberal progressives, as conservatives we know and will admit our candidate at least was a sleaze-ball, but by having the liberal media backing the other candidate you only hear the evil of the other side.  As Trump supporters we wanted change from the old political standards, new blood and new ideas and we will openly admit Trump has turned out to be just what all you liberals say he is..............but we also know Hillary is more flawed when it comes to matters of state than you on the other side care to admit openly!  We all know now from leaked e-mails that Hillary is one person when speaking to you and a totally different person behind the scenes but you won't acknowledge those facts.  Facts, yes Trump is and was a womanizer, a bad boy, but we know exactly what we're getting with a vote for him.  On the other hand the same liberal, left leaning tree hugger that eight years ago proclaimed her a crook, nasty and married to a deplorable womanizer for some reason can't remember all that.  She is not a champion for women, she is only using being a woman to help get elected, she is not a champion for minority's but using them as a means to an end.   The same person your beloved Obama labeled so many dirty and illegal things and much more right along with you eight years ago is now squeaky clean in those same eyes..........unbelievable to me!  We know you are voting for her, but don't make her out to be this Mother Teresa type, the leaked e-mails don't lie.  Oh yes you probably don't even know of these e-mails because ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN do not report or go in depth on them....and heaven forbid you change channels once in a while to hear the other side of fair and balanced reporting.
     Trump most likely as we know has said and done some terrible things in his life as far as some are concerned.  All be it some 20 to 30 years ago in today's politics its all fair game.  He deserves all the scrutiny that is being reported on in the case of his comments about women and maybe some shady business dealing, just like so many other wealthy business men throughout the world.  Sometimes just like anybody would, he made money for his brand and his shareholders and others anyway he could legally or by using the laws to his advantage.......can't say Hillary didn't do the same, but won't hear any of her supporters say so.
     Hillary you must admit, has put our country at risk with her decisions from e-mails, servers, to the mysterious disappearance of so many of those willing to blow the whistle on her and the phony foundation.  Just today the White house has been implicated in some of the latest e-mails released, some very shady things that would put any one of you reading this in prison no doubt about it.  There are now cover-ups far worse than Watergate and beyond, but deep down we all know this is business as usual in Washington.
    Trump has been a real nasty dude, down right disgusting at times, Hillary is and has been a crook for a very long time and admit it or not you all know it's true.  We will all vote for the better of two evils (even though the left won't admit that) and Hillary will probably win because there are so many uninformed voters that will vote on gender, for Bill, and because that's just what minorities do year after year without knowing why.  It may be hard for some to admit, but if any of the other 16 republican candidates had won the primary this race would have been over months ago hands down.  Donald Trump is a flawed candidate, he is despicable in so many ways but we can say the exact thing about Hillary Clinton, she is definitely not without sin.  We would just like to hear from the left that this is true, even the highly educated can't admit these things and they are supposed to know better than the dummies questioned on the streets with their just plain stupid uneducated answers.
     Don't look now, but I can see an impeachment hearing on the horizon in the next couple of years!

P.S.    
You could listen to taped conversations from locker rooms, men and women's, bachelor parties, bachelorette parties, military barracks, dorm rooms, sorority houses, fraternity houses and if you just read the transcripts you might not be able to tell which came from which..............well maybe you could but they both might be damaging to some virgin ears believe it.  Get down off that high horse!  

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.