Cold & Wet spring

Unlike last May when we were here, it has been cold and rainy ever since we arrived over a week ago.Temps have been in the 40s every morning when we get up. Brrrrr!
And because of that, the Morel mushrooms have been scarce.However, Teddy was able to find enough right here on the farm, for a wonderful steak and Morel dinner last Wednesday. Once again confirming that although there are many different varietys of 'shrooms, Morels in our opinion are just about the best.

Summer Digs

After our trailer repairs were completed we traveled from Appleton to our summer digs here in Leelanau County, Michigan (near Traverse City)We are parked behind Deb & Fred's cottage; if you look closely you can see part of our trailer peeking around the porch.
Here's a view from the other side.


On the way here we stopped overnight in Escanaba, Michigan and visited Dan & Pat Martenson whom we had met in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. They showed us a grand time including a tour of Escanaba and a great dinner. In the evening we played a card game called 9-hole golf, which I lost miserably.
We will return to Appleton for a week at Calumet County Park over the 4th of July and then travel to Xenia, Ohio for the annual Whispering Pines summer reunion.

Appleton

We arrived in Appleton Wednesday evening. We had been having a problem with our furnace not lighting while on DC and also had another problem with the living room slide binding, so had previously made an appointment with Appleton Camping for Thursday morning. So, Thursday at 8AM we dropped the trailer at Appleton Camping and then took the truck in to the local GMC dealer for an oil change. While there we received a call from Jason at Appleton Camping informing us that we had a broken leaf spring on the left side of the trailer.
OH NO!
Here's an example of a leaf spring (not ours)
In thinking back we remember that the trailer begab to pull hard just east of Austin, Minnesota and we had attributed it to the wind. We hurried back to Appleton Camping, got the trailer and took it to the "Accurate Alignment Truck Center" for repair. They finished repairs by Friday evening including realignment and wheel bearing packing and we then took it back to Appleton Camping so that they could continue with their service on Monday morning. They graciously let us park in back of their service garage over the weekend and even furnished us an electeric hook-up. It is now Tuesday afternoon and they are supposed to be finished by closing today. They had to order some parts for the slide which we will have installed when we come back in July. I guess that in every life some rain must fall.
Meanwhile we have been having a grand time visiting Mike & Toni as well as our friends and Christine Street neighbors. We were also able to join the "Monday Night Martini Club" last evening at Greg & Sue's house. Present in addition to Greg & Sue were Dick & Jenn, Tom & Carol and Tony. We had a great time!
Cheers,
Larry & Teddy

One Year of Fulltiming

We arrived in our "old" home town of Appleton, Wisconsin Wednesday night, May 3, 2006 and thus completed our first year of fulltiming in an RV.
Here is a map of our first year travels.Although we miss our many friends and family here in Appleton we do not regret our decision to sell our house and go fulltime in an RV. We have been able to keep in close contact by phone, e-mail and occasional visits.
We have seen and done things that we never imagined...and I have sat on more different toilet seats in the past year than in my entire previous life.

Headin' East

...and after spending Tuesday night at another Flying J in Soux Falls, we headed east on I-90 for the appx. 400 mile run to Appleton, WI.East on I-90 in Western Minnesota.

However we couldn't pass Auston, Minnesota without stopping at the SPAM Museum.
We had missed stopping at the SPAM Museum two years ago when we attended a SCAMP Camp in Clear Lake, Iowa and I wasn't going to lose the opportunity again. We are glad that we stopped, it is a lot larger than we expected and wished that we could have spent more time there but we had a service appointment for the trailer in Appleton the next morning so had to get there for the night.

Sioux Falls

After spending the night at Chadrin, Nebraska we went north to I-90 at Rapid City, SD and then headed east toward Sioux Falls, SD (our "home town") and picked-up our mail at Alternative Resources there.

Carhenge

On the way from Cheyanne to our next stop at Chadrin, Nebraska we just had to stop and see
"Carhenge" at Alliance Nebraska.
Carhenge was erected in the middle of a dusty field by six local families during a reunion in 1987 and was erected to replicate Englands Stonehenge. Teddy at Carhenge.

The cars have since been painted a uniform grey to make the monument even more striking.
There was a time when the residents of Alliance, wanted to tear down Carhenge and the Nebraska Department of Highways wanted to label it a "junkyard" and build a big fence around it. Not any more! Now signs on the outskirts of town proudly identify Alliance as the "Home of Carhenge" as does the sign in front of the local Best Western. A gift shop down the road proclaims, "We sell Carhenge souvenirs."
According to the Carhenge's self-appointed caretaker, only about 40% of the people who visit know about the original Stonehenge. "We get a lot of remarks like, 'What the hell is this?' in our comments box," he sighs. "But the people come from all over just the same."
In the wake of Carhenge, anything goes, as evidenced by the first refriegerator Stonehenge under construction in northwest Santa Fe, NM. About 200 refrigerators are arranged in a dusty field as Stonefridge. The explanatory sketch on the fence reads: "From the Stone Age to the Appliance Age." It appears to be partly completed; the array of refrigerators will be stacked and combined into full size monoliths, with cross pieces, and astronomically configured. The artist, Adam Jonas Horowitz, is creating a "monument to consumerism," though he's been at since at least 1996, stymied at points by need for city approval and structural safeguards.

Cheyenne, WY

We spent Sunday night 4/30 at the Flying-J truck stop in Cheyenne, WY. Flying-Js encourage RVers by having seperate RV fuel pumps, dump stations, and allow free overnight parking. We had previously called our friends Sara & Bill Wallen who live in Fort Collins, CO (abt 30 miles away) and told them when we would be there so they drove up and we had dinner togather and they then visited us in our trailer.

Caldwell to Rawlins, Wyoming

This morning we woke up at a Flying J truck stop in Rawlings, Wyoming. Altitude here is over 7000 feet and as we aren't yet aclimitized to this altitude we didn't sleep well. They say that it take from 3 to four days. The drive here through Northeastern Utah & NW Wyoming was spectacular.

We passed Devils Slide near Salt Lake







and then in to the Rockies and over the "Continental Divide"

Klamath Falls to Caldwell

After leaving Harlan & Shirley's we traveled north to Bend, Oregon and then took route 20 east to Caldwell, Idaho

Along the way we saw this "Shoe Tree" near Burns, Oregon but didn't pick any as they weren't quite ripe yet.

Klamath Falls

After leaving Dugway we traveled NW through Utah's famous Bonneville Salt Flats to Klamath Falls, Oregon to visit our friends Harlan & Shirley Weise whom we had met on our 2003 trip to Alaska.
Teddy at the salt flats. It crunches when you walk on it.
They treated us to a day trip to Crater Lake however at some 7000 feet in altitude, we found that it was still snowed in. The lodge was buried under snow.
Since the restrooms were also buried, they had tunnels under the snow that led to them.

Larry, Harlan & Shirley

There were 15 foot snow banks on either side of the road. Not to be put off though, Teddy managed to climb up on the snow and get this pict of Crater Lake. The ranger that was there warned her not to get too close to the edge or she would slide down and never be seen again. As usual she makes me nervous when she takes it in her head to do such things. :-(

Tonight (4/27/06) we are in Jerome, Idaho and slowly working our way back to Wisconsin/Michigan.

Dugway

Last weekend (April 20 - 23) we visited my cousin Kit and her husband Morgan Benson at their home on an Army base in Dugway, UT. Morgan works for the U.S. Goverment as a civilian contractor.
While there we went on a day trip into the desert and searched for geods, visited old pony express stations and explored an old abonded gold mine.

Despite the warning signs, Teddy had to explore this abandoned gold mine




Teddy & Kit

Larry & Morgan

On the road again

We left Lake Havasu City Tuesday for the drive north to Dugway, UT.
Joshua trees like this abound on Rt. 95 south of Las Vegas.

The drive up I-15 to Salt Lake from Las Vegas is beautiful. On tuesday we came through this pass by the Virgin River in northern Arizona.We spent Tuesday night in St. George, UT and Wednesday night at Nephi, UT. This is the sight that greeted us coming into Nephi.

Last post from Lake Havasu City

Well...the time has come to leave Lake Havasu City for the season. Yesterday we took advantage of the nice weather to enjoy our last day here.
Spent some time in the pool.
Then in the afternoon we went down to "The Bridge" and explored the shops along the bridge walk.


Took some pict of the birds there.
...and a fish under the bridge
One last pict of Teddy and it was time to leave.

We have enjoyed our time here in at Havasu Falls RV Resort and look forward to returning next fall but in the meantime there are more roads to explore and friends & family to visit.

The Morning Walk

Pat Martenson and Teddy out for their morning walk. Pat & her husband Dan are from Escanaba, Michigan and along with us are the only "snowbirds" left in the park. They are leaving to go back to Michigan next Tuesday. Teddy & I have been playing a card game called "Nine Hole Golf" with them the past few evenings.

Update on Avian Motorhome

Teddy managed to snap this pict while mama was off the nest. However the next day the owners came back and evidently were not amused as we found the nest and broken egg on the ground and the car was gone. :-(

Temps going up in Arizona!

Not much happening at Havasu Falls RV. We are the last of the "snowbirds" still here. We will be pulling out next Wednesday to go up to Utah ant visit Kit and Morgan.
Afternoons are quite hot now in Arizona; we have been running the air conditioning the last couple of days for the first time this winter which I guess means that there is no more "this winter". It's now "this spring".
It cools off quickly when the sun goes down though for nice nighttime sleeping weather.

Avian Motorhome

Another camper in the park has went away on a cruse leaving their car; since they aren't using the car, this Mourning Dove feels that it is a good place to start a family.

Pegs & Jokers

Most of the winter "snowbird" residents have now left on their annual migration north. The four couples of us left are still playing "Pegs & Jokers" and "Mexican Train" in the evening and two of those couples are leaving tomorrow. The park is now mostly populated by transient travelers that come in and stay two or three days and move on. They generally are younger, have small children and spend their days lounging around the pool.
Here we are last night at the penultimate game night in the clubhouse.

Left to right: Kay Burkholder, Bill Burkholder, Jim Babcock, Carol Babcock, Lois Garrett, Larry Page

(photo by Hugh Walford)

Atrial Fibrillation

Pretty big word for what happened to me!

I was a guest of this establishment for the past couple of days. Wednesday evening at about 11:30 pm my little ol' heart started to go pitty-pat. It's a heck of a weird feeling and a little scary but I had it once before a couple of years ago and it cleared up after a few moments. However, this time it didn't seem to quit and my pulse shot up to around 130. Over Teddy's protestations I decided to go to bed in the hope that it would pass by morning. But...by 1:30 it was getting worse and I was developing pain in my left arm and shoulder so I gave in and decided to drive to the local hospital. They soon got me stabilized but decided to admit me. So, I got me a Doctor and he got me another Doctor who was a heart guy and I got hooked up to all of the expensive machines that the hospital had. There was a machine that went "pingg", another one that showed wiggly lines on a TV and a big machine that sucked me inside and than slowly spun around me. Needless to say I was very impressed as I like electronic gadgets. Oh yah, there also was a nurse that would wait till I was sleeping and then come into my room and give me a shot in my belly; I didn't object though 'cause she was a pretty good looker. BUT...then...on Friday morning the fun stopped when they made me walk very fast on a treadmill till I was so out of breath that I could barely stand. Then they sent me back to my room while they all stood around and talked about me. That afternoon my first doctor came by and told that they couldn't find anything wrong and for me to go home as they couldn't afford to feed me anymore.
So...here I am, back at the RV park. Everything is back to normal EXCEPT now Teddy says I have to go on some crazy diet that she found in a book store. BUMMER

Even in Paradise there is an occasional bad day

Not such a nice day today. sprinkles of rain off and on, colder and VERY windy. Stayed in the trailer most of the day and read.
Teddy took this picture of it raining across the river in California.

Burrowing Owls

Teddy discovered a family of Burrowing Owls nearby in a wash below the park. I managed to get this long telephoto shot of one of the parents with a fledgeling. You can tell from the "whitewash" job on the post that this seems to be a favorite perch.

Teddy was able to climb down and got this shot with her camera.