2009 – A WHOLE NEW YEAR!

Read this in reverse: Each month reads top to bottom with the most recent month on top. Interested in the stories behind  names in Italics? Click on the link below: www.woodyandsharon.wordpress.com.

DECEMBER -  We moved into Mississippi on the 2md, s so we could take the tour to the NASA Stennis Space Center. We had a great bus/tour guide who told us more than we could possibly remember. This is the place where all the engines/rocket motors for NASA are tested. Afterspending until 4:15 at the Space Center looking in the museum & having lunch, it was almost dark so we stayed in the Welcome Visitor Center camping area overnight. Parked the motorhome just north of I-10 near Biloxi. Drove to the gulf coast area and took a tour of Jefferson Davis’ home after The Civil War. Beauvoir (Bov-wah) means beautiful view. Fortunately, the main house while damaged by Hurricane Katrina has been restored and 2 of the other 6 buildings are in process of being restored. The museum was not badly damaged but had to be destroyed & is being rebuilt because if it’s location. On 12/6, it was raining so we decided to go to the movies.  Can’t remember what we went to see but while Sharon was seating herself, she dislocated her hip (while she was wearing her brace). Another trip to another Emergency Room, she was back together again and back in her brace. Moved on to Rainbow Plantation, an Escapee RV Park in Summerdale, AL. We went to Mobile and looked around the city, rode the MODA (free tourist transportation) and after lunch followed the squirrels to a small store with a 95 year old peanut roaster. It was cold out and the peanut were hot. We  shared with a few squirrels who really enjoyed our treat. We did too! While in Summerdale, we went to a Chapter lunch at an Oyster Bar. This gulf coast area is one where you could have breakfast in Florida, lunch in Alabama, dinner in Mississipi and still make in to New Orleans to party. Cannot believe how cool the weather is and how many rainy days we have had.  Next dry day we move on to Holt, FL where we spent 3 days before moving on to Tallahassee where we parked at an Elk’s Lodge. As we drove west on the Apalachee Parkway, the old capitol came into view with the new capitol right behind it. The old capitol has a copper dome and is now a  museum; the new capitol has an observation area on the 22nd floor. What a view!  We arrived at a park in Apopka on Christmas Eve. We had rain on Christmas Day. Sunday we  drove out to Locate Sharon’s new hip doctor’s office. She is scheduled to get this hip fixed so she will not dislocate it ever again. We thought 4 times in 4 years was not good but since her surgery on July 8th, she has dislocated her hip on 9/3, 10/18, 11/20 and 12/6 while she was wearing her brace. In January, we will see the doctor on the 11th and her surgery will be on the 13th.  She is extremely careful and fearful. Being old is the pits.

NOVEMBER – Arrived in Abbeville, parked in a nice little park, DirecTV is great, Verizon cell & internet connections are super.  We have already been to Avery Island where the only manufacturing plant of TABASCO Pepper Sauce is located. We also saw the Jungle Gardens & Snowy  Egret Santuary developed by E.A.McIlhenny, noted naturalist & son of Edmund McIlhenny who invented & produced Tabasco Pepper Sauce. Had a rest day to take care of paperwork etc & then went to St Martinville on Wednesday to find out the real story on Longfellow’s Evangeline. We finished up at Dupuy’s in Abbeville, dining on the best catfish we have ever eaten.  Thursday, we went  to Jeanerette & the ‘Le Beau Petit Musee’  on the Bayou Teche  & then to the oldest Rice Mill in America – Konriko Company.  Konrilo’s Wild Pecan Brown Rice smells like pecans while it is cooking & tastes wonderful. Friday, we extended our stay until Monday morning because Abbeville has a Giant Omelette Celebration on Sunday. Friday we backtracked to the small village of Gueydon (Gay don), (aka The Duck Capital of America) was founded in 1887, where we looked thru their museum & met the former Mayor. Then as we headed back home, we stopped at Suiere’s Grocery where we had lunch. Saturday, we drove to New Iberia to see the Civil War re-enactment at the plantation known as Shadows-on-the-Teche and to a Chili cook-off where there were 3 classes – Family Style, Regular & Knock Your Socks Off. We tasted lots of chili; some of the family style werereally spicy for Sharon. Sunday – the Giant Omelette  Celebration.  Monday we based ourselves in Houma where we drove to Grand Isle (the only inhabited island in Louisiana) went west to Morgan City to check out ‘Mr. Charlie’, north to Thibideaux to check out the Habitat builds & stayed for a free Chili Cook-off tasting. On the 14th, we were in New Orleans at the French Quarter RV Park (they accept Passport America for 1 day & give you a Good Sam discount for the rest); we stayed 3 nights & were close enough to walk into the French Quarter everyday. Took a Super City tour with Greyline the first day. Wandered the French Quarter after Sunday brunch at the Court of Two Sisters, looking at the many artists, shoppes, people watching, listening to a Bach Concert & watching the MDS Boys do their act in front of Jackson Square. Spent the last day at the World War II Museum.  Around Lake Ponchartrain to Abita Springs. From there we went west to Baton Rouge where we toured the State Captiol Building, the Old State Capitol Museum, got our first parking ticket (since we started in May 2004) & toured the USS Kidd. In Abita Springs, we went to the Abita Opry & listened to gospel music, went on a Swamp Tour &  then checked out an alligator ranch – Insta-Gator. Sunday morning . Sharon dislocated her hip again, the medical staff at Covington got her back together quicker then any other time. She is back in her brace. Back to New Orleans, we parked at Pontchartrain Landing RV Park (they take Passport America for your whole stay), went back to the World War II Museum where we still didn’t see everything, drove across the Ponchartrain Causeway (24 miles south to north & same north to south but with a toll) to see the Madisonville Maritime Museum & then drove around the west side of the lake. In the French Quarter, we had cafe au lait & beignets (CAF ay O lay & BEN yays) at the Cafe du Monde before wandering into the FQ produce & flea market.  On Thanksgiving we volunteered to help serve dinner at the Sheriff’s Dept 35th Dinner at the Convention Center.  Friday we went to see the movie “Blind Side” with Sandra Bullock about the football player Michael Oher. Saturday we drove to the southern most part of Louisiana, having a picnic lunch between the Mississippi River & the Gulf of Mexico. Sunday we drove to the Mississppi Visitor’s Center & found out that you can tour the  NASA Space Center – Stennisphere from there. We drove down to the beaches & saw some of the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Lots of lots for sale. On the way home, we stopped at Fort Pike SP.  Well, the weather is going to be bad Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday so we will stay put & leave on Thursday. That being the case, we took the park shuttle into the French Quarter & set off to find the Jean Lafitte (Shon La feet) National Historic Site – free to visit & open daily. Many museums in LA are closed on Mondays. The New Orleans Saints extended their run & are now 11-0 after trouncing the Patriots, 34-10. Louisiana fans love the LSU Tigers & their Saints; banners  are in front yards for 1 or the other or both.

OCTOBER - Back to the St Louis Area where Gaylon had some tests done to see if he is a candidate for  hernia surgery. Those complete, we hit the road again heading south. We were just going as far as Caruthersville, Missouri where we parked at the Lady Luck Casino RV Park. Nice spot, great views of the Mississippi River (if you are a first time visitor, go to the casino after you park & get your Casino card for a discount before paying for your stay). We went with son Robert to his company picnic on Saturday, 10/17.  Sharon took her brace off on the 16th (it’d been 6 weeks) and then dislocated her hip (same one) on the 18th.  Back in the brace.  Headed south on Monday to Vicksburg, Mississippi but ended up stopping at a Corps of Engineer park – Grenada Lake Gorgeous views of the lake &  the price is really right with a Golden Age Pass.  We took 2 days to go thru the Vicksburg Military National Park & Museum.  In downtown Vicksburg, we went to the Old Country Drug where we looked at relic from the battlefields & then went through Biedenman’s Coca Cola store. He was the first person to bottle the soda so it could be delivered rather than only bought at a soda fountain. Then it was on to Choudrant, LA to visit with The Albritton’s & get a roof top air conditioner installed. Back to Vicksburg, stay at the Ameristar RV Park and you get coupons for a free breakfast at the Casino. Finished looking around Vicksburg & headed south to Natchez, MS. No RV parks so we went across the Mississippi & stayed at the Riverview RV Park in Vidalia, LA. Nice, they take Good Sam & Passport America & you get to watch the barges get pushed up & down the Mississippi R. Took a carriage ride thru Natchez seeing lovely antebellum homes & learning about what happened there. The William Johnson Museum was very interesting, about a mulatto man who knew how to read & write, was given his freedom by his owner, William Johnson & then kept diaries for the rest of his life depicting life in Natchez. The plan was to leave Friday 10/30 but 100% chance of rain turned into a reality 11pm Thursday and it literally rained steadily until Saturday about 2am.  On Halloween, we set out heading east again planning to stay in Baton Rouge, LA but on the way to the campground we had to pass LSU. The Tigers were having a game & everything was over crowded. We drove on to Abbeville, LA.

SEPTEMBER - Well, Sharon managed to dislocate her hip  on September 3rd; she went back in the brace, vowing to wear it for the full six weeks.  Meantime, we saw some more things in the St Louis, Missouri area, went to Springfield, Illinois &  toured the capital building, then on to Indianapolis where we joined a group of 4th graders & their guide for a tour of the capital building. While in Indianapolis, we went through  President Benjamin Henry Harrison home. He was the grandson of the 9th President, William Henry Harrison.  And of course the tour of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway & Museum was quite spectacular.  We are making plans to come back here for the 2011 race. Headed east to Richmond, IN  where we were part of a Habitat for Humanity build. There were 20 of us and we built 2 homes from the slab to finished tile roof, insulated wrap on exterior walls, the front door & windows & interior stud walls on one and on the other, interior & exterior walls & plywood roof minus the tar paper were accomplished by the end of our 2 weeks.

AUGUST -  Weather wise this has been the coolest so far.  Our grand girls went home today as they have a week of Church Camp from the 2nd to the 8th. We headed for our next spot, Lost Valley Lake Resort. Ran into Richard & Margo Panko from our 2005 Panama Trip.  On the 10th, Sharon saw the doctor,  is now free of the brace (she managed 3 1/2 weeks) and sees him again in a year.  On the 11th, Sharon took the train from Hermann to Warrensburg to pick up the Grand Girls and give them a train ride back to Hermann. Gaylon went fishing in the Missouri for the day.  At lost Valley Lake Resorts, we all went swimming in the outdoor pool & the lake where we we all went down the water slide. We also took the paddle boats out for a spin, Karah & Gramma got the one that only wanted to circle.  More swimming, free movies at the clubhouse, shuffleboard, mini golf kept us busy. Sunday the 16th, we got ready to take Rebekah & Karah back to Mom but were delayed leaving because the Clubhouse where we had so much fun caught fire at 8am. there were 6 or 7 fire departments on the scene and blocking the way out. Back to the SeeYa where we played Skip Bo with the girls while we waited to get out.  Finally about 10, the resort arranged to let people out the back way.  Teresa met us more than halfway in California, MO.  3 more days at the Resort & we moved out. Our 1st FMCA get together was with the Ozark Prairie Sooners at Riverview RV Park in Lake Ozark on the Osage River. Had a fun time & relearned how to play Mexican Train, a domino game. Headed south to Bennett Spring State Park where we got together with Don & Carolyn Bauman (also members of our Panama Trip Caravan) for a couple of days. Stopped in Van Buren, MO to see Big Spring. It is the 3rd largest spring in the world and the largest in Missouri.  Then on to Carruthersville where we parked at the Lady Luck Casino RV Park right on the Mississippi River & spent some time with our oldest son, Robert. 

JULY – Took a day trip from Wildwood to St Louis so I could donate another almost pint of my own blood.  Then on the 3^rd, we moved to the little German wine town of Hermann, MO. Sharon’s parents came in the on the 2^nd.  It started raining during the night of the 3^rd with all of nature’s fireworks – fireflies before we went to bed & thunder & lightning in the middle of the night.   Woke up early on the 4^th & little Frene Creek right beside us was a lot fuller then when we went to bed the night before. At 6am, a policeman knocked on our door & told us to watch the creek, it was rising. Well, we had our first weather related evacuation – a flash flood. Gaylon went out and disconnected us right after the policeman left & we rolled in the slides. By the time we got everything taken care of & I stepped out of the motorhome to move the jeep, water was swirling over the tops of my ankles. We did have an issue with the awning and learned something new – once you turn the key on, the awning will not work (if it is out, it will not come in & vice versa). Of course we didn’t figure that out until we had driven up the hill with the awning out. There was a 3½ ft BBQ stand in our space & from the hill where we waited out the storm, you could just barely make out the top lip of it. The water came up fast & went down just about as fast. Frene Creek dumps into the Missouri River not that far away. By 11 am we were backed back into our spot with everything set up. Gaylon & Sharon drove up to see the July 4^th parade. Mostly fire engines, there were 3 floats, 1 mule drawn wagon & 1 draft horse wagon. The children were all lined up on the streets with their plastic bags to catch the generous amounts of candy that were thrown from the parade people.  We drove back to St Louis on the 7^th so I could be at Barnes Jewish for surgery on the 8^th.  The surgery went very well. Surgery on the 8^th and went home on the 10^th. I have some plastic pump leggings for 10 days – wearing them 24/7. They are to keep me from getting Deep Vein Thrombosis or DVT. The hip brace which I have to wear for 6 weeks (also 24/7) comes in 2 pieces. The piece that goes on my naked right thigh is attached to a belt affair that goes on over my clothes which is just a lot of fun. And I have exercises to do both morning & evening plus take 2 walks a day. On the 22^nd, my staples come out.  We picked up our grand girls & took them to lake Paradise Camping Resort where they fished, hiked & went swimming with Grampa while Gramma was living in her 24/7 brace.

JUNE  –  Got back to the Casino Queen & set up, went to Sharon’s parents to pick up the paperwork for Gaylon’s appt on Tuesday & have dinner.  9am appt on Tuesday was pretty early for going to a place we had never been before but that’s why we have  internet maps. Got there with 30 minutes to spare. Gaylon had a blood test, an electrocardio gram & an echocardio gram. The doctor determined that they needed to do a stress test & that was scheduled for Thursday at 10:15. We were there on time & about the time they started the stress test, the blood results came back & the stress test was stopped. Gaylon is now in  Barnes Jewish Hospital in St Louis, where he has (as of 6/5) had 3 units of blood & is expecting to have 2 more today; he is scheduled for a colonoscopy & an endoscopy after tests yesterday showed blood in his stool. He did undergo 2 more electrocardio grams & they drew 7 vials of blood yesterday afternoon. Sharon got there early Saturday morning, he had a blood test at 4:30am & at 10:30 the doctor came in & said that if the results were good after another blood test, he could go home. We are really glad that we were here when this happened.  Gaylon has GERD or Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease. And after reading the description, he has had it for a long time. He also has a hernia. Now he is on Nexium to heal his internal bleeding.  This will let the heart get enough oxygen & not starve or suffocate. Life is good! Except that he has a few diet modifications for a while. No more jalapeno covered potato chips with a beer. He will need to moderate his intake of alcohol, acidic, spicy & greasy foods.  Sharon had an appointment with a Dr Barrack (Bear-rack not Bah-rock), an orthopedist on the 8^th.  After the appointment, we met with his scheduler. JoAnn set my surgery date for 7/22 and made a pre-op appointment for me on the 24^th of June and then on the 25th of June I donated a unit (a little less than 2 pints) of my own blood for the surgery. I scheduled another donation for the 2^nd July and in the meantime, JoAnn called and told me my surgery had been re-set for July 15^th. We had planned to have Bekah & Karah for the week before the 15^th and then the surgery was re-set for the 8^th which foiled our plans for the grandgirls. After our 6/8 appt, we took off for a Coast to Coast park called Wildwood. Had a great time there, did a little fishing. Gaylon caught 2 crappie; we turned them loose because dinner for 2 would require 12. Sharon lost a lot of worms but caught nothing. On the 28^th, we took a 20 mile trip to Hermann to check out their city park for camping. Made reservations for the Independence holiday, called Sharon’s folks & then made reservations for them. We had lunch at the Stone Hill Winery before heading back to Wildwood. Our other trips out, we went to Fulton, MO twice – once for a Wal*Mart run & once for an Emergency Hospital run for Gaylon who got something stuck in his eye, and once to check out the nuclear power plant nearby.

May  1 to 4  OTRA headed for Kentucky & a Corp of Engineers Park on Barren Lake called The Narrows. Made our reservations over the phone while looking at the campground on the internet. Anyone who wants to go there, it is a great park right on the lake, nice camppsites but some are not that level. We parked with boards under our jacks & front tires. Call us or e-mail us before you make reservations, we wrote down the numbers of the level sites.  Watched Mine That Bird win the Kentucky Derby. Sunday we went to Mammoth Cave, the largest cave in the world with over 367 miles of explored trails & tunnels and more they have not explored. We took the 2 mile/2hour tour which had us working up a good sweat keeping up with the 2 rangers & 90 people in the group. There were 155 steps up a tower but it was very interesting & worth seeing.  The next day we drove over to the Corvette plant in Bowling Green- closed from May 4th to May 19th. So we went across the road to the Corvette Museum where we saw the most amazing ‘Vettes from the 1st 300 all white with red interior 1953 models to the most current ones. Pace cars, race cars, replicas; owning a ‘vette is going on my bucket list.  Had lunch in the Corvette Cafe & saw the nursery where the cars are parked waiting for the owners to pick up their new babies. Time that afternoon to see the Lost River Cave where we boarded a boat in front of a bandstand & crouched very low to get under the rock overhang at the front of the cave. Different than Mammoth Cave, it had the start of stalagtights, a few bats & it is a newer cave.  May 5 to 9  The plan was to head west but reports of bad weather headed east towards us sent us north. We drove by Fort Knox, KY where all our gold is stored. Stopped at the Patton Museum which is mostly about the Armor Division of the Army. Tanks & such & much more interesting than she thought it would be.  Drove over the border into Indiana & found that somewhere in Kentucky we got into Eastern Daylight Savings Time, we stopped in Corydon which was the capitol of Indiana for a time & spent the night at Wal*Mart after making sure it was okay. Next morning headed west again for Illinois & stopped in Vincennes, IN where we found out a lot about George Rogers Clark (the older brother of William Clark of Lewis & Clark fame). Vincennes was settled in 1732, a fort was built there & the British took it over. Ol’ George led his American fighters (farmers, trappers, etc) 157 miles in winter through the flooded Wabash area to lay seige to Fort Vincennes. Think about what would have happened if he had not won. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin & Mighigan would be part of Canada. The Ouabache (French spelling for Wabash) County Campground was okay, just a few spots for 40 footers. Clear when we started out our last morning, rain came later & rained all the way into the East St Louis where we are parked at the Casino Queen RV Park. The rivers & creeks are fast, full & over-flowing with muddy water. As we crossed into Illinois the cell phones went on central time.  The rolling hills of Tennessee, Kentucky & Indiana have flattened out.  May 10 thru May 16  Took a morning walk across the Mississippi River on the Eads Bridge. On the Missouri side is a statue of Merriwether Lewis & his dog; the only parts above water were his face & his arm waving a hat.  On Mother’s Day, we drove to Belleville, IL (a short drive from the Casino Queen) to Sharon’s parents home where we cooked dinner with food we brought with us.  Their cupboards were bare as they had just returned from their trip to San Antonio, TX.  On the 14th, while taking a shower, Sharon somehow managed to dislocate her right hip. Slippery & soapy, she got rinsed off & her hero managed to get her out of the shower to floor level, help her into a shirt & onto the toliet. When the ambulance arrived, she was making her way (heel & toeing) down the motorhome to the steps. The paramedics helped her down the steps & turned the gurney so she could get on & off we went, Gaylon/Woody following in the jeep. A short trip & some Demerol later, we were doing  just fine & now, all back together again. Showers were a little scary for a while.   As this is the 4th time since April of 2004, we made an appt with a Orthopedist at Washington University Medical School on June 8.  On another subject, while I was watching the Preakness, Gaylon fixed our toilet so it now holds water. May 17 thru May 23  On the 18th, we headed off to Eureka, MO to Byerly RV where are refrigerator got a new seal installed. While that was going on, Sharon got a haircut, a pedicure & bought lunch & things for us. Back on the road, we had thought we would stop in Jefferson City but breezed right through town so quick that we were in Sedalia before we knew it.  Found a place to park overnight as we will be in the State Fairgrounds in the morning, reporting for duty.  Gaylon is staff electrician & Sharon is Registration Asst. except there was not a need for an electrician so Gaylon became a go-for.  The registration crew practiced on staff on Tuesday afternoon & started registration for real on Wednesday morning.  Busy days ahead.  May 24 thru May 30   ESCAPADE started Sunday morning. Gaylon has been getting out of breath & tires easily so we called back to St Louis’s Washington University Medical School & got him an appointment on 6/2 with a cardiologist. Now to get thru this week.  Lots of interesting seminars, NOAA, Picasa, Genealogy & more. Had breakfast with our son Robert, his wife Teresa & our grand daughters, Rebekah & Karah on Memorial Day.  After Escapade was over, we stayed an additional 2 days for DOVE training. We joined the Doves & took our 1st 3 American Red Cross approved classes. We now have to find a home chapter & take some more classes. May 31  We stopped in Jefferson City, the capitol of MO & took a tour of the capitol building. We are going to have to rate this as right up front with Des Moines IA as some of the most beautiful buildings we have seen thus far.

April: Spent 3 nights in Hereford visiting family. Then crossed the panhandle to spend the night in Wellington visiting a Woods’ cousin. Into Oklahoma with the wind from the south we drove through Hollis where his parents got married back in 1932 into Lawton where we stayed 2 nights free courtesy of the Comanche Nation Casino. On our way to Oklahoma City we stopped in Anadarko where we toured the Indian Walk of Fame and spoke to a Kiowa woman who told us some of her history and how important it is to get on the rolls if you have Indian blood.  Stayed at the Elk’s Lodge in Midwest City east of Oklahoma City; we were right in the flight path of Tinker AFB. Off to the Family History Center where we think we may have found a trace of Amanda’s mother. This would be his full blood Indian great grandmother. We toured the State Capitol of Oklahoma and found it to be a very warm and lively building. We even got a free box lunch;  these people are friendly! On to Sallisaw where the Cherokee Nation allowed us to park for free behind there casino. We are making progress in the genealogy area. The Sallisaw courthouse had birth records, marriage records and cemetery plots. We have located the graves of Great Grandfather Henry Wade Woods and his wife Mary Ellen Harper, the child from his 2nd wife Jenny, Great Uncle Austin andGreat Uncle Arthur. Watching the news that night we heard that parts of Midwest City were on fire (Wow!, we left there at noon & it caught fire around 1pm) and the news warned us of a tornado headed east on I-40 right toward us. It veered south and struck Mena, AR. We moved on to Little Rock, Ar where we toured their State Capitol. It is a beautiful building but seemed cold & austere to us. The grounds are nice. The Corp of Engineer Campground on the Little Maumelle River is gorgeous with very large sites. There is a 1st come/1st served area. If you have a Golden Age Park Pass, it’s $10 a night. April 14 to 16 found us in Memphis where we toured Graceland, did the 3 B’s (ate barbeque, went to BB King’s & listened to the Blues), rode the trolley for free, took the Gibson Guitar factory tour, had a drink in the Peabody Hotel  so we could be there for the 5 o’clock Parade of the Ducks. April 16 to 27 we were parked at the KOA in Music Valley, Nashville TN. What a great time we had with Adventure Caravans who arranged tours of  The Hermitage (home of the 7thPresident of the US), Belle Meade (a Thoroughbred horse plantation), Studio B where we actually cut a record with the rest of the people on Bus 1, the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum, Loretta Lynn’s home & re-creation of Butcher’s Hollow, Kentucky where she was born), a freshwater pearl farm that supplies the seeds for all the cultured pearls in the world,  The Ryman Auditorium (the Mother Church of Country Music), lunch on the sternwheeler General Jackson where we heard ‘Tim Watson, The Fiddling Man’ and seats at the Grand Ol’ Opry.  We went back to the Ryman to see the show ‘Always  Patsy Cline’ which was wonderful. And the Opryland Hotel is amazing – it covers 48 acres, has 3000 rooms, a river complete with tour boats, restaurants and a skywalk through the gardens. And on the nights we were at the KOA, we had our own entertainers – Ron & Kay Rivoli, Shotgun Red and Kenny & the Krooners. April 27 to 30- we moved to another Corp of Engineers campground on J Percy Priest Lake. We are facing the lake for $10 a night. What a deal! Could it get any better?  The State Capitol Building sits on a hill over looking Bi-Centennial Park which was built to celebrate 200 years of statehood. We wandered through the park enjoying the 95 bells in the Carillion Towers, reading the history of Tennessee, the fountains representing the rivers of Tennessee then climbed 265 plus steps into the capitol building where we took a self guided tour. Had barbeque downtown near the Ryman. Lots of guitars (very large guitars) are placed on the streets for photo ops. Our feet got worn out. A great museum is the Lane Motor Museum – very unusual prototype cars, cars from foreign countries & lots of little mini cars. From there we took another trip through the Hermitage Property, what a trip back into the past. Spent one day on a Grey Line tour to Franklin, TN – the site of one of the shortest bloodiest battles of the Civil War. It started at 4 pm, lasted 5 hours and 6500 men died including 7 Confederate Generals. The Carter family hid in their basement with their friends & neighbors, the Lotz while the battle raged overhead. Two Union soldiers hid out in the basement also. In fact, when the battle was over & the family came out of the basement, the Union Army had marched on towards Nashville. There were dead soldiers all over the Carter’s yard. The Lotz home had suffered damage with a cannon ball that had crashed through the roof & 2nd story floor leaving a dent in the first floor that is still there.

March; we are traveling! Geoffrey’s (our youngest son)  birthday is this month. We took him to a birthday breakfast in Oregon City with his grandma. We left the morning of the 9th as snow was drifting all around us. As we traveled to Talent, OR we had snow, sleet, rain, sun & hail off & on all day. Breakfast with a former boss of Gaylon’s & we’re gone again. Redding, CA has a very nice Elk’s Lodge (if you are an Elk member – WiFi, cable TV, electric & water for $20 a night).  A visit with some retired PG&Ers, an appointment with our finance guy, Mark  and we’re off.  After living in the state of California for all his life & 35 years of her life, we finally toured the State Capitol  in Sacramento. According to our guide, the old building was gutted & renovated in the 1970′s. It’s a beautiful building and it would have been a shame if it had been demolished. OTRA, the flowers are blooming, the trees are greening up. The countryside is beautiful. Spent 2 days in Fresno, CA visiting our son and grandson. He has done a lot of work on his new home. We had noticed when we came into California that the speed limit signs were for cars, then trucks were 55mph and then there was a new sign that said “All vehicles towing 55 mph maximum”.  After we left Fresno, we had a 5th wheel pass us going lickety-split. We were in cruise mode, doing 57mph. About an hour later we passed the offending 5thwheel pulled over with a CHP behind him. We drove to 29 Palms and stayed in the Elk’s Lodge.  The front of the motorhome is now bug splatter yellow; yup, grasshoppers! Went looking for the lot we own and we came darned close this time.  We actually have the section description. Next stop Imperial Dam where we visited with SKP friends overnight before we moved into Yuma, AZ and parked on our lot.  This is where it was so nice we took the blankets off the bed. Los Angeles got cooler weather and Yuma got a duststorm. This is where you spend the next day cleaning grit out of nooks & crannies. A job that  takes all day. OTRA (on the road again) after 5 days in Yuma, we hit the road for Casa Grande and more Escapee (SKP) friends. After another duststorm & cleaning up after, we decided we needed to be out of the desert. The plan was to go north and get on I-40 but snow in the northern part of Arizona sent us east on I-10. Casa Grande was where we put the blankets back on the bed. A quick stop in Deming, NM and then we were in Roswell with the UFO’s. That’s their claim to fame – a trip to Wal*Mart where little green men are painted on the windows. They are holding hoses, rakes, bags of groceries. Stores are named Area 51, Star Children and other related names. Hereford, TX  is not that far away so after 2 nights in Roswell, NM we are OTRA. You can stay at the Aquatic Park in Hereford for 72 hours for free.

For 2 weeks in February, we took some time to visit the Washington coast.  In Long Beach, you can view Jake the Alligator Man.  The viewing is free; the souvenirs are not. The only Kite Museum in the US is located in Long Beach & we had the opportunity to visit when a kite making conference was going on. Sharon remembers her first kite; her Dad bought some balsa strips, glued the Sunday comics to them, added a rag tail & string. Now they are sewn on a machine out of ripstop nylon.  There were kites on exhibit from different countries. The most amazing was a fifty foot dragon made of painted paper.  Visited Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River where they have bar pilots to lead those giant cargo ships into Astoria from the ocean. The sandbars at the mouth of the river are the most treacherous in the world.  From Astoria, the bar pilot gets off as the river pilot comes aboard to take the ship up river to Portland. We went to Cape Disappointment & Dismal Gulch on the Washington side of the Columbia where Lewis & Clark stayed before they moved to Fort Clatsop on the Oregon side & wintered over the year of 1805. Cape Disappointment was also outfitted for use during WWII. There was an incident of a Japanese submarine getting close enough to fire on where they thought the fort was but the men at the fort were not allowed to fire back lest they give away their position.

January went by so quickly. After the December snow storm, which melted rapidly & caused some minor flooding to areas of Portland, things warmed up. Mrs. Woods turned 95 in January; all her sons & daughter with their spouses helped celebrate the day.  Then it was a matter of making sure that she could stay in her own home by having a care giver come by on a day to day basis, more visits by the local children & the grandchildren.

2008 December

December's Arctic Blast. This says it all!

12/1 

  we moved the motorhome to RV Park of Portland in Tualatin, OR.

2008 – November

11/01  (54F at 8:45am in Lethbridge) left after late breakfast heading south west to Cardston, Alberta. It is so nice out, we are in T-shirts. The Remington Carriage Museum is on the south side of Cardston& has a huge parking lot. We are the only visitors & our 45 minute guided tour lasts an hour & 15 minutes. This is an amazing museum with over 214 carriages. During the summer, you can take carriage rides. We are 15 minutes from the Canada/USA border; it will be good to be back in the US. We thought we would stay in St. Mary but the town is all boarded up except for the grocery store & horses were wandering all around town. Browning, a town within the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana on the east side of Glacier National Park has a casino. It is where we are spending the night.

11/02  (51F in Browning at 7:30am) There’s snow on the hills as we leave Browning. Heading in  westerly  direction, the road follows the southern border of Glacier National Park.  We park at the Elk’s Lodge south of Kalispell, MT. 

11/03  (43F in Kalispell at 7:15am) We had planned to stay for 2 nights in Kalispell but the local weather reports are not sounding good. As there is a good possibility of snow tomorrow; we are heading to Coeur d’Alene. The air suspension lever is not working properly. Gaylon called to make an appointment for us in Ridgefield, WA. We have to drive north to Sandpoint, ID before we can head south to Cd’A, as the locals print it. We are parked at the Elk’s Lodge there. The water is still on.

11/04  (39F in Cd’A at 7:45am) Election Day but we have already voted absentee. It is pouring down rain & Gaylon goes out to wash the motorhome & jeep. Sharon stays inside where it’s warmer. Hot soup for lunch helps to warm him up.

11/05 (34F in Cd’A at 7am)  After breakfast, we go to a hardware store to buy a For Sale by Owner sign. We’re headed for Bayview where we have a lot; the sign goes up & we take some pictures of the lot & the view of Lake Pond Oreille, the deep end. Back to town, we go to the movies & see Appaloosawith Ed Harris, Jerry Irons & Renee Zelwegger.  Tonight is cheeseburger night at the Elk’s. Pretty good food & the drinks were $1.

11/06(29F in Cd’Aat 7am) It’s clear & cold with the prospect of snow tomorrow morning. It’s time to roll. After a leisurely breakfast, we hook the jeep up & head to Pasco with Sharon driving. We have been lucky so far, staying ahead of the weather. After we went through Spokane, it started to drizzle enough that wipers were necessary. Finding the RV park in Pasco was easy, after attempting to set up in Space 8, then 9, we settled on 12, then changed to 14. The changing spaces was due to leveling problems because of the suspension issue. We set up, ate & went to the inside swimming pool & sat in the hot tub. Ooh, it felt so good!

11/07(44F in Pasco at 7:45am) It was cloudy out when we got moving this morning. We found the Post Office & mailed boxes to our grandgirls & our grandson. Then drove across the Cable Bridge into Kennewick. We followed the Columbia River, stopping to watch a couple of kayakers set off. There are a lot of Canada geese here. A little further down the road, we stopped at the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center. Then to the Visitor’s Center to see what else there was to see here in the Tri Cities Area. On the way back to the rig, we were checking out our leaving route, looking for gas stations & found a Super Wal*Mart, the RV’ers friend. Bought groceries there.  Back home, Gaylonwent to the hot tub but forgot his towel so he told Sharon that paper towels work okay in a pinch. Worked on the website with the help of Brian & Shanna.

11/08(46F at 8am) The RV Park is fixing breakfast this morning. $3.00 for coffee, juice, 2 eggs (your way), 2 sausage & all you can eat pancakes, not a bad deal. Just as we start out the door, the phone rings & it’s Geoffrey (our youngest son). We talk for a little while & promise to call him back after breakfast.  While Sharon got a pedicure, Gaylon called his Mom. The we went to see more of the Tri-Cities Area.  There is a place here called Spud Nuts; the baker makes potato doughnuts. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to taste any, he was closed. Sharon went shopping in the Octopus Garden (she didn’t but any octopi) while Gaylon looked through an Antique store & found a few treasures. Home for an early dinner & another hot tub trip.

11/09 (49F at 7:45am in Pasco) Today’s a travel day.  Gaylon drove the motorhome to the gas station we found; Sharon followed in the jeep. $3.09 for diesel in Richland, WA. After taking on fuel, we hooked up the jeep & headed out. Near the Columbia River, a sign said the bridge was closed at the Oregon border so we turned & went west on WA 14. this highway follows the Columbia River on the Washington side just like        I-84 follows it on the Oregon side except it’s 2 lanes and a lot less traffic. We have sunshine after 3 days of clouds & a little rain. The sunshine feels wonderful. Stopped just before the John Day Dam at a turnout that overlooked the river & had lunch. The colors of the leaves (yellow, gold, orange, bronze & red) are gorgeous against the backdrop of gray-brown rock & beige grasses. Back on the road again, just rolling along & uh oh! there’s a sign that says “ tunnel ahead 12’9″ clearance“. We are 13′ 4″ at our tallest point & we won’t fit. Yup, all the trucks are making the left turn behind us & at this point, we have already passed that turn, we have to pull over & make a u-turn so we can cross the river at The Dalles.  Still beautiful out & we are on the Oregon side of the Columbia now. Started drizzling when we reached the Cascade Locks area.  Just getting dark when we pulled into Tri-Mountain RV Park in Ridgefield. Partly late & partly dark gloomy clouds. It’s warmer here, in the 50′s.  We are getting set up when Mary (the park owner) brings us some homemade bread, just out of the oven. Talked to family & friends, our grandson Adam called while we were crossing the Columbia for the 4th time today. We were in rush hour traffic & Washington State is a no cell phone while driving state so we told him we would call him back after we parked for the night. Talked to good friends, John & Judy, Madelynne, Carolyn & called our son & grandson back. Also let Gaylon’s brother Don know we were parked & made plans for breakfast in the morning.

11/10  (50F at 7am in Ridgefield) Raining out. We had breakfast at the Country Cafe with Don & Sally Woods at 8am. The a drive up to exit 16 on I-5 to check on propane & fuel prices. Diesel for $2.99. WOW! And back to check on the way to the Allison Transmission place for our early Wednesday appt. Back to the rig, Sharon worked on the website & pictures. She says she needs more info. Gaylon got the bikes off the jeep, worked under the dashboard hooking up his ham radio & took a nap.  We did have some nice sun today.  It’s dark at 5:15pm.

11/11 (the mid 40′s) Made Doc & Dentist appointments. Our youngest son called to check on us. Gaylon worked on his Ham radio setup. It was mostly a goof around day. Don & Sally took us to Outback for dinner & then to a MLM on Kangen water. Very impressive demonstration. We have 4 gallons of water to try.

11/12 (mid 40′s in the morning) The Alfa went to the Detroit Diesel place; Gaylonwent with it. I went to Don & Sally’s after going to the Post Office in Battle Ground. Sally & I went to the Al-Anon meeting & then to lunch & had Chinese. On the way home, Sally stopped to pick up her goats’ milk. I left, went to Wells Fargo & the grocery before heading back to the RV park getting there before Gaylon & the Alfa. It was drizzly all day. HTook a card back to Don & Sally for their anniversary & Sally had her famous No Peek Casserole while Don got creative with the rice & cayenne pepper.

11/13 (mid 40′s in the am) great V’s of Canada geese honking overhead this morning; the sky was black with them. Mostly sunny today & we went to Mom Woods. Had a good visit, Sharon took her grocery shopping, picking up fried chicken, salad & rolls in the deli. Geoffrey came by for dinner & a visit with his Gramma & us. Ter(short for Terry) was with her when we got there, leaving before dinner.

11/14 (mid 40′s in the am) more V’s of geese heading west & making a huge amount of noise. After making & finishing several phone calls, we left for Mom Woods again. Got there, found out she had put buttermilk on her cereal. Helped Mom into & out of the shower, washed her back & helped her get dressed.  Did her laundry with ours. WE all made a trip to Curt  & Kathy’s where Gaylon measured  to make sure we had enough room to park the motorhome in their drieway for Thanksgiving week. Then back to Mom’s house to check our stew & change laundry to the dryer & start a new load. Randy was pressure washing the steps, sidewalks, driveway & house. Then we all went off to find Elk’s Park on Mulino Rd. It’s a lot farther than we thought & the road in is not for us. Really nice & sunny & we saw Mt Hood in all its glory. On the way home we stopped for a short trip to return a too small red vest for Mom at K-Mart & pick up some things for us in Albertson’s.  At Mom’s, Mom opened a can of pears for us & we had stew, cornbread & pear salad for midday. Gaylon helped his Mom with a massaging foot bath; her legs were badly swollen & she was crying from the pain. Called Curtis & he brought the medicine over that brings down the swelling. We left at 7:30pm heading back to the motorhome. Gaylon is losing his voice, has a stuffed head & runny nose.

11/15 (mid 4o’s in the am) sunny all day. Quiet all day & evening. Worked on the dinner, getting things ready for eating at 2:30. Roasted veggies, couscus, grilled outside shrimp & scallops. Tapioca & cookies for dessert. Had a nice visit after their first view of our new house. Gaylon is still sick.

11/16 (mid 40′s – so nice in the am) Gaylon is still sick, so Sharon paid Mary for another week at TriMountain RV Park & went to Mom’s. Couldn’t tell if she had eaten breakfast; she said she had either eggs or oatmeal but didn’t remember. Fixed peanut butter sandwiches for her & gave her a 2 quarters, putting the rest of the quarters in baggies in her refrigerator. Talked to Sharon’s Mom & Dad while Gaylon’s Mom took a nap. About 2:30, Mom got her diuretic for the swelling in her legs, & at 3:30 she had some pear & chicken thigh. She got cleaned up before Sharon left at 4pm. Sharon stopped by Albertson’s to pick up some replacement items for us on the way home. Fixed a frozen pizza & made salad for dinner.

11/17 (44F at 7:30am) Gaylon slept in & Sharon was on the computer this morning working on the blogsite, ordering our laundry supplies from Amway, her decaffeinated tea from Bigelow, arranging for our mail to be sent to General Delivery in Oregon City, checking e-mail, etc. Mt Saint Helen & Mount Adams can be seen from the curbside of our motorhome.

11/18 thru 11/22 spending most of our time running to Oregon City and spending it with Mrs. Woods.

11/23  moved our motorhome to Gaylon’s sister’s house.  We parked our 40 ft 6 in motorhome in their 44 ft driveway.

11/24 to 11/30  Mrs. Woods is 15 minutes away & we have spent lots of time with her. The more time we spend, the more socially aware she becomes.

Thanksgiving Day 11/27  typical family holiday – too many people eating too much food!

2008 – 10/2 to 10/31 Polar Bear Tour & Canada

Remember to click on the pictures to make them larger.

10/2 Left Rugby at 7am (46). Stopped at the International Peace Gardens on the border of North Dakota & Manitoba & in Boissevain (Boys a vane), we had lunch, enjoyed a young violinist & toured the Wildlife Museum. Arrived in Brandon about 5:30 pm in time to watch the news and the weather report. You have no idea of the shock value of hearing the temperature is going to be 18 during the day & 5 at night. But then you remember – CONVERT because in Canada, the temperature is celsius. We learned an easy way to change to what we know . . . . C times 2 + 30 = F.  Manitoba is on Central time. We have 16 rigs and it was decided that odd numbered rigs would do snacks for meeting on odd days and even rigs on even days.

 

 

10/3  (40 @ 7am) We took the opportunity to carpool to the Brandon Discovery Center where a Ducks UnLimited biologist took us on a tour of the ponds along the Assinboine (A sin a boyn) River. This is where we learned about the different native grasses that were brought in to keep the pond banks in place, the cattails that provide habitat for waterfowl, saw beaver trails and where the beavers had used their teeth to chop (?) down big trees and watched Canada geese landin the deep pond. There are 2 ponds, a deep one for diving waterbirds and a shallow one for dabbling ducks. Those are the ones who have their tails in the air. We also saw a muskrat lodge. It was a beautiful sunny day andafter the tour we had the rest of it for ourselves. Went downtown, located a postal annex for stamps, found the ATM for Canadian money, a jewelry store to get a new battery for Gaylon’s watch and had lunch. Then back to go to Wal*Mart for a new digital card for the camera andgrocery shopping at a Safeway. Prices are a little higher than in the US of A. Fuel is sold by the liter. Flowers are still blooming here & local people are running around in short sleeve shirts & flip flops. We are dressing in layers in the mornings and shedding in the afternoons. Back home, we unloaded our stuff. I had time to pre-cook some stuff for future even days and our pot-luck night, then it was time to go to dinner.

10/4 (42 @ 6:30am) A tour bus picked us up at 8:30am. Our first stop was the Commonwealth Air Training Museum from the World War II era. A lot of volunteer air crews were trained in Canada before the United States got involved. We got a great history lesson about Canada’s place in the war. There were lots of ancient training planes; some looked like they were made out of wood & covered in some type of fabric. As the USA was neutral until the Pearl Harbor bombing, we made airplanes for Canada but could not fly them across the border so they were flown to the border, dragged across by horses and then flown by Canadians to the training bases. Then we walked over to the cantina where we were treated to coffee or tea and muffins. Back on the bus to Eleanor Kidd Park which was beautiful andhosts 100 plus weddings a year. Then it was lunch time – soup & sandwich buffet with cookies for dessert. Back on the bus for a brief bit of city tour, then to the Daly House Museum. More city tour andjust our luck, we got to see a recycle pick-up. Went by a beautiful set of buildings that were at one time a juvenile detention hall with 1 detainee. It then became a Mental Institution and it is now a part of the University of Brandon and houses the International Culinary Institute. Known as the Wheat City, Brandon is a lovely town of about 44,000. It is the 2ndlargest city in Manitoba with very friendly citizens. Back and I fixed some bruschetta for our meeting at 5pm. We got our directions for tomorrow.  We will be headed north to the town of Dauphin (Daw fin). The polar bears are getting closer. And maybe we will see the Northern Lights.

10/5 (47 outside at 6am) We  leave for Dauphin between 8 & 9 am. The fields are lovely & golden with huge round hay bales surrounded by yellow cottonwoods and aspen trees. After a short drive (2.5 hours) we arrived at the VermillionCampgrounds. Dauphin is a small city of 8,000 or so. After parking our rigs, at 1:30 we walked over to Fort Dauphin where we were met by costumed guides who had stories to tell about the various buildings located within the fort. After inspecting the museum, we were ushered downstairs for a tea with biscuits (or you could have coffee). Biscuits turned out to be cheese biscuits, cinnamon rolls, apple cake, carrot cake, cheese slices, homemade dill pickles, butter & 4 different kinds of jam. Since it was 3:30 by that time, we opted to walk to our next destination – an Ukranian Catholic Church.

Ceiling of Ukrainian Catholic Church

We were to take a tour at 4:30 and have dinner at 5:30. Jan, our guide, was dressed in Ukranianclothing of a flowered blouse, dark skirt with1 corner of it turned up so the embroidery on the edge could be seen. The skirt had a long wide woven belt woundaround the waist. She is also a bi-lingual (English & Ukranian) 3rd grade teacher. She explained how the church we toured was built in the Eastern Byzantine style with a major copper covered onion dome and4 smaller copper onion domes. The inside is shaped like a cross withthe altar in the leg facing east and beautifully painted withiconography. The Ukrainian do not have statues in their church but have icons painted directly on the walls. There was marble-ling around the base of the walls & the door way lintels representing the earth. Above that is painted a chain linking humanity and painted directional arrows depict eternity. Icons of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John are on the 4 main pillars supporting the central dome. Angels with 6 wings are painted on the dome interior. This building is no longer used as a church and was scheduled to be destroyed so the new church could be built on the same spot. Fortunately, a preservation committee was quickly formed to save this beautiful church. It is one of 4 Prairie Cathedrals still remaining and it is the smallest.  Ukranian Catholic priests can be married if they are married before they are ordained. Across the street we went to the new church and an Ukranian dinner. While we waited for the final touches for the dinner, we went upstairs to see the interior of the new church; there is no comparison between the 2. The new church is very plain, although it still has a central copper onion dome & several smaller copper onion domes. Back downstairs we were entertained by 4 musicians in full Ukranian dress playing a violin, a guitar, an acordian anda hammered dulcimer. Dinner started with (borscht) beet soup followed by turkey, with freshly harvested mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, slic)d sage stuffing, potato/cheese pierogi, cabbage rolls in tomato sauce, pieces of risen dough wrapped in a beet leaf & cooked, sliced carrots, mixed vegetables, sliced tomatoes, coleslaw, thick fresh cream and cranberry sauce for the pierogi & bread dough. Truly a feast. This was followed by either apple pie or pumpkin cheesecake & tea or coffee. While we enjoyed our dessert, we were entertained by Ukranian dancers.  We walked back to the campground in a very brisk wind; we had eaten so much we needed the walk.

10/6  (52 @ 6:30) up this morning to the sound of rain. And it’s a travel day. We go to Wapa’skwayaw also known as The Pas (pronounced The Paw).  It will be a 6 hour drive to the city known for 6 months of summer & 6 months of winter and the largest breeding & staging areas of migratory waterfowl in the world. On the way, we will cross the 53rd Parallel. We are seeing what appears to be a conifir that has gone golden. At our informational meeting this evening, we learned that the tree is a tamarack. It turns yellow in the fall & loses it needles in the spring. Our wagonmaster Lyle told us that the Beluga whales have been spotted in Hudson Bay so we may be lucky enough to see them also.

10/7 Cloudy when we went to bed last night but is a cool 54 degrees under sunny skies this morning a the Pas. An orange school bus picked us up at 9:30 and took us for a tour of the town. We learned  the Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN) is the most fiscally responsible tribe in Canada, owning the casino, hotel, gas station and shopping center. The population of The Pas is about 6,000. There is a lot of history here as Canada became populated from the Northdown, starting with the Hudson Bay Company and the French fur traders. This was an important camping area as fur trappers & traders used the Saskatchewan River to travel to Hudson Bay. In the morning, we leave for Snow Lake where we will spend the next 2 nights before heading for Thompson.

10/8 – 54 and raining outside on our travel day to Snow Lake; we arrive before noon & park in front of the Propane Service area. A short walk to the Senior Center for hot soup, sandwiches, salad & dessert. Snow lake is such a small town that the main drive is about 1/2 mile long in a circle and it’s one-way! We went for a mine museum tour and a boat ride on Snow Lake with the mayor driving us around the lake in his boat pointing out various parts of the lake. There is a Purple Sand Beach for swimming; the water temp is about 40 degrees. Had a potluck supper this evening at the Senior Center. What good cooks we have in our group. Written from the Snow Lake Senior Center as we are out of Verizon coverage.

10/9 – 35 outside this morning &  we have had snow showers already. Got our laundry done, the laundromat opened at 7:30 this morning. 2 of the members of our tour made blueberry pancakes for all of us this morning. We had a video of the mining operations in the area and some scenes of Churchill. Tonight is L.E.O. (let’s eat out) at the Snow Lake Motel & Restaurant where we will be eating either steak or chicken dinner. Tomorrow, we travel to Thompson. We are to arrive before noon because we have to get parked, get our luggage out for pickup, and be ready to get on the train to Churchill. It is scheduled to leave at 6pm but may not leave until midnight. We will be sleeping on the train or not. . . depending. We have been told to expect a minimum trip of 13 hours but it could take longer as freight trains have preference over passenger trains. Written from the Snow Lake Senior Center as we are out of Verizon coverage area.

10/10 stayed 1C (33F) all night. Had to back up to re-hook the jeep. On the road to Thompson at 8:30am with our traveling companion, Jodie. We go first & she follows. She’s single; no navigator, so it’s easier to follow us. Leaving Snow Lake, we crossed the 55^th parallel & entered snow flurries. By the time we reached My’s Place for cinnamon buns, the only snow on the ground was slipping off her roof. Reached Thompson & Rick & Colleen’s campground where we leave our rigs for 4 nights. It’s raining and the ground is muddy where we will be parking. The campground crew put big mats in front of all our doors so we could at least get rid of our muddy shoes before going inside. The 6:30pm train will be delayed until 9:30pm. Our wagon masters had let us know that dinner would be on our own tonight & to allow plenty of time so we won’t be late for the already late train. But, Colleen passes the message that we need to carpool into town for dinner & the train is paying. Sounds better than leftovers. At 5, we are all headed back across the Burntwood River to eat. This is where we learn the already late train is now leaving at 10:30pm but Colleen will let us know when we will be picked up, just in case the train is later. The call comes at 9:50. Our bags are picked up (we are each allowed 2 & a carry-on) & taxis, vans & other cars pick up all 33 of us & take us to the train station. There is some confusion when we board & all the people with cabins are shuffled to another car. It’s late but our cabin has the bunk beds made up; we have a small sink across from the bottom bunk, a toilet room at the bottom of the steps to the upper bunk & barely enough room to turn around in, but there are mints on the pillows & the beds are comfortable. After checking out the dome car, the lounge & the dining car, at 11pm we went to bed. We were still in Thompson. Our 6:30pm train finally left about 11:20pm.

10/11 It was 3:47am when we rolled through some small town. The passenger train stops at small towns where there are no roads & pulls onto sidings when the grain trains pass. We move in fits & starts through the night. There is snow on the ground in Gillam when we wake up about 6:30am. The dome car is open & a good place to wait until the dining car opens at 7am. The porter, Adam, changes our bedroom into a living room with 2 comfy chairs facing backwards. Surprise! The train is paying for our breakfast which was very good. Back to the dome car to watch the scenery go by, it’s cloudy & dark out; there are lots of puddles out and it is drizzly; the trees are mostly short, skinny black spruce. Wow, time goes by fast & the train is paying for our hot lunch. Next thing we know, the porters are laying out a sandwich spread with drinks for us. It’s 5pm & yes, we are still on the train! So, if you count from when we got on the train in Thompson at 10pm Friday night to when we got off the train in Churchill Saturday night at 7:45pm – that’s how long we were on the train. The North Star Tour bus picked us up & drove us & our luggage to the Polar Inn. We got our room numbers, picked up our bags & went to find our room. Back for a meeting on tomorrow’s plans, check around outside in the dusk, then we watched the local TV before getting a shower & going to bed.

10/12 (0C = 32F) 5:45am & we are up getting ready to go, dressed in layers. Bill picks us up in the bus & takes out to The Tundra Buggy. Up wooden stairs to the deck where the buggy is parked, We load from the rear & past the observation deck into the buggy, passing the small bathroom on 1 side & the heater on the other. The bathroom – a port-o-potty; the buggy stops when someone needs to use it. We are the 3^rd buggy & right away, we see a bear standing up & looking in the 1^st buggy. When he ambles off, we wander around the reserve looking for more bears. We’ve been told; we will see mostly male bears. Female bears with cubs keep away from the male bears. Pregnant bears are looking for a place to den up until March when they & their cubs will emerge & head out on the ice. We see several bears at a distance; they are colored like old ivory.

Our lunchtime bear

They have black skin & their hairs are hollow. Our buggy stops while we observe an arctic fox. Wandering by a tundra buggy bear camp, we spot a bear under the kitchen fan & then we see one where we can get closer. Lunch is served while we are stopped oohing & aahing over our bear. He’s sleeping as we have hot soup, sandwiches & drinks. “Head’s up” & we get our cameras aimed & just as we’re ready to take the perfect shot, he rolls over & puts his paw over his nose. After a few hours, we move on, seeing ptarmigan in semi winter feathers, a couple of arctic hares & sleeping bears in the distance. The buggy has to be back by 4:30 so we slowly move back to the station all the while looking for bears. We did see some tundra swans in open water. Total of 9 bears, 1 arctic fox, 2 arctic hares, 2 tundra swans, 9 ptarmigans. Back to the hotel, we find something to eat & then go to the Anglican Church to hear Bill talk about the history of Churchill. As we walked back to the inn, we saw a green Aurora Borealis.

10/13 (-2C = about 29F) Up at 6am; breakfast is coffee, tea, rolls, muffins, bagels & cereal is served from 6:30 to 8 but we will be gone by 7:30. It’s the 2^nd Monday of October & Canadian Thanksgiving. Out to the bus & our new guide, Rhonda takes us on a tour of Churchill. There is a huge complex that houses both an elementary & high school, an indoor playground for those cold winter days, a basketball court that doubles as a hockey rink, a curling rink, a senior center & a 36 bed hospital. Rhonda took us to see a polar bear trap & explained about bears. Bears come off the ice when it melts & won’t support hunting, usually in June or July. They do not eat until they go back out on the ice in November, living off their fat stores. It’s called walking hibernation. The amount of energy to pursue something & eat it will mess up their metabolism & burn their stored fat faster & that makes for a dangerous bear. Bear traps are put out for problem bears; they are baited with smelly seal oil. Smart bears learn to avoid traps; they are not rewarded with food. Once the bears are trapped, they go to polar bear jail. We got to see the jail but as she pointed out, it is not a zoo so we couldn’t go inside. The bears are isolated from each other & not fed. No rewards keep the bears out of trouble. There is no landfill for easy eats. All waste is sorted, packaged & stored in a warehouse. Next we went to see the puppies. This is an area where Eskimo Husky dogs are kept. The puppies have little dog houses but the older dogs do not as they don’t use them. We got to play with the puppies; they’re adorable. Usually there is 1 or more ‘boss’ dogs around; these dogs are not chained like the others. Yup, even the puppies are chained to a ground wire. No dog is close enough to touch another dog except the boss dogs. Went to the Battery across the inlet from Fort Prince of Wales & to a beach to collect rocks to make an Inuk Shuk. Back to the room & then at 7pm, we went to hear Mrytle de Muelles talk about being a trapper’s daughter. She has just received the Order of Manitoba Award & her stories were quite funny. She also revived an old Indian/Metis art form of tufting caribou hair. We bought one of a polar bear. Total animals today – 2 bears, a red fox, more ptarmigans & 2 arctic hares.

Took this the day we left!

10/14 (2C = 34F, wind chill factor is -4C & cloudy) Today is Canada’s Election Day. We are up early to have our cereal & coffee or tea. Our bags go out in front of our rooms to be picked up for the trip back to Thompson. We put our carry-ons in another room where we will pick them up before we leave for the airport.     Bill took us for another trip around Churchill, taking us to the Dog Pond which is an area where more Eskimo Husky dogs are chained to ground wires along a river or pond area. We saw our last bear here. The man who owns the dogs has permission from the Canadian government to feed the bears. Before he got

Sign at the Dog pond

permission, he would feed the dogs & then the bears would eat the dogs. We go to the airport to present passports & check. We will be flying Calm Air & we are supposed to be back at the airport at 5pm to check in our bags. Into town, we get a chance to shop, visit the Eskimo Museum, get our passports stamped with the Churchill Polar Bear stamp & mail a few postcards, look through the Community Center & at 3pm see a local photographers’ wildlife shots. We get word that our flight is delayed; the train station is also a museum & they are showing a 50 minute film about the Arctic people at 7pm. We leave Churchill at 9:15pm & arrive in Thompson at 10:15pm. By the time we get our bags, get loaded into taxis & get back to our rigs, it’s midnight before we fall into bed.

10/15 (36F at 9:30 in Thompson) By the time we have breakfast & get going it’s noon. We set out to walk the Spirit Way, a trail of howling wolves painted by local groups to represent different messages. Starting in the middle, we walk the forest way first to the edge of town & the museum which is closed; back to the middle, we move our car to the Safeway parking lot & walk the town part crossing a Bailey Bridge. Back to our starting point, we pick up a few things at Safeway – what, you thought they didn’t have grocery stores in Thompson? We haven’t seen any igloos. Tonight is a buffet dinner and a travel meeting. Back to the rig where Sharon reads & Gaylon studies for his short wave radio test.

10/16 (35F in Thompson at 7:30) leaving Thompson at 9am. First stop is Pisew Falls (P shoe or P sue). Very pretty & we got lucky; a bald eagle just flew passed us. Trees are coming back into view & they are getting more numerous & taller. Next stop is My’s Place but those who had the cinnamon rolls said they were pretty old. Next stop is Grand Rapids where we will dry camp overnight. Buffet dinner across the street after our social hour. After dinner, we have our travel meeting.

10/17 (34F at 6:30am in Grand Rapids) Fallow fields on both sides of the road. Farms are scattered but not very numerous. Twin Lakes was where we stopped for lunch. Drove through Winnipeg to Ile de Chenes (ill da shain means Island of Oaks) & our campground. We are having a finger food potluck. After dinner, Sharon did 2 loads of laundry while Gaylon studied for his short wave radio test.

10/18 (45F at 6am in Ile de Chenes) A tour bus picked us all up at 9am. Our guide Marian told us that 1.2 million people live in Manitoba, 680,000 live in Winnipeg, the capital. We saw the grave of Louie Riel, a Metis revolutionary, toured the St Boniface Cathedral and went to the Saint Boniface Museum. This building was once a Grey Nuns Convent & is the largest wood log structure in North America. Next stop is lunch at a revolving restaurant at the top of Fort Garry Hotel. It takes 1 hour to revolve completely & have lunch. Perfect timing. Now we are off to see Dalnavert, the home of Hugh John MacDonald who was the son of the 1^st Prime Minister of Canada. Back to the rigs as we are going to a dinner theater tonight. What an experience! Dinner was excellent & served by waiters in outlandish costumes. The play flowed around the meal and was an audience participation affair. Very funny.

10/19 (45F at 8:30am) Today is a free day; it starts out with Gaylon taking & passing his short wave radio test. Next, we go to church with 2 other couples. While having cake & coffee after church, we meet a man who gives us info on the sport of curling & where we can find a curling rink. Our friends go back to the rigs, we go to find the curling rink where we spend about 3 hours watching & trying to figure out the rules. We are helped by various people. From there we went into a Canadian Super Store. Butter is expensive & is sold by 1 pound blocks. You can even by 1 lb blocks of garlic butter. The fish counter is huge & has fish for sale we have never heard about. Anyone know how a milkfish tastes? There are fruits & vegetables we have never seen & coming from California, we have seen a lot of different things. Back to the rig where we had dinner & got ready for tomorrow.

10/20 (34F at 7:30) our rig is wearing balloons & a banner that reads ‘Happy Anniversary’ and as we board the bus at 9am, we get a card & crowns to wear. The group serenaded us to the tune of Happy Birthday to you. Marian, our guide, takes us to see the flood control that is in place. The Red River flows north from North Dakota towards Hudson Bay & is quite devastating at times depending on what the weather is like in the US. Canadians refer to us as Americans and claim that if America catches a cold, Canada gets pneumonia. Next stop is Assiniboine (Ah sin a boyne) Gardens & the Mol Sculpture Garden, then the zoo where we are allowed in to see the statue of Winnie the bear who was the inspiration for ‘Winnie the Pooh’. They have a white bison at this zoo. Taken to The Forks, we got lunch & had a chance to look at the shops before going to the Winnipeg Museum. What a wonderful museum; we needed more time to look. Back at the rigs, we had a very late social hour & voted for the best Inuk Shuks (e nook shook).

 10/21 (31F at 6:30am) time for a relaxing breakfast and then we are car-pooling to the Canada Mint where they mint circulating coins. We learned the process and also found out they make coins for other nations – India, Ethiopia & Japan. And they make the Canadian penny for about 3 cents. If they can make it that cheap why can’t the US? Back to the rigs where we were treated to a pizza lunch. Then, we went back to our home & tried to stay warm while we read & rested. Our farewell dinner is tonight. It’s supposed to rain tonight so we pulled in our big slide.

10/22 (39F at 6:30) up early for coffee, tea or chocolate & muffins, cheese biscuits & rolls. Today is the end of our tour. Many are heading back to the US. We are going to stay in Winnipeg one more day. Lots of hugs given to our new friends as we said goodbye. Everyone is gone, we strip the bed & gather up all of our laundry. Into town where we found the Assiniboine Zoo & took pictures of the white bison. Then we returned to the laundromat & got our clothes all clean. Sharon wrote out postcards while Gaylon got a haircut. Mailed everything & went across the parking lot to a Tim Horton’s (a chain restaurant) for soup & sandwiches & then found the Super Store again where we bought mostly fruits & veggies. It has been drizzly off & on all day. The high today was 48F.

10/23 (40F at 6am in Ile de Chenes) Looked again at 7:30 & it was 39F. We got some things done & left the park at noon. The trip around Winnipeg was the longest part of the trip. 2 ½ hours later we are parked at the Wal*Mart in Portage la Prairie & it is okay for us to stay. Of course we shop after getting permission. It was cloudy in Winnipeg but the sun is shining at the Wal*Mart. After eating some warmed up leftovers, we watch some TV & it’s so cold we are in bed at 9:45pm to keep warm.

10/24 (38F at 6:45 in Portage la Prairie) Slept in. The propane heater ran all night. We had breakfast & then drove to Brandon to Lyle & Nadean Ramsey’s home. They were our wagon master’s on the tour. We got to their lovely home & backed into their driveway. Nadean fixed a wonderful dinner. After clean up we took them to their own Stampede, a mostly junior rodeo. Back home, we said our goodnights.

 

10/25 (39F at 8am in Brandon) visited with Lyle & Nadean in their lovely home until lunch. Then we went off to play some 5 pin. There are only 5 pins set up, you get 3 small balls to knock them down. There is no sliding in to deliver the ball. The head pin is worth 5 points, the next 2 are worth 3 and the last 1 are worth 2 points. There are still strikes, spares & splits. It took some getting used to but after they turned on the glow lights & we got them to put the gutter bumpers up, it was a lot of fun! Lyle took us out to see where they lived on the farm; Nadean admitted she is definitely a city girl. After another wonderful dinner we played cards.

10/26 (39F, sunny but very windy) Went to Church with the Ramsey’s & then when we got back to their home, we hooked up the jeep & headed west for Saskatchewan. It was too windy for a vehicle our size to be on the road; we only got as far as Virden, Manitoba (MB). After fueling we parked at a Petro Canada truck stop next to a big trailer to protect us from the wind. We played cards after we ate. It is really cold outside. The propane furnace is running, all the blankets we have are on the bed & we are both sleeping in our winter underwear.

10/27 (18F at 8am in Virden) It is going to be sunny soon; the sun is almost up. Right after some hot breakfast, we headed for Regina. We were told in Winnipeg that Saskatchewan was flat but it seems to have the same rolling golden hills that Manitoba does; trees are sparse & mostly around farms & in towns. At 11:30, it has warmed up to 29F. In the navigator seat, Sharon is wearing a turtle neck shirt under a long sleeve T with a fleece vest over them both, long john bottoms under corduroy pants, wool socks in wool slippers & she is seriously considering putting her new warm boots on. Gaylon is wearing long john top & bottoms, jeans, shirt, fleece jacket, wool socks & hiking boots. Once in Regina, we find the Wal*Mart & buy a new battery for the jeep. Then it’s on to Moose Jaw where we pull into Prairie Oasis Campground. They are turning the water back on because warm weather is expected. After a hot shower using their facilities we had dinner. Saskatchewan is on Central time but they don’t do Daylight Savings Time so we set the clocks back to Mountain time.

10/28 (34F at 7:30am in Moose Jaw) Moose Jaw came from a Cree word Moosegaw meaning ‘gentle breezes’ and it was the red light district for Regina. Went over to the Western Development Museum which was about transportation. They had some interesting exhibits of inventions by Da Vinci & the Chinese that they built and tested. There was Chinese fire shooter, a chariot with a whirling blade, a rapid firing gun that looked like a rake among them. After lunch, we toured the ‘Tunnels of Moose Jaw’ & found out that Al Capone was a frequent visitor here. There were quite a few tunnels & some were used by the Chinese. During that tour, we learned about the hardships & emotional cost of being Chinese in Canada. After the tours, we walked over to the Ukranian Borscht Factory, tasted their soup & bought some. Back to the rig; we have a great signal so Sharon worked on the website only to lose it all.

10/29 (44F at 7:15am in Moose Jaw) You can tell it’s warming up. Left Moose Jaw around 9am. There was a great place to pull off for lunch at the turn off for Piapot & Canada 1. Back on the road we passed a salt processing plant near Chaplin. There are lots of cattle in the golden rolling hills around us. Crossed in Alberta (AB) about 3pm. The visitor centers we pass have all been closed for the season. Alberta was made a province in 1917. Canada is a really young country compared to the US. We stopped at a Wal*Mart in Medicine Hat for the night; they were having a moving sale & the new store opening on 11/5 right across the street is a Supercentre. We unhooked, went to see where our turn would be in the morning, located a gas station, went to a Super Store & then went to Wendy’s for a burger. The Super Store is Canadian & is like a super Wal*Mart only with some really exotic foods.

10/30 (44F at 7:45am in Medicine Hat) gorgeous sunrise with gold, orange, red & bronze under dark clouds. After breakfast, we went to see the World’s Tallest Tee Pee, bought 1 In-Canada stamp & 3 postcards to use up the last of the Canadian stamps for mailing to the US, picked up some information about Lethbridge & a Montana map. A lot of Canadian hotels have waterslide parks inside. When it gets cold here & the snow is deep, Canadians like to swim, play 5 pin, bowl, curl & play hockey. As we left Medicine Hat, we pulled in & fueled up with diesel for $1.179 a liter which equals $4.469 a gallon. Regular unleaded gas was going for .94 a liter or $3.569 a gallon. We had been paying $1.299 a liter in Manitoba. Drove through Lethbridge to the Bridgeview RV Park (Passport America or Coast to Coast). Walked over to look at the High Level Bridge, it is 341 feet high & almost a mile long & the largest bridge of its type in Canada. We are spending our Canadian money.

10/31 (44F at 7:45am in Lethbridge) went to town & had lunch at a reclaimed water tower in the heart of town. Great views! Drove to the other end of town to explore Fort Whoop-Up. It was called that because the bull whackers who drove the bull trains used a lot of loud profanity & whooped up the oxen teams to get them moving. After all, it was a 3 month trip 1-way to Fort Benton in Montana. Back to the rig & to check out the paper we bought. At 7pm, there is an ice hockey game at the University of Lethbridge so we drive over to watch. Fortunately we sat next to a couple who know all about hockey; they were very friendly & helpful in teaching us about the game. The local team won by 5 goals.

11/1 (54F at 8:45am in Lethbridge) left after late breakfast heading south west to Cardston. It is so nice out, we are in T-shirts. The Remington Carriage Museum is on the south side of Cardston & has a huge parking lot. We are the only visitors & our 45 minute guided tour lasts an hour & 15 minutes. This is an amazing museum with over 214 carriages. During the summer, you can take carriage rides. We are 15 minutes from the Canada/USA border; it will be good to be back in the US. We thought we would stay in St. Mary but the town is all boarded up except for the grocery store & horses were wandering all around town. Browning, a town within the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana on the east side of Glacier National Park has a casino. It is where we are spending the night.

You know you are across the Canadian border when: Kids put horse manure in the freezer to use for hockey pucks when the ponds & lakes freeze solid.   The first snowfall of the year occurs on October 9th while you are walking to the post office but nothing sticks until Halloween.  You ask what something tastes like & the answer is “It tastes like beaver.” The passenger train from Thompson to Churchill can lose 2 hours of time in a 1 hour period of time. (that may have something to do with the space/time thing).

2008 – 9/18 to 10/2 North Dakota

Click on the pictures to make them bigger.

Color in the hills of North Dakota

 9/18 Driving I-94 east, we stopped at a Flying J for fuel – $3.91 for diesel. After taking on what we needed, we rolled into the North Dakota Badlands and the town of Medora. We found a campsite at (naturally) Medora Campground. Full hook-up sites - $10. They are getting ready to close for the winter so water is being shut off for unoccupied sites. Theodore Roosevelt National Park is right next to us. Temperature was in the low 50′s when we woke up but warmed up nicely to low 80′s in the afternoon.

2008 – 8/14 to 8/27 Utah

Leaving Colorado, we drove to Moab, Utah of the red sandstone cliffs. The plan was to check out the park service campgrounds along the Colorado River. Well, it wasn’t exactly cooler along the river in the canyons, pretty yes, cool no.  

2008 – 7/16 to 8/14 Colorado

 Rolled into Colorado on Hwy 25 where we stopped in Denver to see the State Capital building; we took the tour that included the 99 steps to the upper rotunda where we could overlook the city. We also got to visit with an old friend & her family.