We’ve gone through twelve states and a trip to Canada; each with something to offer.  Some on a grand scale, others a bit more subtle.  They each put out their best for visitors.

If you don’t have the time to take a long  journey, pick a State or two and let them entertain you—just watch out for Dorothy and her crazy friends. They convinced Hollywood that there really is a yellow brick road—not true ’cause I never found it!!

And those fake red slippers won’t take me home either; it’s the miles clicking away on I-35 South.

Texas—where everything is REAL.

Since we are heading East there are no more mountains—nothing but plains of nothing! 

By days end our “300 mile dart” should put us in mid Kansas for the night. The landing gear on the Beast is acting up again, so we’ve decided we’re not going to unhook him until we get home.

I took special care to pack my outfits for each State on this journey—surfing board, ski outfit; cowboy hat, safari hat, etc so I need to go find my red slippers and borrow a  small shaggy dog from somebody…I don’t want to look out of place in Kansas!!

All that’s left—hanging the mistletoe!

Ok, it was just a dream, but I feel that we are celebrating Christmas!

Unhooked the Beast in a small town named Island Park, Idaho—14 miles from Yellowstone Park.

It’s been raining and snowing since we got here this past  Thursday.  Friday was a miserable day!!  Spent Saturday in Yellowstone  in the driving snow.  Reminiscent of the holidays yet romantic in a sense.  Had a picnic lunch in the truck—snow was coming down hard!

Returned Sunday for the northern excursion of the park—SPECTACULAR!!!

Still bitterly cold and snowing in parts of the park but no rain; brief patches of sun along the way.

Today, Beast maintenance day—i.e. laundry, house cleaning, computer work etc.

Back on the road tomorrow a/m.  Don’t know where the “300 mile dart” will land, but it’d better be a warmer climate!!

In the meantime, I need to get back to my gift wrapping! “ Oh jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, oh what fun…hey!”

View Full Album

And say “thank you for serving” to those in uniform.

Have a safe weekend.

While in the area, we drove about 50 miles North to Seattle; visited Pike’s Place Market featured on the Food Network Channel; had dinner at Fisherman’s Restaurant and toured the city.

The next day we drove to Vancouver, Canada for an overnight stay.  It was the Queen Mum’s birthday so there was a lot of activities in progress.  Got loads of pictures especially some of the structure for the Olympic flame.  An interesting place to visit, but I was glad to be back on US soil.

Yesterday, we left Washington, went through Idaho and landed in Montana.  Tomorrow we leave and head toward Yellowstone National Park!

Mr. Man is doing fine now that he has been able to watch TV.  It’s been a special treat for him that we found an RV park w/cable.  This means he doesn’t have to lug that satellite dish around looking for a signal.

After the trauma he’s been through, I’m sure having to search for a signal would affect him permanently.

View Full Album

We are here at McChord AFB, Tacoma, Wa.   The RV park is a sea of RVer’s coming off the road- avoiding the rain.

If you’ll remember, a few weeks back, we had no cell/internet service.  Well, folks, this is one for the history books!

Mr. Man is going through withdrawals symptoms!!!  For the first time in his adult life and the invention of the remote he is lost.  You guessed it, there’s NO satellite signal here, zero, zip, nada.  He’s carried that dish around and moved it in  every angle imaginable  and “nobody is out there listening to him”. 

It truly is sad to see him this way.  He sits there with the remote resting on his chest, staring at the blank tube and looking totally despondent  From time to time, he picks it up, goes thru the motions of “changing channels” and then goes back into his comatose state of disbelief.

As I look out the window, I see the other men moving their satellite dishes looking for some kind of “connection”.  One RVer even called in the Dish Satellite Technician out.  He looked pale and confused as the technician drove off.

The sad thing about this whole scenario is that Mr. Man, along with all the other guys, were told at check-in time “you’re lucky if you get a signal, and even luckier if you get local channels”.

Well, men being who they are, I guess they never thought this would/could ever happen to them.

I suggested he put in a movie, but it’s not the same—and besides it’s a different remote all together.

I’m loving it!!

A short glance at the bay and he was off with a sailor as I turned around.  Didn’t see him for awhile.   When he finally returned, he was definitely swaggering like some of the old salty Chiefs I know, but I won’t mention names here.  Started talking like the rest of the sailors AND he had a tattoo on his back side ( think he went to T’Juana to get it).

So for those of you who wanted to see him on the blog, here he is; he sure does reek!

View Full Album

Here’s a few photos of Nature’s Gifts..  Tried to get them in order, but haven’t gotten that advanced w/Windows software.

First set of 6–photos of Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo, CA; the following 10–Seqouia National Forest; final set–Yosemite National park.

Many more stills and videos to share once we get home.

We are now in Oregon!!!

I thought Mr. Man was going to get arrested this morning as he got out of the truck to fill it up w/diesel! A young man wearing a yellow safety vest approached him seriously and asked him what he wanted.

 I could see Mr. Man’s rarely seen defensive side come up.  In a flash it disappeared and all I could see was smiling faces and hearing laughter.  I figured it was a guy thing and went inside to purchase a cold drink.

As we drove off, Mr. Man explained what has just happened.  I was in awe and thought to myself ” I should have taken black and white photos of this re-enactment of a era long gone”. This was a  throw back to something we hadn’t experienced in over 30 years.  It was  a full service gas station—the attendant filled up the tank; washed the windshield; checked the air pressure,and whatever else the driver asked for.  All with a friendly smile and positive attitude.  Mr. Man should have asked him to wash the truck and the Beast!

If you want to live in a place with no sales tax, a reasonable cost of living and have someone fill up your tank, wash your windshield, be surrounded by beautiful mountains, lakes, rivers,  clean highways, friendly people  and so much more— then you gotta move to Oregon.  I know some of you out there following us are familiar with this beautiful State.  Thanks for not spoiling the surprise. 

  Spent the night in Talent.   Today we unhooked the Beast in Salem.  We’ll camp here for a few days and head out toward Seattle, Washington o/a Tuesday.

Just wanna say thanks to those who have sent emails and have called us over the past few weeks.

Also, to answer the question, yes, please feel free to share the blog address with family and friends.

 By the way, we got the landing gear fixed on the Beast.  What a shock!  Total repair bill was $43!  That was half the techs’ hourly rate and the cost of the blown out fuse.  After all the money we dropped in RV parks, obligatory casino visit, food, ”I gotta win my money back” casino visit,  winery tours, buying the wine, Mr. Man’s $16 hair cut, the previous repair on the Beast, one last visit to the  casino— we should have gotten the fuse replaced for free!!

So mob travelers, there’s more to come in the next few days so stay tuned!!

In the movie, “The Hunt for Red October” there is a line that says “…just one ping….”one ping and one ping only”.

Well, all I hoped for while at Yosemite was “one thing and one thing only”—A CONNECTION TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD.

I got my wish—in the form of  our son, Gregg (aka Coach) for his post to the travel mob.  I was able to contact him and ask him to post an entry for me. 

I was very impressed with his post. 

For those of you who know him well, he’d love to hear a comment or two from you; for those that don’t know him well, feel free to comment anyway.  

 I try to keep the post short so as not to lose the interest of the reader; however, since we’ve been down for over 10 days, I thought I’d bring you up to date.

So, go get your drink and snacks and  get comfortable.  I’ll get started while you’re away.

When I last posted, we made an emergency diversion to San Jose.  San Jose was on our “stop over” list; we just got there sooner.

In my post titled “Zig Zag” I provided general info on Uncle Raymond. Update–he got  home from the hospital after a 2 day stay and is doing great!  Nothing serious! 

We spent a week in San Jose visiting w/him and his family (cousins Joe hasn’t seen in over 30 years).  We got the grand tour of t he wine country; Winchester museum; downtown San Jose and it’s chic shops and so many other sites; and finally  BBQ’d “Texas style” w/Uncle Raymond and his family.

Drove to San Francisco to see the Golden Gate Bridge and Sausalito, an overpriced town reeking of snobbishness.

Left San Jose for Yosemite on Thursday,  6 May.  After we arrived and unhooked the Beast we realized we had no CELL OR INTERNET SERVICE!! 

On Friday, we got to Yosemite early.  Spent the whole day taking in the sights and sounds of the wonders of Nature.

Left Yosemite area 2 days ago. Finally got some cell service when we got about an hour out of Yosemite.  We are now hooked up in Oroville, CA.  We are here visiting the mother of a dear friend.  She, the mother, lives in Chico–25 miles from here.  However, she established the casino here so we are staying at  the RV park on the property. 

Tomorrow, we head out to have the Beast checked out.  Yup–AGAIN!!  The landing gear switch is inoperative.  We are hoping it is just an inline fuse that needs to be replaced–but I’m sure the diagnostic technician will tell us it is much more than that.

Here’s the scenario–big rig; big truck; Texas plates=$$$=happy techncian !!

So, dear friends, I hope we won’t go through another period of no cell/internet service as we make our way up  onto Oregon and Washington.  If so, rest assured, my “Coach” is standing by to keep you posted on our whereabouts.

It’s very late here, but I wanted to post this tonight.  Hope all is well with everyone.

More later….