Fun, Fun Fun!!

Fun, Fun Fun!!

Friday May 30th - Catch 22 - Chicken or Egg?

WOW! IT’S HOT!

The temperature hit mid 90’s and very humid. Normally I like the humid weather, but I have gotten use to the dry in Colorado. I like humid because I don’t feel like I have to have lotion on all the time and I breathe better, but I forgot the clammy feeling all the time. Now I am not sure which I prefer.

We were up about 6am, had our coffee and just sat around talking, reading and writing. We decided to look at the paper work we were given yesterday, about what we needed to gather in order to get things registered and licensed. To get a license in the state of Texas, you MUST have a social security card. I missed placed my card years ago.

I called the Dept. of Public Safety (driver’s license office) to find out what other forms of ID I could use. I have always used my birth certificate, but that will not work. I expressed my disbelief to the lady saying “it’s good enough for the I-9 federal form”, that needs to be filled out when you employ someone to prove they are not an illegal alien. Then she asked if I had a Medicare card, which I replied “I am not old enough”.

Anyway, by this time I was getting stressed and she could tell, so she asked me to hold on. She put her supervisor on the phone and I was given the same information. She gave me the nearest SS office to where we were.

So we got dressed walked the boys and went to the mail building to get an address/mail forwarding service. They were very nice and efficient and with in 15 minutes we were Texas residences. Amazing!

Then off to the SSD office in Lufkin, 45 minutes away. Once we got inside there is a computer you input the number which corresponds to the serve you need and it prints out a ticket with a number on it and you have a seat. Jesse said “We will be here awhile” There were only two windows open and about 7-8 people before me. But when the second person was done 3 of the people left with her. I was called to the window within 5 minutes of being there. COOL!

Now, all I needed to get a replacement SS card was to fill out a form, (name, address, place of birth, Fathers and Mothers names) and show a valid driver’s license. Go figure, can’t get a driver’s license without a SS card and all the ID you need to get a SS card is a driver’s license. Is this like the chicken and the egg? Anyway you have to wait 7-10 days for them to mail your card.

By this time it was 1:30 and we wanted lunch. So we stopped at Dairy Queen (Jesse’s choice). When we were back in Livingston we decided that Jesse to go and get his Driver’s License. We went to the office, but were told we had to have our vehicles registered first.

So we went to Wal*Mart, to get a Brita water system and I needed to get a prescription refilled.

After we got home Jesse fixed the clothes rod (we hope). We relaxed, had leftovers for dinner and a peach dump cake for dessert. After the sun went down, but not dark, we took the boys for a long walk around the park. It is really a nice park, lots of permanent homes and trailers. Sorry I didn’t take the camera, so no pictures. I will have some tomorrow.

Until then

See you down the road.

Thursday May 29 - Another Travel Day

We arrived at our final destination for this leg of the trip. Rainbow’s End; Livingston TX, we paid for a week @ $75.00. I neglected to mention that the PA Park last night cost $12.50.





Now where can you stay for $10.71 per night for 2 two people and 3 dogs and have all your own stuff with you. This is SWEET.

We traveled 300 miles exactly today leaving at 8am and arriving at 2:15pm. We stopped for lunch, gas and several potty breaks. It was a easy level drive per Jesse. There were some steep dips in the road which caused a few things to move around in the Kram-a-lot, but nothing major. That tells me that we have things packed pretty well.

One thing Jesse has to fix is the hanging rod in the closet. He had read on forums prior to leaving that they fall often, so he put a brace on it, but it didn’t work. He also has to work on the toilet, as it is not holding water. So we will make a trip to Lowes for supplies.

Since we left Pueblo we have towed 995 miles and drove a total of 1,092 miles. We have averaged 11.21 miles per gallon.

www.escapees.com/parkpages/rainbowsend/rainbowsend.asp.
This park is very large with different areas. It is the headquarters for Escapee’s. They have a pool, activity center, care center, club house, several bath houses and laundry rooms. We are in the area called “The Trees” #32. As the name implies it is nicely shaded.






They do tours of the Care Center on M, W, & F at 11:00am. That was something that the lady who checked us in recommended. She also gave us all the information to gather what we needed to get everything registered and licensed and where to go.

I have contacted a friend that lives in Houston that we plan to see while we are here, other then that we just plan to relax.

Until tomorrow

See you down the road.

Wednesday May 28 - Long Travel Day

Last night Crazy Chuck was doing a lot of banging into our windows, but our boys didn’t like it at all and they let him know it by barking at him. We think it scared him at first until he realized they couldn’t get him then he did it more. This went on all evening, it was very entertaining.

We were up early again this morning, as we wanted to get an early start. It was very cool this morning temps were 54 degrees. We were ready to move to the dump station by 8:15. But not before Chuck gave us one last bang. He banged into our wind shield in the truck. I guess it was his way of saying good bye to the boys. There was no line for dumping. This was actually our first time dumping at a station. Jesse did marvelous, while I took pictures.

Then much to our dismay we were on way to Wal*Mart. You see we had been having a slow leak in the rear passenger tire since we left. Jesse had been keeping a close eye on it. Well this morning he finally found the reason. We had a screw in the tire. So we were off to get that repaired.

Went we got there we were told that it would be about an hour before they could get to us. We asked about going somewhere else close and they sent us to a Goodyear tire place; Canyon Tire & Auto on 23rd Street. (If you are in the area and need help) By this time it had started to mist some and very cool. They were very nice young men. They had the truck jacked up with the RV still attached, the tire off and repaired in no time. Within 30 minutes we were on our way. They even gave Jesse a faster route to get to 287 South.

That was our route today TX 287 South for 328 miles. The drive was uneventful. It started to get warmer around noon, the temps reached 90. We never stopped for lunch. By the time we arrived at our destination at 4:00 we were very tired, thirsty and hungry. I know, I know. What had I done all day but sit there? Jesse drove all day.

Well I kept him entertained. I wrote and posted the journal, I took a nap, I made him stop more times then he wanted to for potty breaks. That was hard work. LOL :~)

Anyway we are here for just an overnight. It’s a Passport America Park that has 40 sites. www.sunsetrvparktexas.com Most are large drive throughs, which is what we have and we stayed hooked to the truck. They are building another 40 sites here that should open soon. One of the owners Jan Parish, asked if were would be doing camp hosting. I told we would, so I gave her a card to contact us in the future. Always good to keep our options opened.

I made Taco Salad for dinner and then we relaxed in front of the TV and computers until bed.
See you down the road.

Tuesday May 27 - Time Change Confusion

Today started at 5:30 again, or so we thought. We were really messed up with the time change. We knew we were in Central Time zone some things had that time zone and others still had Mountain Time. Anyway we actually got up at 6:30 and sat around drinking coffee and just enjoying the morning reading and writing.

It had been very hot yesterday in the 90’s, and we slept with the air conditioner on, but today was only suppose to be in the low 80’s.


By the time we had breakfast, were showered and dressed and had the boys all settled in it was 12:30pm and we were on our way to scout out the Canyon. We drove around the loop, and saw the Texas Long Horn Steers, they are huge. Our son-in-law DJ has one that must be a miniature. I will download a picture when we have WiFi.



Once we were finished looking at the Canyon we were on our way to Wal-Mart for groceries. I had a list and stuck to it, I only got two extra things that were not on the list. Good job!!

Back home we put all the groceries away, walked to boys and continued to just sit around relaxing. Jesse was mapping out our route from here to Livingston, TX and I was entering bills and updating spreadsheets.

While we were in town we had stopped at Pizza Hut and we each had a personal pan pizza and a Pepsi, which came to $9.01 with tip, so we only had leftovers for dinner.

We wanted to leave early tomorrow because we were planning to traveling 300 miles; which is 100 more then we had originally planned. We are trying to reach Livingston in 2 days.

After finishing the remake of Andromeda Strain we started last night we walked the boys and were off to bed.

Can’t wait to see what excitement has in store for us tomorrow, until then..

See you down the road

Monday May 26, 2008 - MY Hero Day

We were up again at 5:30. I felt a bit groggy from the 2 Tylenol PM’s I had taken last night, but at least I slept. Jesse walked the dogs while I made coffee. We sat and had our coffee and messed around reading and writing for about 2 hours.


We then got things ready to move on. Got cleaned up and dressed for the move to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. We left at 9:30am; the trip was uneventful, very barren land. We saw antelope and lots of cows. Probably the most interesting was the wind turbine “farm”. There were hundreds of big turbines generating electricity.


It occurred to me that we should get more use from what was given to us via the sun and wind. It is really a shame that people cannot afford or won’t get the equipment to use these natural resources to generate their own power.


We arrived at Palo Duro at 2:45 after stopping one time for more coffee and one time for fuel @ $4.669 per gallon. Just like the Payne’s we are paying $30.00 per night and will be here two nights. We have site #120 right next to the site H&L had. We also adopted Crazy Chuck, or should I say he adopted us; the cardinal that keeps banging into our back window.


I will post pictures if we can find someplace for WiFi. Jesse couldn’t get the desktop to connect to the network using our air card. He got the laptop connected, but is very slow; it would take most of the day to upload pictures.


We got set up and I made dinner. I made potato salad, baked beans, and I had hot dogs, Jesse had hot Italian sausage. I also made an apple dump cake for dessert.


We relaxed and I watched (Jesse napped) a remake of the Andromeda Strain. Then we walked the boys and got ready for bed. Realizing that I didn’t set the time on the bedroom clock, I went to do this, but couldn’t find my glasses. I thought a moment and remembered; I had them in my shirt when we went out to walk the boys, which meant they were out there somewhere in the darkness.


Jesse got out of bed, dressed and when out in search for them. I had little hope that he would find them as it was very, very dark tonight, no moon. But he came back in just a few minutes with my UNSCRATCHED glasses. AMAZING. The best part was he made no smart remarks or had any "looks" for me, he just did what he signed up to do almost 29 years ago, take care of me.


MY HERO!!.


Until tomorrow


See you down the road.


Sunday May 25, 2008 - 1st Full Day on the Road

Today we started out as retired people living in our RV. It was a good feeling; although I didn’t sleep very well. The power management system (surge suppressor) that Jesse installed kept making the power go off. This happened about 4-5 times and it woke me each time. The boys were very restless and I was really sore from my fall yesterday.

By 5:30am everyone was ready to get out of the bed, even me as I could not fall back off to sleep. I started the coffee and we walked the boys and Jesse changed to a different electric plug and that fixed the power surges. We turned on the fireplace as the temperature was 54 degrees and had our coffee and talked about our day.

After awhile Jesse went out to try and setup the satellite for the TV again. He couldn’t get the signal, no signal, on signal, and then he got locked on. When he came in he couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t working. Come to find out he didn’t have the satellite hooked up to the receiver box. Once he got it hooked up correctly, everything was working correctly.

By this time it was 9am and I made us some breakfast and cleaned up. We messed around awhile longer got cleaned up and dressed to go to the Capulin Volcano National Park www.nps.gov/cavo/geology.htm.


This is a picture of the bottom of the volcano


After that we took a drive to the Folsom. There were cattle guards all along the road, but it didn't keep them from crossing. They were all over the place.




We walked around the Folsom Museum. It was a real sleepy town and the Museum looked like an antique shop. It had lots of old stuff in it.

Here is a picture the Volcano from our camp site.






Here’s one of our site with Jesse and the boys.




GOOD NEWS:
Jesse didn't forget to bring the power cord, he just forget where he put it. It is found and we are not sharing.

We went for a few walks around the area with the boys tonight. I made us dinner, we had planned to grill but the wind won’t let up, therefore I made chicken and fried pasta for dinner. We relaxed for the evening and did some computer stuff. Jesse is trying to figure out our route after we leaving Palo Duro. I went to bed early 8:30. Tomorrow is a travel day for us.
It is also Memorial Day a day to honor fallen military.

I salute you!




See you down the road.






Saturday May 24, 2008 - 1st Day on the Road - Alyssa's Birthday

Today is our niece Alyssa's 9th birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALYSSA PAIGE !!




We were awake early 5:30am. We had a cup of coffee then at 6am we started getting things packed. We packed and cleaned the house and didn’t finish until around 12:30pm. We did stop one time to have a sandwich.

We showered and left the house at 1:30pm. We traveled 145 miles (very windy all the way) and arrived at 4:15pm to http://www.capulinrvpark.com/. It is a family owned park and quite cute. We will be here 2 nights and paid $45.00. We got set-up; Jesse did the outside and I did the inside.

As I was going outside to get some things out of the truck I fell down the steps. Jesse came to help me up and I went in to clean myself up. No blood, just dirty. I am sure I will be bruised and sore tomorrow.

We asked if there was some place to eat in town, but there is only a breakfast/lunch place, but were told if we went to Des Moines, which was 9 miles east, that there is a restaurant there. So we drove to Des Moines for dinner. It’s not much as these towns are very, very small, but what I expected. Jesse had a hamburger steak, fries and coffee, I had chicken quesadillas and a diet coke and the bill came to $23.00 with tip.

Once we were back at the RV it was time to relax. I watched a movie, (Jesse napped the movie as usual) because Jesse couldn’t get the satellite to lock on and was too tired to try anymore tonight.

What have we forgotten? Jesse forgot the power cable for the desktop computer. So we are going to have to share the lap top until we get somewhere that we can hopefully purchase a new one. I will let you know how well we share in a few days. I forgot potholders, no big deal.

I will have picture of the RV Park tomorrow. Until then……..

See you down the road.

Friday May 23, 2008 - Retirement, Family and Tribute

Today is our last working day; we will be officially retired after today.

They sent the guy that is taking over Jeese's route with him today, so he was finished the route around 11:30am. They had a pizza party and cake for him. His boss had written up a fact sheet of what was happening in the world in 1990 the year Jesse started with Cintas. It was very interesting probably the most notable was that Mikhail Gorbachev won the Nobel Peace Prize. They also gave him a $50.00 gift card from Chili’s (one of our favorites).

After work we had to take Mr. B to the vets. It is usually Jesses’ snoring that wakes me during the night, but the past two nights it was Mr. B’s snoring and a cough of sorts. The vet called it a reverse sneeze, although I have never been all that pleased with the vet in Pueblo. I miss our vet from Baltimore. Anyway she gave him a shot of synthetic steroids and said it should clear up. Well it has gotten better, but not gone. “Can dogs catch cold”


Once we left the vet we went to pick up our Grandson Gage and then to Adams house.


Our kids were having a family retirement/going away party for us. We had a great time visiting with everyone and the food was delicious. Adam had prepared some chicken and jalapeño wrapped in bacon then fried. They were very good (although I took out the jalapeño before I ate mine).



For dinner they made shish-bobs with shrimp, chicken, elk steaks, and all the vegetables.


Beth had made a pasta salad and a green salad and everything was delicious, and being with family was the best. For desert we had ice-cream sundaes. A good time was had by all.



One more picture of Colt and Kacie.



After we dropped Gage back home we went home. We very tired and went right to bed. We have a busy day tomorrow.


Today would had been my Father's 83rd birthday. I miss him more then words can express.




See you down the road



Wednesday May 21, 2008 - Last Hump Day!

Today was my last hump day. I stayed busy at work; I had an audit for insurance which was painless.

I had made an appointment for the boys to be groomed and Kristie at Puppy Love Dog Grooming allowed me to come and watch while she did Buddy. I have purchased a table so I can do it myself while on the road. Thank you Kristie!!! The boys will miss you. Jesse got off work at 11:30am so he was able to bring the boys and pick them up which was a great help.

When I got home we made chicken on the grill. Once we had it all cleaned up we packed more things in the RV.

Since I will not be cooking in the house after tonight we packed pots, pans, and utensils. We also packed clothes, games, office supplies and a few pantry items.

After that we were too tired to do more, so we relaxed to watch American Idol finals. I was very pleased with the outcome as I think David A. is very talented, but too young. I don’t really like hard rock music, but I am sure I will listen to most of what David Cook sings.

Until tomorrow
See you down the road

Tuesday May 20, 2008 - Babies are Gone

Just wanted to let everyone know the babies are gone. Thanks to everyone who wanted to help. We are busy finishing our work week and getting things packed and ready to leave.

Until tomorrow.

See you down the road

Monday May 19, 2008 - Last Working Monday

Today was a work day. Soon I will not have to say that. I had a lot of odds and ends to clean up at work.

Jesse got off at 12:30. He went home to make reservation for our 1st stop http://www.capulinrvpark.com in New Mexico. We will spend 2 nights there.

Once I got home Jesse and I readied a few more things in the RV. Jesse had installed the mount for the bedroom TV and wanted to show me his handy work. Good job honey! We also tested the shower and NO leaks, another good job.

I was too tired and sore to do much work tonight. I guess moving the chair and freezer was too much for this old gal.

While I was making dinner I received a call from our realtor and they wanted to show the house tomorrow morning. Of course I said yes, but that meant I needed to straighten up the house.

After all that was done and dinner finished and cleaned up we retired to the family room. We were waiting for our son Adam to arrive. He is cutting the grass and keeping an eye on the house for us while we are gone and we needed to give him a key. I am also giving him 2 of my house plants, to keep and care for, I plan to take the 4 others with us.

When he was there we talked about the baby birds and when we went to the hitch, we didn’t hear anything chirping. Hopefully that means they have left the nest. I will check tonight and get back to everyone that had words of wisdom for us. Thanks for all the help!

Until tomorrow

See you down the road.

Sunday, May 18, 2008 - Need Bird Advice and more Preparation

We started our day with a cup of coffee then showering and went out to breakfast at our favorite place Cracker Barrel. Then on to Lowes, Jesse needed to buy the wrench thingy and a few other things. Then we were off to Wal-Mart.

The foam mattress didn’t pass the test. It was not uncomfortable, but it wasn’t any better either. So it went back to Wal-Mart today. How did that thing come out of that box? We could barely fold it enough to get it in the truck to return it. Wal-Mart is great, we told them we slept on it one night, and they took it back no questions. We were sure glad because the $160.00 was better in our pockets.

Once we got home, we put all the groceries away, changed clothes, then we were back to work on getting things ready for departure. We put 1 of the rocker recliners back in that came with the RV. Jesse wants to replace it with a euro recliner, but we can’t find one in Pueblo. We will be looking for one in our travels. We have a chest freezer that we are taking and that went in place of the other recliner.

Jesse worked on the shower drain and I started laundry. I also packed up more kitchen things like blender, crockpot, mixer, griddle, and some pantry items. I got some of my craft things ready that I am taking and I am starting to make lists.

Update on the baby birds living in our hitch. As you can see there are 3 babies.



We need advice from the birders out there. What can we do with them next week when we are leaving? If we move the nest will the Mommy still take care of them? And if we move it, where do we move it? We have NO trees to put them in. WHAT DO WE DO?

We had planned to go to the movies today, but found that we had no time. Once we called it a day I made dinner, we relaxed, watched TV and did some computer reading.

Tomorrow is our last Monday to work.
Until then..

See you down the road.

Saturday, May 17, 2008 - A Day of Preparation

Today was a busy day for us. Jesse was up at 5:20am and I got up at 6am. We had our coffee while reading, writing and talked about next Saturday.

Around 9am we had some breakfast and then went out to get the Kram-a-lot ready.

1st thing was to install the new Tonneau truck bed cover. That took us quite awhile. It was very hard to pull the cover down and snap it. I sure hope it stretches some.

Then I cleaned the inside. I took all the dishes out of the RV into the house and ran them through a light cycle in the dishwasher. I wiped out all the cabinets and drawers. I washed all the windows and cleaned the screens.

Then I stared to pack up things. I packed bath towels, hand towels, wash clothes, place mats, table clothes, cleaning towels, dog towels, and sheets. I put them all in the new shelves Jesse made for me and they fit nicely. (Thank you honey for all your hard work) Then I packed all the dogs’ things, clippers, shampoo, toothbrushes, and toothpaste.

I then went to my kitchen and took some of the things out of the cabinets that we are taking. Hopefully I will not need any of those things this week. I took ½ of my flatware, steak knives, and serving flatware. (I don't think I will be serving dinner for 12 during our 6 weeks out) I also got the clean dishes out of the dishwasher and put everything away in the RV (wondering the whole time “how many times will I rearrange these things”).

After that I went to our bedroom and decided what clothes I would be taking. I put all the clothes on the bed in the spare bedroom for now. I will have the week to add or delete items (which I am sure I will do many times during this week).

"What was Jesse doing during this time" you ask? Well he cleaned the basement, vacuumed and rearranged, (It looks good) worked on repairing the shower drain that leaks and still does. He needs to buy some sort of wrench thingy. Got soaked by the water heater. See picture.



He also aired up the air tank, and sanitized the water system. By this time it was 4pm and we didn’t feel like going out for dinner. We decided to have hot dogs and beans.

Once dinner was over we decided to sleep in the RV tonight. We purchased a 4” foam topper for the mattress a few weeks ago and before we cut it to size we wanted to make sure we liked it, so we made the bed so we could try it out.

We had some shows from the week recorded that we watched (I watched TV Jesse napped) until we when off to bed. The boys were very confused about the sleeping arrangements and took awhile to settle.

Until tomorrow

Hope to see you down the road.

Friday, May 16, 2008 - An Evening with Friends

TGFI again and only one more to go. Work was normal for Friday as it was pretty slow. I was taking off early today because we were spending the evening with friends.

Jim and Ellie were meeting us at Red Lobster for dinner, then back to our house for dessert. We were greeted with hugs and handshakes as they were already there when we arrived.

First thing Jesse noticed was the Corona in Jim’s hand. That answered the question do they do cocktails? Well at least Jim does, Ellie was driving so she had iced tea. We were seated right away and Jesse ordered a draft and a glass of wine for me.

We all ordered shrimp prepared in various ways and everyone enjoyed their meal. We talked about ours plans, and their plans and just enjoyed being together. After dinner they followed to our house.

Of course our boys thought they were there to see them, so they were all over them. Once the initial greetings were over they went and laid down (the boys not Jim and Ellie :~)

We started playing some serious canasta. We played partners the guys against the girls. Jesse had never played canasta before and it had been since I was a teenager that I had played, but we both had played hand and foot, so the transition was easy. I am sorry to say the guys won both games, but a good time was had by all. Getting to know these two is such a blessing, I hope Jesse and I are lucky enough to meet more good people through our travels down the road.

I served dessert. I had baked some cookies (chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin) and a dump cake, my 1st try at this one. I made it with cherries and crushed pineapples and a yellow cake mix. I served it warm and Jesse wondered where's the ice cream? Everyone said they liked it; I thought the top needed to be crunchier. Jim suggested putting it under the broiler next time.

When the evening came to a close we wished them safe travels, said our good byes with hugs and handshakes. We are all looking forward to Branson, until then.........

See you down the road.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - Hump Day

Today is hump day and nothing exciting happened.


Jesse worked on switching out the surraound sound speakers, DVD player/recorder and the stereo from the house to the RV. The ones that came with the RV are no name and ours are much better equipment. From what he said this was not as easy as it sounded. He had to take out the fireplace and the TV to get to the speakers. The TV and speakers were secured to the cabinet from the bottom of each item by screws. They all needed to be taken out, then replaced by our better quality units then secured back by screws. I guess it took him longer then he thought it would. He was still working on it when I got home.


I made dinner while he showered and then just sat around watching TV until bed time.


Maybe tomorrow will be a more exciting day.

See you down the road

Tuesday May 13, 2008 - Stalking



Today started as most work days do. Up at 5:30am, shower, brush teeth, let dogs out, make a cup of coffee, take pills, let dogs in, and then get dressed while watching “Days of our Lives”. I tape the show each day and watch it the next morning. I have been doing this for many, many years. It’s the only soap that I have watched from the beginning.


You get caught up in these peoples’ lives and they seem like your friends and family. It feels the same way when you are reading blogs. I have gotten so involved with the lives of the RV’er I read about every day that it almost feels like I am stalking them. I certainly hope they do not feel that way, as I enjoy reading the 10-15 blogs on a daily basis.


I have time while at work to do this reading. Hopefully once we are on the road I will have time to keep up with them.


We had chicken Caesar salad and garlic bread for dinner. I got things clean up and we settled down to relaxing and watching American Idol.


Only 8 more working days left.


Today I will leave you with a few pictures of the modification Jesse has done to the Kram-a-lot. I have been waiting for him to write up something, but you know how that goes. These "mods" were all my ideas, but Jesse did all the work.


Before, with all carpet





After with laminate flooring





Another view







Jesse also put in a new facet with a sprayer attached









I truly love that my husband is sooooo handy. Thanks Honey!


See you down the road.















Monday, May 12, 2008 - Madison's Day

Today was just another Monday. It was very warm here; a beautiful day, high’s in the mid 80’s. In the evening the winds started to blow very hard. Tomorrow’s highs are supposed to be 50 and rainy. Ah, spring time in the Rockies.

I didn’t sleep very well last night. I awoke around midnight with severe cramps in my lower abdomen. That went on for about an hour before I finally relieved myself and then felt better. I was not able to get back to sleep until after 3am.

We haven’t gotten any feed-back from the showing on Sunday. I wish we could just get it done. I would so like to begin the next chapter of our lives.

When I got home, Jesse moved the Kram-a-lot around to the driveway so we can get things ready for our trip. Having it right there makes it all seem more real. I have to get it all cleaned and packed, as we haven’t been out in it since last October.

Today is our Great Neice Madison's 6th Birthday



HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MADISON !!




I made dinner and we relaxed and watch TV.
I was very tired so I went to bed around 8:30pm.



See you down the road.

Sunday, May 11, 2008 - Mother's Day

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY !!




Today I got up at 6am. The 1st thing I was greeted with was a box of chocolate from my boys and Jesse and 4 cards.

Jesse made coffee and we talked about the weekend and our plans after the next 2 weeks. We didn’t have a lot of time as we needed to get dressed and out of the house by 9:30 for the showing.

With the dogs in the car we were off. We went to Barnes and Noble. They had sent me an email informing me that the book I ordered was in “It’s a dog’s life but it’s your carpet”. While we were there we got a coffee and pastry from the coffee shop.

Then we went over to the Office Max, as I wanted to pick up some card stock. Then we were off to Wal-Mart for groceries.

Once we were home and everything was put away I gave the dogs a bath. Then we relaxed and went to our computers and read blogs. Jesse wanted to take me out to dinner, but I decided to stay home and make dinner. We made shrimp linguine with alfredo sauce, caesar salad and garlic bread. It was very good and Jesse cleaned up, while I watched a marathon of “Jon and Kate plus eight”.

Later we watched the finale of Survivor, and then it was off to bed.


I am leaving you today with a picture of someone I admire very much. She is a wonderful Mother and Grandmother and I am blessed to have her as a Sister.


Sondra here's to you - Love Ya!!!!




Until tomorrow.
See you down the road.

Saturday, May 10, 2008 - Mother's Day Weekend

Friday was just a usual day, only 2 more to go. Jesse got off work and went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things for the weekend.

Our daughter and son-in-law have an annual weekend Mother’s Day pig roast and skeet shoot. This was there 5th one. Everyone is invited to come out on Friday, with their campers or tent and spend the weekend just having fun. They had a large crowd this year with 5 or 6 campers and 5 tents.

Jesse goes out on Friday and usually sleeps in the back of the Explorer, but this year he slept in their camper. I don’t go out on Friday; I stay home with our boys, taking them is just too much of a hassle. The guys kill and butcher the pig then play cards. They cook the pig starting at mid-night in a home made 400 gallon roaster and it cooks with charcoal for 8-10 hours.

So I had the evening to myself. I got in the chat room for a while, watched TV and relaxed.

On Saturday once I got up I started laundry and got on the computer. I didn’t spend much time on there as I need to get dressed to go to Beth’s. I stopped at Wal-Mart to get the 50 pieces of fried chicken that Jesse ordered for me while he was at Wal-Mart yesterday. That was our contribution to the lunch they have at noon. They provide the pig, paper goods and drinks and everyone brings a side dish. There was lots of food.

Now the worst part of all this is I FORGOT THE CAMERA so no pictures.

They were just starting the skeet shoot when I got there at 10am. This activity takes all day and I think it is rather boring. They have several divisions for men, women and children and they give trophies for the top 3 in each division.

I left about 5pm and Jesse followed shortly behind. Once we got home we straighten up the house as we have a showing tomorrow between 9:30-11:30 am.

Here are some pictures from the 2007 weekend.

The roaster



Cutting up the meat



The particpants



And the final Grampy and Colt bonding.



I will leave you wishing all the Mommy’s out there HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!!

See you down the road.

Thursday, May 8, 2008 - Hearing From New RV Friends

Today we had very nice weather, mostly sunny and temps in the low 70’s.

Cindy T, I am glad you are enjoying our journal. We have had the pleasure of meeting Howard and Linda also and think they are wonderful, kind, and caring people. We are going to Rally in June and can hardly wait. I know they will make it GREAT FUN! I wish you much luck on planning your journey to full timing. Let us know if we can help in anyway.

Being the dog lover that I am, I too think Boo Boo is very sweet. She is very friendly as is Jasmine and Mr. Bo Jangles, and their parents are pretty special folks also.

I had a doctor’s appointment today and to my dismay my blood pressure is sky high again. I am still on medication, so I don’t know what is going on. I am going to attribute it to all the stress of leaving our jobs, trying to sell the house and just getting everything ready to leave. I am sure that it will get better once we are on the road. For now I will have to monitor it on a daily basis. And I have to go tomorrow morning to have blood work done.

Jesse also had an appointment with a podiatrist for his toe. He smashed it a few years ago and now the nail will not grow right. He is going to have it removed and the doctor will do a procedure that will prevent it from growing back. Unfortunately he will have to wait until we get back from our RV Adventure.

Work was just another day, when I got home we had our dinner then relaxed and watched Survivor. Then it was off to bed.

I am leaving you with a picture we took in October 2005 of Pikes Peak.



See you down the road.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008 -

It rained here most of the morning, which we really needed. The late afternoon early evening turn out to quite nice. Tomorrow is supposed to be low 70’s and chance of rain.

Another busy day at work. We are working on getting some proposals out and my assistance was needed.

Soon we will be on the road, 16 more days until we take off.

We have purchased the following to aid us in our RV adventure. As usual Jesse did all the research to get us the best deals on the following:

Air Conditioner for the bedroom
Surge Suppressor
Truck bed cover
Antenna/Amplifier for Verizon card and cell phones
GPS System
Emergency Weather Radio
Brake Controller
Honda Generator (2,000 watts)

After purchasing all this, our pockets are lighter, but I don’t think it makes up for the weight we added. We actually do not know how much we weight, but plan to get weighed when we get it all "Krammed Inn" and ready to leave.

When I got home Jesse was ready for me to give him a hair cut. While he took a shower I started dinner and talked on the phone. After dinner we watch the results of America Idol.

Another day over, tomorrow a new one begins.

See you down the road

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - Just another Tuesday

Being off yesterday was great. When I got to work today there was a lot to get caught up on. I was pleased as I like to stay busy.

Once I got home we put some chicken on the grill for dinner and then relaxed and watched American Idol.

I have a few pictures below of our 4 legged nephews/nieces:


Leisel and Angel



Hunter




Bailey




Toby



See you down the road.

Monday, May 5, 2008 - A Good Day

Today was a good day. I took the day off from work so I could have lunch with some RV friends. Unfortunately Jesse couldn’t take off work to accompany me.

Ellie and Jim www.justravelin.blogspot.com had invited us to lunch. They also invited Jo and Fred Wishnie. They are staying in Denver for a while during their travels.

I was very happy to be included and it was great fun meeting these good people. I have followed their blog www.mytripjournal.com/wanderingwishnies and like most RV blogs, that I enjoy reading, I went back to their beginning and read everything.

It’s kind of strange when you finally meet people that you have followed for several years. I knew so much about their lives and they knew almost nothing about ours.

Our hostess with her dogs Mr. Bo Jangles and Jasmine.



This is Boo Boo the Wishnies baby



The whole group



All too soon it was time to say goodbye to everyone and head home. Jesse and I talked about our days and Jesse had more questions than I had answers to. I made dinner and we relaxed and watch TV until it was time for bed.

Today was a good day. Until tomorrow.

See you down the road.

Sunday, May 4, 2008 - Ride to Boone

Today started like most Sundays. We had our coffee, went to our computers, talked and read about being on the road; RVing fulltime. :~)

After a few hours of that we decided to get dressed and go to Wal-mart to get groceries. We also decided to purchase a 4 inch memory foam topper for the RV. We opened it up so it can expand, and placed it on our mattress. We will cut it to match the mattress size, as it is a little too big if we like it. We plan to try it out one night soon to see if it is as good as we have heard.

If you recall yesterday I told you that we had a birds nest in our hitch with babies. I was able to get the camera in with Jesse’s help and viola:


It appears to be two babies. I was not able to get a picture of the mama yet. Not sure what we are going to do if they are not gone in 3 weeks.


After I made us a bite of lunch we put the boys in the car and decided to go for a ride to our daughter house. They live on 80 acres east of Pueblo in Boone. It is a small community of farm and ranch owners. They grow alfalfa on almost 40 acres and DJ cuts, bails and sells it.

She was putting in a small yard area and she wanted us to come and see. She had put in some sod, rocks, bushes and mulch. It looked very nice.

On the way we took these pictures.

Finally I got some pictures of Prairie dogs.



This one is of strange birds we saw pecking in a field. They have long beeks.



And finally our grandson Colt having fun on the trampoline





When we returned home I showered, made dinner, talked to family back home and watched a little TV; then off to bed.

Until tomorrow :~)

See you down the road.

Saturday, May 3, 2008 - Chores, Errans, and Relaxing

This Saturday started like most others. Jesse got up a little after 5am and I got up at 6am. First thing I did was to sing “Happy Birthday” to Buddy, he is 5 today. He seemed to know that today was special for him.

We had our coffee and went to our computers. I had to do bills this morning and enter our expenses in my spreadsheet. Then I wrote our journal. I write our journal each morning about the day before.

After that a made us breakfast cheese omelets, corned beef hash, biscuits, and jelly. The boys love eggs and somehow know when I crack an egg in the kitchen and they were hovering. They also had eggs for breakfast. After breakfast and clean-up we got busy.

Jesse worked on his “mod” project to attach a tube (holder) under the RV to hold the black hose. He also installed a surge suppressor. I will show pictures another day.

Jesse had mentioned that he thought a bird had made a nest inside the RV hitch and sure enough it had. You could hear the babies chirping away in there. Of course the mama bird didn’t like Jesse being out there. She kept an eye on him and squawked at him often. When he would go to the garage to get something the mama would fly to her babies and check them out. As soon as Jesse would came back she would fly out and squaw some more.

I cleaned out and organized both of our filing cabinets, (we are taking one with us in the RV). I find it amazing how many pens, pencils, markers, note pads, and paper clips two people can accumulate. I had copies of our auto insurance policies from 2000. Needless to say I got rid of quite a lot of stuff and now have additional space in them. I also changed bed linens and started laundry.

After we were done we got showers and dressed to go out. We went to Olive Garden to eat, then did errands. We went to Target to purchase some totes to store things in the RV basement. We also went to the book store. Jesse wanted to get the latest issue of Trailer Life and we wanted to purchase a book called: It's a Dog's Life...but It's Your Carpet: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Your Four-Legged Friend by Justine A. Lee.We have heard that it is very useful and wanted to read it. They didn’t have any copies in stock so I ordered it.

After that we went home changed into comfy clothes and watched the last movie Jesse rented Lions for Lambs. Again Jesse napped through most of it, but I sat through it wishing I could nap.

Signing off wishing everyone a happy Sunday!!

See you down the road.

Friday, May 2, 2008 - Another T.G.I.F.

Today is Friday and another end of a work week. Yea!!!
Only 3 more to go.

Again nothing much happened. I had to run some errands for my boss today, which got me out of the office for a couple of hours. Jesse got off around 1pm and went to Blockbuster to rent movies.

We had leftover turkey for dinner. Then we retired to our chairs to watch the movies.

Jesse rented Charlie Wilson’s War, 27 Dresses, and Lions for Lambs. I watched the 1st two; Jesse napped through the 1st one and was not interested in the 2nd, so he went to the computer.

I have mentioned before that Jesse keeps changing his mind about where to set-up residency; Texas or South Dakota. I am trying to talk him into waiting until we leave the rally to do this so we can get advice from other RV’ers as to which might be the better choice.

When the movies were over we were off to bed.

See you down the road.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Happy May Day

Nothing much happened today.

The weather was cold, windy and about 2 minutes of precipitation.

I kept busy at work doing my usual Thursday duties. Jesse got off at 12:30 and went to Lowe's to purchase the materials he needed for his next RV modification. He is installing a tube to hold the "poop tube" black hose. He explained it to me once I got home but I am "technically challenged".

We had our bagels for dinner then watched Survivor, Grey's Anatomy and Lost. Then it was off to bed.

I am going to close today with a few pictures of some of my neices and nephew.

Great neices Alyssa, Madison and Jennifer (L to R)



This is my nephew Rob and his fiancé Sara (cute couple don't you think?)



Our newest great neice Payton




And finally my MOST favorite of all Kelsey
She is very special to Jesse and I and we miss her very much.



See you down the road

Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - RV Modifications

Hello everyone Jesse here. I wanted to show you some modifications I have made to our Montana 3400RL 5er.

RVers are always looking for ways to improve the livability of their units just as we did in our stix and bricks homes. With storage being at a premium the RV manufacturers are generous enough to give us extra hidden storage space. You just have to find them.

This is a “mod’ I picked up at the Montana Owners Club Forum. I am an avid reader of several forums; The Montana Owners Club, Escapees, Trailer Life, Workampers, and RV-Dreams. I occasionally read I RV 2, RV Net, and any others I come across. I have picked up most of my technical and maintenance knowledge for the 5er from reading the forums or posting questions.

This one is from the Montana Owners Club Forum. There is a small access panel under the fridge, which has a bit of usable storage. Some folks use this for hiding valuables since it looks like you cannot open it with the screws in place. Others like me use it to store the central vacuum hose and attachments thus freeing up valuable space in the lounge.

BEFORE


AFTER





Another that Ginger thought of. There is a small closet for hanging clothes between the bed and the shower. She had me change into shelves. She thought it would be more useful that way. Here is the way it looks now.




The biggest change I have made is replacing the carpet with a laminate floor, but I will save that for another day. Have a good one!

Ginger here.

Thanks for letting folks know how handy you are honey. Of course our family already knows. Jesse made many changes to our home in Baltimore.

Nothing note worthy happened today. We grilled fish for dinner, relaxed and watched “American Idol”. Only 17 more working days left.

See you down the road.