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Blogs

Tom and Louise on Tour in North America
 

Visiting the 50th State

It has been a while since my last entry but I have an excuse ... Louise and I have just returned from a visit to our 50th state. It was the 50th state we have visited together and also the 50th state for the U.S. Of course, I'm speaking of the only state that is impractical to visit in a motorhome! Hawaii is one long wet drive and the puddle is so deep. We elected to make our trip on a cruise, which, in a way, is a little like living in a motorhome. Our ship, the Celebrity Constellation, was t
tbutler

tbutler

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Julie and Frank's Continuing Travels
 

Grove Okla., April 12, 2010

Spring is finally here and we are enjoying the warmer temperatures and the sun-filled days. Our last posting had us in Dallas, Texas. We moved from there to San Antonio, where we spent a week enjoying tours of the old missions, as well as the wildflowers that were springing forth along the roads. The bluebells were very prolific this year with entire fields covered with their blossoms. I have placed some pictures in our new album that is attached to this entry. Now that I know how to do this, w
Frankturman

Frankturman

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"Gramps" Blog
 

I Had a Strange Dream: Part 2-The Dream

Just a few days before I had this dream Diane, while walking Nickolas our dog, was attacked by a Pit Bull. It almost killed her. Mayber that event triggered the dream. Who knows, the human mind and spirit are wonderful mysteries. I Had a Strange Dream Last Night I had a strange dream last night. I was having trouble sleeping. My eyes hurt. I couldn't take the light from the clock on my stereo on top of the dresser. I finally heaved myself out of bed and moved a glass candle holder in front of
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"Gramps" Blog
 

I Had A Strange Dream: Part 1-The Setup

It's Easter Morning. This is a morning to celebrate Life, new life. I can see it out my office window. I see it in my grand boys; they are here in my office, playing on my computers. Because it is such a good morning I have the urge to share something with you, something that celebrates life. In October 2002 Diane and I went on an eight-night cruise. The ship was Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas. We were there to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. Joel would be entering college the n
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"Gramps" Blog
 

Today

Well today was a rare day. Actually it has been a beautiful day. I took advantage of the great weather and did some work on our coach. I installed a Trik-l-Start to keep the chassis battery charged. The install was quite easy to do. I mounted the thing in my outside front wiring bay under the drivers seat. I read the directions first so that may have helped prevent a problem. I aslo added an over the door awning arm lock. I think there should have been two of them to begin because I ordered th
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"Gramps" Blog
 

Not So Good Coach Moment: Road Rage?

This past weekend we traveled to Shawboro, North Carolina for a camp out with our Good Sam's Chapter. Four coaches were there and our small group had a great time. Friday night it was a quick group dinner of steamed shrimp, potato and bacon soup, cornbread, tossed salad with blue cheese crumbles and plenty of good cookies for dessert. Then the ladies played Mexican Train while us men shot the breeze for awhile and then we played a number of hands of King's Corner. Saturday morning it was scrambl
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Geeks On Tour
 

Albuquerque Seminars

Wow! What a week. We spent the past week with a few thousand of our closest friends at the FMCA Convention (Family Motor Coach Association) in Albuquerque, NM. We were thrilled to see so many people in attendance at our seminars - especially on the day that they had to brave the snowstorm to get there! We did a lot of talking about digital photos and about blogs, but the hottest topic was all about cell phones and Internet Access. In several of our seminars, we used our Droid phone tet
geeksontour

geeksontour

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"Gramps" Blog
 

Not So Good Motor Coach Moment: Stuck!

We have all had them, moments when we are so overjoyed to be motorhome owners and those other moments, the ones where you take a deep breath and ask yourself: "Why did I ever buy this big blasted thing?" Stuck! A few years ago, when Diane and I were still Bounder owners, we spent Christmas with my parents and my daughter Christine's family. We took the rig down to their home in Lexington, N.C., and parked it in their backyard. It was not a bad place to camp. Dad provided power and water and h
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"Gramps" Blog
 

Eighteen Months: The Conclusion

I went into the waiting room and had a good cry. My wife's sister held me tight and she said, "It's all right. We don't understand, but we love ya and we'll see you through it and it will all be all right. Clay, you're a good person. We don't always agree, but you're a good person." She had come on my side enough to minister to me. The sisters went back home with the two girls and left me with the boys. The doctor said, "Make your arrangements to care for your family for several weeks, several
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"Gramps" Blog
 

Eighteen Months Part 4: My Dad's Darkest Hour

This part of my past is very hard for me to write about. I guess that is why I haven't blogged for over a month and it has been even longer since I wrote the previous part of this story. I guess I am afraid I run the risk of having people read this story and think I am crazy, just like the people in our church, close friends, and eventually family thought my whole family was crazy. They all thought we had "gone off the deep end." I am not sure what good, if any, these words will accomplish. But
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Julie and Frank's Continuing Travels
 

March 15, Dallas, Texas

Here it is March already and the weather is improving with spring’s arrival just around the corner. Again we have had a busy month, even with the cooler weather that seems to have enveloped the nation this year. We spent a week in Biloxi, Miss., in the middle of February. We stayed in a nice campground within walking distance of the beach. This area still is showing the ravages of the hurricanes from earlier this decade. As you drive along the beach hi-way you see large expanses of vacant pro
Frankturman

Frankturman

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FMCA Memories
 

The "Chrome Dome"

One of my favorite FMCA members was Ed Martel and his wife, Dot. He had a classic Marmon-Herrington coach that he converted himself, and he had chromed out everything he could in this coach until it shined. While most guys have hot rods that they chrome out, Ed chromed out his home on wheels, including the engine and much of the interior. Women would frequently joke that they could put their makeup on while looking at the engine. Wherever he couldn't cover it with chrome, he used polished al
aztec7fan

aztec7fan

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FMCA Memories
 

Joking around at an FMCA Rally

At one FMCA rally, my dad pulled in late Friday afternoon, after most of the sites with hookups were taken. He asked the rally coordinator (who was standing around with others from the same chapter) where to park and they told him there was a great spot with plenty of power at the end of the row. Of course, they had decided to play a trick on him since they all knew that that site's hookups were dead! As they stood around and watched, my dad quickly figured out there was no power, but he made h
aztec7fan

aztec7fan

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"Gramps" Blog
 

The Richmond RV Expo

I have two installments of Eighteen Months to write, but I need a break from it. I feel the need to post something about Motor Coaching. Our coach is still stuck in the driveway. Not literally, but figuratively. Weather and time constraints have conspired together to keep it parked right where it is for some two months now without moving an inch. Boy, do I have the itch to (notice the word inch and itch are very close) to get away. With the idea that going somewhere is better than nowhere and
-Gramps-

-Gramps-

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Tom and Louise on Tour in North America
 

The Year of the Puddle

In China this is the year of the Tiger. Here in South Texas it is the year of the puddle. We are in temporary digs at our winter resort. We sold the improvements on our home lot for the last several years and moved to a different lot until we can get a mobile home on what will become our home address in coming years. So, we are right across the street from the office and community room near the entrance of the park. It is the "oldest" part of the park and the roads are beginning to show it. Now
tbutler

tbutler

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Julie and Frank's Continuing Travels
 

Monday, February 15, 2010

We are running a little behind this month in getting our writings out and on the web site. We have been moving around quite a bit in the past six weeks. We spent a week in Panama City, Fla., with cold days and nights. We did get in a few walks on the beach; however, they were short due to the temperatures and cold winds that would cut through our clothing. Julie was able to pick up some seashells -- it is difficult for her to walk on the beach with out picking up something that catches her eye.
Frankturman

Frankturman

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FMCA Memories
 

A little history

My parents joined the FMCA around 1969, after purchasing their first motorhome, a converted city bus. This first bus had no power, and my dad was constantly working on the thing, but we loved the motorhoming life anyway. They decided that a larger coach was needed, so in 1970 they purchased a 35-foot 1957 Fitzjohn Roadrunner. Soon after, they sold our home in Connecticut and we travled around the country for eight months. We finally settled in Colorado, but since my parents were both teachers,
aztec7fan

aztec7fan

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"Gramps" Blog
 

A Night in May: Eighteen Months Part 3

Just a note about what is coming next. . . I know that this story has gotten long, but it is about to get much longer. You might want to get cup of coffee or take a break before you continue. You are about to find out that I have set you up. I have spent a lot of time and words to set you up for a story that I wrote twenty five years ago. It was the first serious short story I have written as an adult. I submitted it to Guidepost Magazine and just basically forgot about it. After a few weeks, I
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"Gramps" Blog
 

Eighteen Months Part Two

I said that 1968 was a tough year for my family. It was. It was also a tough year for the whole country. The Vietnam War was going badly. Bobby Kennedy was killed. Martin Luther King was killed. There were riots, anti-war demonstrations. Everything and everyone seemed stressed out. Some say the only thing that saved 1968 from being a total loss was the Apollo Eight mission around the moon. I will always remember the Astronauts reading from the book of Genesis and reminding us, me, who was, who i
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"Gramps" Blog
 

Restless

I suspect that many readers of this here blog of mine (notice my use of a bit of Southern Speak) wonder what most of my last few entries have to do with motor coaching. My initial response is: not much. However, there might be a connection. I have a restless nature. I can't sit still for long periods of time doing nothing. I have to be reading, writing, watching something very interesting, and usually commercial free, on the LCD. I might play a World War II FPS online. For you non computer gam
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-Gramps-

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Tom and Louise on Tour in North America
 

Winter Adventures in South Texas

Winter is just about over here in the southern tip of Texas. We've recently had a flurry of activity which keeps our minds off the cool weather, wind and rain we've had for the last two months. Last week Louise and I led three excursions for our park. Each of these was a delightfully different treat. On Wednesday we escorted a group from the park to the Cowley Sugar House in Santa Rosa, Texas. The distance is a moderate 40 miles and the trip was relatively easy with local roads most of the way.
tbutler

tbutler

1
RelationshipDoc's Blog
 

An exercise in insanity

I have been very silent here for the last several months, primarily because my wife and I have not had our motorhome out of the driveway since before Thanksgiving. The reason for this very unusual hiatus has been, we have been renovating our primary house. I have often heard that if your marriage can survive such a project, it can survive almost anything, and now I know what they mean. This has been one of the most stressful, depressing, maddening experiences of my life. Those of you who have d
RelationshipDoc

RelationshipDoc

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