QUICK TRIP

Made a quick trip in the motor home to see our kids.  It was great to get back on the road, even for just a short jaunt.

There was a birthday to celebrate and a baseball tournament to see.

    

At the baseball field, I made some new friends. These boys weren’t on Ethan’s team but they thought I looked friendly anyway…

And my cousin, Fifi, came over to play. She jumps on the dash to look out the window; she teIls me everything that is happening out there. When she’s seen enough, she bounces right back to the floor.  How does she do that?

It was easy to stay entertained because if we weren't out somewhere, people came  to visit us at the motorhome.

And if we got tired, we would just take a nap – no matter where we might be!

We had a lot of fun. The time went so fast, before I knew it, I was home again.

WOOF!

So we headed to

The area is beautiful and you can see where Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane are buried (Mount Moriah Cemetery) the saloon where Hickock was shot (Saloon #10), and old mines. Kevin Costner has left a hefty footprint since “Dances with Wolves” did some filming in the area. You can also see his Tatonka (Buffalo) Museum and Midnight Star Casino - both fun to check out, for people.

Then we get a call - oldest granddaughter is headed to the Discus Nationals for age group in Omaha. That's why we like to travel by RV. If there's a change in plans, you can just go for it. So, after a few phone calls to rearrange some reservations, we turned around and headed back where we came from.

After Emily did her thing, it was nice to spend more time with relatives we didn’t think we’d see so soon after the family reunion. And since I didn't get to attend the track meet, that was my favorite part - I just love people!

Then it was back on the road – driving long trying to catch up to our reservations. We spent one night, pulled over where some big rigs had stopped. When we got up, there was no one or any thing around - very spooky. So, off we went until we hit Salt Lake City. After a good night’s rest and a quick stop at the Salt Flats...

 

We drove and drove...

Until we reached...

just in time for Mike and Dana’s anniversary!

It was great checking out the sites in Tahoe. It was a fun vacation and trip but it sure went fast! See you next time...



OK, I think we’re back. Computer issues one week, did taxes the next – EEK! So here’s our 2008 trip. Hope you like it…  -D
 
Our first stop was Cedar City, UT. We took a drive up to...

This is on our drive up the mountain.

It is a beautiful place and if you get the chance, stop and check it out.




Dogs were allowed on some trails, so I got to see... 

one of the oldest trees in the world – a Bristol Cone Pine.

Once we get into the monument area, dog access is very restricted. Too bad, though, it's sure pretty there.

 

 

The local KOA  was nice and the staff always had dog treats handy. One thing - this is a patriotic town. On July 4^th, a canon is fired as soon as the sun is up, very early.  No one had warned us so Dana and Mike thought we were being attacked! When they looked outside, no one else seemed the least bit concerned. Hearts were racing, so there was no more sleeping.

Next day, we headed to Green River, UT, for an over-nighter. We took I-15 to I-70 and actually stopped at some of the designated viewing stops along the way. We were sure glad we did!

Hope to see you next week!

Finding Our Way

Isn’t it funny, humans use gadgets to get from one place to another. Take my pair.

Used to be, if we were going on a trip, Dana would get out the road atlas and by using a mileage wheel, comparing distances on the “Driving Distance in Miles” chart, and the mileage scale (1” = 50 miles) with the help of a flexible tape measure, she would plan where we would end up at the end of each traveling day. Then out would come the campground books to find the location of the closest campgrounds.

Then came a cool internet tool, Mapquest - just put in where you wanted to end up and print out the turn-by-turn directions. You could use that to break down the trip into manageable daily drives.

When GPS got into the “affordable” range that became our next gadget. While trip planning can be down through Good Sam Club, Mike and Dana rely on the GPS for back up, especially in detour situations, and to see what is local (restaurants, attractions, grocery stores, etc.) once we’re at our destination.

As nice as all these gadgets are, however, you can still have some exciting moments. Like when we were on our way to a KOA in Hill City, close to Mount Rushmore. We followed our lady GPS, turned right, turned left and …ended up at a gate with a sign on it, “This is not the entrance to the KOA.” When we checked in, heard other RVers had the same experience.

Mapquest isn’t infallible, either. On another trip we followed our print-out, turned right as instructed and noticed the addresses were going in the wrong direction. We turned around, passed where we had originally turned right, then drove to our destination in the opposite direction.

At times, it’s not the fault of the GPS, sometimes it’s because the driver’s brain has a delayed reaction to the instruction. When you hear the irritating, “Recalculating” it brings the driver out of his stupor.

Even with GPS and Mapquest, Dana keeps maps handy because sometimes she just wants to see where we’re at. The “Take This Exit” book comes in handy, too - it’s easy to see what’s available at the exit number.

Once we get somewhere, I’m their GPS because I just know which way to go. They try to trick me by parking in a different site every time we return to an RV park but I can’t be fooled - I always remember. One time we took a hike and on our way back, they wanted to walk back a different way than we had come. I had none of that - I knew which way to go and no matter how hard they pulled and tugged on my leash, I would not budge until they went my way. I don’t know why they thought that was so funny.

But I’ll let you in on a secret - it was because my paws were tired and I didn’t know where they were headed next!

To Grandmother's House We Go...

This week we decided to visit family in Springville.

We park outside Aunt Lisa & Uncle Henry's house. They have a new dog, Shorty. He is so little, I thought he was a toy. Then he started moving around - he was very fast.

The nice thing about traveling RV style, I have a place of my own for pets and people to meet me. Shorty and I got along, even though he's real little. We had fun together, until he got a 'Frosty Paw' (dog ice cream - D). He was not into sharing.

In Springville, sometimes you can walk around without a leash! I went exploring and came across some strange animals. Were they huge dogs? Little horses? What were they?

I'm not sure they knew what to think of me, either.

This is my friend, Ella. We've met before. She lives across the street from where we park the motor home. She usually takes a little time to remember me but, finally, she does and then we have some nice walks.

Grandma and Grandpa live nearby. I can't go to their house because their dogs are not into socializing. Grandma and Grandpa always come to see me, though. I think Grandpa is more of a dog person, but I can tell I am winning Grandma over.

Grandma & Grandpa watching TV with Mike

Have a tail-wagging week!

Take a Look Around

The problem with RV parks and campgrounds now days - some of them have so many things to do, you might not want to leave and see what else is in the area.

For example, the first time we were in Sedona, we stayed in the campground the first two days. Imagine our surprise when we finally ventured out and saw stunning landscape:

After our daughter’s family got their own rig, they let the kids decide where we would take our first big summer trip - they picked Mt. Rushmore, again. I was a little disappointed because I was anxious to add a new state or two to my USA sticker map. Besides, I thought we’d seen it all the first time around: visited the monument at night where we saw the patriotic lighting ceremony, rode the 1880 train out of Keystone, and visited the Crazy Horse monument. There was no talking them out of it, the kids had their hearts set on returning to the KOA we’d stayed at last time because they’d had so much fun and probably wanted to spend most of their time in the camp. I figured, since we were traveling from home this time, we’d came in from the west, so at least the drive itself would be new.

If we hadn’t gone back, I would have missed the hike around Mt. Rushmore (President’s trail) and getting caught in a rain storm that drove us inside where we got to hear “President Lincoln” give a speech. This time we visited the Rushmore Cave where we heard tales of its history while we walked through designated areas. Then there was the chair lift; a whole new perspective on the monument. We took an ATV ride - got up close and personal with the Black Hills who also got up close with us; we were so dirty. We also visited Bear Country, where we saw more wild life in one drive through that park than all our other trips put together. See, we didn't spend so much time in the camp ground after all.

Another trip that illustrates the hazards of not driving around a little when you get some place, was our first time in Tahoe. We came in from the east and after a beautiful drive along the south-side of the lake to get to the campground, we felt like the direction we came in was the only way to go - that all the action was to the right. My husband decided to hunt for bear, the carved kind. So, every day when we left the camp ground - we turned right. We never found what he was looking for. Then we headed home and had to actually turn left. What did we see? A huge assortment of carved bears. This place was so close, we could have walked from our motor home - if we’d only gone the other direction!

So, when you take a trip, whether you stay in a camp ground, hotel or a relative’s house, make time to see some of the surrounding area. If you don’t, who knows what you’ll have missed!

And if you can - take your dog with you! Archie

Don't Leave Home Without It

The most used “gadget” on our motor home is the awning. How can anyone go RVing without one? Depending on the direction we’re parked, one side of our rig always stays shady.

Awnings are handy for hanging things, too. People tend to use it to hang ornamental lights, wind chimes and other decorations from it. I used to do that until one night in Mitchell, South Dakota. It was around two a.m., when the sound of the awning bouncing up and down woke me out of a deep sleep. I waited to see if it was a “jump out of bed quick” sound because, after all, Mike had spiked it into the ground. Another hard shudder and I knew it was a husband-waking worthy moment. On our way out, to save the awning, lucky for me, my son-in-law, who was along this trip, woke up and took my place in the awning brigade; I got to stay inside. Since this spot was a one-night stand, I hadn’t put our lights or any other decorations out but it still took them awhile to get it safely secured. After fighting the wind for awhile, they were finally able to roll it up. The guys looked around before they came back in and felt bad for the tent campers who were trying to sleep with their tents flat against their faces. After that night, I don’t hang a lot from our awning.

Another time, as we checked into an RV park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a couple pulled in with their awning hanging down from the side of their trailer. Their story - the winds picked up speed as they drove along the 40 and blew their awning so hard it extended itself out. Before they could get their rig pulled over, it had ripped partly away. I felt bad for them but got to experience it for myself on another trip as we headed up the 5 to visit my folks. My husband suddenly veered to the side of the road. When I asked what was wrong, he told me to look in my side-view mirror - our awning was flapped out, waving at passing traffic. We pulled over, jumped out and tried to get the awning to roll back into its cylinder but the wind kept catching it. Mike jumped back in the motor home while I walked beside it holding on to the awning trying to keep it from getting damaged. Mike pulled up onto the side of the road so he could park it out of the way of traffic but still use it as a wind block - scary. That maneuver enabled us to roll the awning back up and drive to the nearest Camping World, which actually wasn’t too much farther, where we bought an awning lock - don’t leave home without it!



Then there was the time we were parked at a casino RV park. On our walk the evening before, we had noticed a couple of rigs with torn and ripped awnings. We figured the owners had been having too much fun gambling and hadn’t noticed the wind’s increase in velocity. This time, we hadn’t used our awning because of a bad storm but it still got wet. Once the rain passed and the sun came out, we decided to unwind the awning and let it dry out a little. Since we were sitting right there in our chairs, enjoying the sun and weren’t going to leave it out too long, we didn’t bother with the de-flappers or to stake and anchor the awning. We were just watching the clouds go by, when I noticed how fast they were moving and said, “Mike, I think we should put the awning away.” He looked up at the sky and then at me and said, “I think it’ll be all right for a little while longer. The awning really needs to dry out.” At that very moment, it was like two, large invisible hands reached down from heaven, lifted the awning up and pushed the opposite ends up into a V-shape. This emancipated the awning and slammed the now free flying arms into the motor home before the whole thing flew up and landed on the roof! Our jaws dropped and we just stared. It had happened so fast, neither one of us even moved out of the way, so I was glad none of the free-flying aluminum had headed our way. Some of our camping neighbors came over to assist and Mike was able to get all the pieces off the top of the motor home and in a nice pile.

So, an awning is a necessity in my opinion but it can add excitement to your trip!

What are you doing with that thing?

Happy Halloween!

Why do you want to a motor home anyway? My people are always getting asked that question - nobody ever asks me. Wonder why?

Well, I’m glad we have one because no matter where we go, we’re always home. In the truck or Scion, I get nervous because I know Mike and Dana will go some place without me and then I’ll be left in a strange place by myself - I don’t like that.

Guess what? Mike doesn’t like to sleep in strange beds. In the motor home, where ever he ends up at night, he always gets to sleep in his own bed.

Sometimes, we can do good deeds in the motor home, like when Dana’s grandma needed to go from one daughter’s house to the other’s. We picked her up and took her, about 350 miles. In the motor home she could lay down and rest whenever she wanted. When it was time to eat, she didn’t even have to get out if she didn’t want to. As for me, I prefer to eat in the motor home because, for some reason, restaurants are not crazy about big dogs.

Once Genie went to a conference and needed someone to babysit her baby girl. We were able to get an RV spot not too far from the conference and Genie could come over whenever she had the chance.

When we visit relatives, we always have our own place to stay - no one has to give up their room when we come to visit.

The best thing about a motor home? It’s easy it is to change the scenery. Need some fresh mountain air? Drive on up. Miss the feel of sea spray from ocean waves? Head on over to the beach. Want to view a desert sunset? Just get there before the sun goes down.

Our favorite thing? Hanging out at a campground or RV park where family and friends can come over and be with us.

See you on the road!

The Wild Life

Had some technical troubles, so I’m a little late getting this out. Since I’m in a hurry, thought I’d just put out some of the wild life pics from our last trip.

Some of you are going to see just how urban we really are; most of you see more wildlife from your porch than we saw on our trips. Honestly, when we “camp” in the motor home, we like amenities, you know, like hook-ups. We are not “boon dockers” - not that there’s anything wrong with that. But camping the way we do, limits the wildlife interaction so, we get excited about it when we see any.

In Yosemite we saw a raven named Kevin. This guy was so tame and hung around the park tram so much they named him. (If an animal gets named, is it still wild?) We have a lot of crows at our house, but not friendly like Kevin.





While walking in the parking lot, my keen-eyed grandson spotted an injured butterfly, the tip of one wing was missing. Since was on the ground where many people were walking, Garrett put him in a bush. Not sure that was helpful but at least he didn’t get squished.

This was our top encounter. In Yosemite Village, we were sitting on a rock wall outside of one of the stores and this deer just walked right up...

...and started eating a bush.

On to Lake Tahoe and this osprey's pictures tell it's own story.

In Tahoe we took the gondola up to the top where we heard coyotes howling. Rangers told us they had just made a kill. The coyotes blended in so well with the landscape, I had a hard time seeing them. Finally, I spotted one lone fellow:

Well, the rest of the pics aren't downloading so will stop here. Have a wild week!