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About this blog

An account of our travels and tribulations.

Entries in this blog

 

Over the River and Through the Mountains

For a week we’ve been following the Murray River east from Adelaide toward the Great Dividing Range, the mountains which feed the headwaters of the Murray. The Murray also is the boundary between the state of Victoria and the state of New South Wales. Thus we’ve been exploring both the northern part of Victoria and seeing the territory of New South Wales across the river. As we leave Wodonga we are headed east into the Snowy Mountains, part of the Great Dividing Range. Historically, this rang
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We Have Turkeys

We are currently in the gold hills of California near the town of San Andreas. The abundance of turkeys in this area is amazing! Today we were sitting outside beside the motorhome and I saw a turkey fly by behind Louise, along the main entrance to the park. It landed within view and then circled around the motorhome next to us and back up the road behind me. We went to look and there was a whole flock, more than 20 turkeys. They were just across the road from us. This flock wanders through the
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O Canada!

It has been just two weeks since we crossed the border with Bill and Laura Fejfar into Canada at St. Stephen, New Brunswick. We've seen whales, incredible scenery, the great St. Lawrence Bay and River, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. We've enjoyed the long and narrow fields of rural Quebec and explored Quebec City. There were small towns with delightful homes and buildings. We wished there had been parking places for large motorhomes but had to settle for a drive-by. When we did stop we were an obj
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F M C A Bowling Green - Monday, July 20, 2009

It is hard to describe the wonder of watching close to 3000 motor homes assemble in one place in a matter of two days or so. Think of the dynamics of it, a city of 6000+ people (official estimate) and 1000+ dogs (my estimate) and who knows how many cats, suddenly assemble in one place. For the most part we are self sufficient. Sure, some of us have an electric supply but we could do without it. It really is quite an amazing event simply to watch the parking lots fill with motor homes and fin
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A season of bicycle rides. Part 2

Our bicycle rides from our winter retreat take us to many places. We visit a number of wildlife parks that feature a wide array of animals. If you look at a map of Texas and find the southern tip, you will see that it is well south of much of Mexico. Many animals from Central America make their way as far North as the Rio Grande River Valley. As a result this area is known for its variety of animals. We aren't the only snow birds here. Many bird species that summer in the Arctic spend thei
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No good deed goes unpunished!

We arrived in Denver last Monday to help care for Louise's mother who had a heart attack, angioplasty and a stent inserted into an artery to resolve the situation. She had great care at Exempla-Lutheran Hospital in Wheat Ridge and even at age 88 was able to leave the hospital on Wednesday. We took her home to Louise's youngest sisters home. Louise's sister took her mother in five years ago when she could no longer live alone. Mom has been able to care for herself during the day while the res
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Westward Ho!

Our time in the campervan is now down to three weeks and we have one third of mainland Australia to explore. Leaving Batchelor we drove south to Katherine to fuel up and stock up on groceries before turning west on the Victoria Highway toward Broome, Western Australia. Western Australia (WA) would be our eighth and final state in Australia to visit. Australia has eight states so we will have seen something of each of them before we conclude our trip. From Batchelor we will go 235 kilometers
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Litchfield National Park

South of Darwin is a well-known park, Litchfield National Park. Several people we have talked to mentioned Litchfield as a must-see park. It was just off our planned route of travel so we planned to spend the day exploring the park. We decided to drive to the far end of the park, there is only one road into the park, not a loop through the park. We would be driving into the park and then seeing the sights on the way out. That was the plan but when we got to the first stop, the magnetic term
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Heat Lightning

I am at our new home in Edinburg, Texas. Louise is in Foristell, Mo., with the motor home. We've been meeting in the evenings via phone to catch up on the day's happenings. I was hoping to be able to tell her I would be leaving in the morning to join her, but construction continues on our home. At the end of the day when all has quieted down, I have been enjoying the evening on the porch of our manufactured home. We have been staying at Sandpipers Resort in Edinburg for nine winters now. They
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F M C A Bowling Green - Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Well, it had to happen. We had a rainy day. Now this wasn't the frog strangling rain you might expect with an FMCA Convention. This was a slobbery drizzly day. In fact I rode my bicycle to and from the activities I attended today and did not get wet on any ride. I picked up a few rain drops but never really got wet. Louise walked to her activities. To be honest, there weren't many bicycles in the bike racks early this morning. My first session was Tires 101 by Roger Marble. Roger is an
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F M C A Bowling Green - Thursday, July 23, 2009

Today is the final day of the FMCA 2009 International Convention in Bowling Green, Ohio. We woke this morning to dripping rain. Not heavy but definitely wet. I left the bicycle at home today as our first meeting was at the stadium - or so we thought. Since it was raining they moved the general meeting of FMCA to an indoor location. Makes sense but no one told us. Worse, we didn't find a notice posted anywhere near the stadium so after exploring a bit around the stadium to ensure that the m
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The New England Highway

No, this wasn’t named for New England in the US. Both the US and Australia have a common connection to England so both have named a part of their country New England. Australia assigns names to their highways and designated the highway that runs through the area the New England Highway. It took the better part of a day to drive from Lightning Ridge to Tamworth which was our starting point for touring the New England Highway. It was a distance of 400 km but the road was rough and we had to d
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Darwin National Park and Aviation Museum

Our last day in Darwin was spent visiting two interesting sites. Darwin National Park lies to the south of the city and is located on Beagle Bay. There is a nice view of the city from across the bay. The park itself is relatively undeveloped. During WWII the land was used for ammunition bunkers which are still there in the park. They no longer contain ammunition but are used for other storage today. One of the bunkers was open and contained exhibits from WWII when Darwin was under Japanese
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When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

We were into our second week in Denver last week. Louise was busy taking care of her mother and while I could help some, Mom was getting better and mostly needed supervision. Louise needed a nightly debriefing. So being the restless sort, I thought ... "I have always wanted to add a glider certification to my pilots license. Here I am in one of the glider meccas of the U.S. for an extended period of time. I wonder what opportunities there are?" A quick check on the WWWeb brought me to Mile Hi
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Patience Is Wearing Thin

We have been home from the sea for just over three weeks now. I had grand plans for our return. I had outlined on my calendar the progress of work that should take place upon our return. We are in the process of putting a manufactured home on a lot at Sandpipers Resort in Edinburg, Texas. The home was ordered in December 2009 and delivered to the sales lot in late January. The lot which would be our home was occupied by another couple who had decided not to follow through on their commitme
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One More Item Off the Bucket List

At first glance this might not be what you think of when you think of going RVing but this adventure was made possible by our RV lifestyle. Staying as long as we are in Denver would have been prohibitive if we weren't living in our motor home. Having all my resources at hand made this work for me. Everything has fallen into place and I have just completed my training to fly gliders. I started this quest on Thursday April 23rd and was able to satisfy the FAA authorized examiner on the oral an
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Coast to Coast in Two Days

We spent Sunday and Monday nights, May 22 and 23, at Mareblu Camping in Fano.  Tuesday morning we woke, tidied up the camper and headed out the gate about 10:00 a.m.  Our intended destination was Isernia in south central Italy.  The trip was mostly south before turning west into central Italy.  We were driving on the A14.  A is for Autostrada, the Italian version of the Interstate highways in the US except that they are toll roads.  They are the only high-speed highways in Italy though you would
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Friends, Family and Fun

I've enjoyed reading a number of recent BLOGs from fellow travelers. It is good to see so many continuing stories. We each have different stories that illustrate the joy of traveling in a motor home. For our part, we have been "stuck" in one spot for two months now with just a short trip for a break. Stuck really isn't the proper word. We are at my daughter's home in Foristell, in eastern Missouri. We have attended my son's wedding, tended my mother after a fall in her home, returned to Texas fo
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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
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Midwestern Heat to Test the Air Conditioners and Rain for the Awnings

The thermometer was within striking distance of 100 degrees for the last week here in Missouri. During the day the air conditioners ran almost continuously even with our sun screens on all our windows. Since we are full timers we had sun screens custom made for all our windows. Motor Coach Designs took the measurements over the phone and we had them installed at the Monaco International Rally before the FMCA Convention in Redmond, Oregon in 2004. We don't use them all the time but if the wea
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Off the Grid

Our destination park for the visit with my brother was Levi Jackson State Park just south of London, Ky. The signage is excellent. The trees on the road into the park need trimming badly. We will leave the park via an alternate route. Kentucky Highway 229 is much more motorhome friendly than the entrance off US 25 that is given in the directions in the campground directory. We arrived without reservations. We could have made them several days in advance, but when the awning repair was finished
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Into the Storm

The Weather Channel is busy hunting severe storms. I am watching for their vehicles, when I spot them I'm headed in the opposite direction. Today we left Wichita, Kansas headed for Kansas City. Spring storm season is in full swing in the mid-west and the Weather Channel is making the best of it, pursuing storms across the very area we are traveling. The forecast for the whole trip was highlighted in red on the weather map. I told Louise that an early start was in order as the afternoon prom
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And Finally Patience Pays Off

For almost a month we have been trying to get concrete poured for a manufactured home at our winter home in Edinburg, Texas. Today we finally achieved our goal. We have concrete. It is curing and we will have our home moved onto our lot next Tuesday... if the weather holds. Heavy rains could still make the move impossible but we are looking at good forecasts with temperatures in the 90's, sunshine and low humidity. Meanwhile, we have picked out the furniture for three rooms and just went sh
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I'm Still Alive!

I was reading a recent editorial article in which the writer had Googled himself and found that he was dead! So, perhaps I should add to my blog lest I end up with the same fate. After all, if you don't stay active in the "net" world I guess someone could conclude that you are deceased. Why else would you not BLOG? For the last five months we've been living in our new mobile home (yes, some people don't know the difference between a mobile home and a motor home). Ironically, a mobile home isn't
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Making a House a Home

Our house arrived on schedule and we are in the process of turning it into a home. Even when the house arrives fully constructed there is so much to be done to make it a home. I watched in fascination as the house was leveled and tied down to its foundation. Being a do-it-yourself kind of guy, I then set about hooking up the water, sewer and electric. To a specialist, these things go quickly. For me, they take somewhat longer. Not content to simply hook up water to the house, I planned a remote
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