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tbutler

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  1. tbutler
    Anyone who visits the Pacific Northwest will see ample evidence of the logging industry in this part of the country. As you drive the roads you will see hills and mountains that have been give hair cuts. Sometimes a whole hill or mountain is devoid of trees. In other locations you see patches removed from the rest of the forest. You are sharing the road with trucks loaded with logs and the empty trucks folded up for their return to the forest. The Olympic Peninsula which has been our primary objective this summer is largely devoted to Olympic National Park but the fringes which remain are the domain of the timber industry.
    Within Olympic National Park the forests are mostly untouched, trees are left to grow and die by natural processes. Under these conditions, Douglas Fir trees which are the dominant species here grow to 300 feet tall and have diameters over 12 feet and live for hundreds of years. The are quite simply breathtaking when you stand beneath them and look up to their upper branches. Their massive straight trunks, almost devoid of limbs in their lower reaches, seem to stretch to the sky. We need our National Parks to preserve sights like these for ourselves and for our children. Outside the National Park, trees like this are seldom seen.
    Beyond the protection of the National Park, trees are a commodity. They are grown like a farmers crop, they are a farmers crop. Seedlings are planted within a specified short period after the forest is cut. With the abundant rainfall typical in the northwest, they will grow to five feet tall in a matter of three or four years. At this point, the tree farmer decides how to manage his crop and thins the stand of trees accordingly. Within 50 to 60 years these trees will grow to 60 to 80 feet tall and a diameter of about 14 inches. This early growth is the most rapid and most productive. Having all been planted at the same time, they all grow to look like one another. This makes them easy to harvest. The harvesting equipment is designed specifically to handle trees of this size.
    We spent a morning touring the timber industry on a guided tour. The tour took us through a mill which processes logs into a variety of rough and finished dimension lumber. After that we went into the forest to see how the trees are harvested and processed for shipping to the mill. Our tour guide had a degree in forestry and had worked in the industry most of his career. He was a good ambassador for the timber industry.
    Gone are the days of individual loggers scaling the trees and cutting the tops then felling the trees with hand saws or chain saws. Machinery has taken over here as it has in many other areas of farming. Trees are cut by machines. A different machine will turn the tree into a series of logs, stripped of their branches and some of the bark, cut into sections to fit on a truck in just a matter of seconds. A computer controls the actual cutting operation while the operator moves the arm to drop the logs where desired. As several of us stood watching this machine process tree after tree into logs ready for the mill, we remarked how this machine could do the work of 50 men working by hand. When the operator of the machine stepped out of the cab to take a break we were amazed to see that he had an artificial leg. Our guide explained to us that this young man had cancer as a youth and had his leg amputated. His leg is not the ultra-modern leg you see on the news and in athletic events these days. His leg was a stiff prosthesis which he moved around by swinging and dragging it into position. So here we had the work that at one time would have been done by 50 burly woodsmen, Paul Bunyons in a previous era, now done by a single man with an artificial leg.
    Another machine will load the logs onto a truck which will transport the logs from the forest to a mill or in some cases to a port where they will be loaded onto ships. We saw huge stockpiles of logs at every major port in the northwest. At the mill, the mechanization continues. Arriving at the mill I observed a collection of rusty buildings that I was to learn held modern machinery. Logs are moved to conveyers by large machines. The conveyers carry the logs along an assembly line or perhaps it should be called a disassembly line. The last of the bark is stripped from the logs then they are lined up for the saw. They are placed on the saw table by a machine controlled by a computer. The computer using inputs from sensors and imaging devices decides exactly how to position the log on the saw table. With each cut, the log is first squared and then sectioned into dimension lumber. The operator at the computer sets the priority for the dimension lumber that is desired based on market conditions. If the price for 2x4's is better than 2x6's then the computer will try to cut as many 2x4's as it can from each log. The rest of the operators job is to watch the machine operate and deal with any breakdowns which may occur.
    From here lumber goes to the kiln where moisture is cooked from the wood. The final step in the process is to shave the lumber to its final dimension. The classic 2x4 ends up being 1 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches when ready for market. This mill has the capability to produce everything from railroad ties to finished 2x4's.
    The tour we took is offered in Forks, Washington by the Visitors Center in conjunction with the Timber Museum. Tours are free and are scheduled each Wednesday morning during the tourist season. The number of people who can participate on a tour is limited by the size of the van. If you tour the Olympic Peninsula you should put this tour on your agenda. It gives an interesting insight into an industry that is often maligned but is absolutely necessary for our modern society.
  2. tbutler
    We have traveled 6500 miles so far this summer. One of the things we have noticed while on the road is that there seem to be many more motor homes on the road this year than in years past. I can recall the days when we considered purchasing a motor home and then first hit the road. We would drive down any road and see lots of RV's of all kinds. Then the industry fell on hard times. Fuel prices went up and motor homes pretty quickly disappeared from the roads and highways. We traveled through New England in 2005 and saw many RV's sitting by the roadside with for sale signs everywhere we went. We saw very few motor homes on the road. That has been the case ever since. I'm sure other FMCA members have noticed the same thing.
    Based on our informal observations, this year is different. Everywhere we have traveled we have seen other motor homes on the road. Noticeably more people are out and traveling this summer. We attended a Lone Star Chapter rally in late May and the turnout was considerably larger than in the past. I wonder if this will be reflected in the turnout for the FMCA gathering in Indianapolis this month.
    We're moving on to a new park tomorrow. We've been in Sequim, WA for two weeks. We'll move to Elwa Dam just west of Port Angeles. A week, maybe more there will give us a chance to explore other areas of Olympic National Park. Most of the park is wilderness so there are only a few roads that provide access to the park. Our days of backpacking are past so we don't get far into the interior. Still each road is an adventure. We drove to the Deer Park Campground and Blue Mountain viewpoint on Saturday. Deer Park Road is 18 miles long from Hwy 101 to the peak of Blue Mountain with the last 8 miles being a narrow gravel road. It is winding, steep and quite scenic. Louise was quite tense as many of the views were out her window on the way up the mountain. She was frequently looking down a very steep slope extending hundreds of feet down the mountainside. I was busy looking for oncoming traffic because the narrow road required negotiating with other drivers to find a place to pass. Fortunately, all drivers were taking their driving very seriously and they were watching for us as much as we were watching for them.
    Once we got to the top, the view was well worth the drive. We had the mountaintop experience without making the climb ourselves. We did walk a short trail up to the peak. To the south we could see the interior mountains of the park. Even now in August, these peaks up to 7980 foot high are holding significant amounts of snow. To the east we were looking down the steep slopes of Blue Mountain to the foothills of the Olympic Mountains. Off to the north was the town of Sequim where we are staying. Beyond that we could see the Strait of Juan de Fuca and across the strait we could see the southern shore of Vancouver Island. On the horizon to the northeast the snow capped volcano, Mount Baker, stood out above the surrounding terrain. All around us the view was spectacular. The trail guide highlighted the role of rain or in this case lack of it in shaping the flora and fauna in this area. Blue Mountain and Sequim are in the rain shadow of the higher mountains to the west. Those mountains take all the moisture from the Pacific air as it is lifted over them. As the air descends the eastern side of the mountains it is too dry to drop much precipitation, this forms a rain shadow.
    One of the other delights we've found here on the Olympic Peninsula is the Olympic Discovery Trail. This bicycle and walking trail extends 130 miles from Port Townsend in the east to La Push on the Pacific Coast. Much of the trail in the area where we are is paved. In other areas the trail is unpaved and in many places to the west it still uses the shoulder of roads. We've ridden two sections of the trail here at Sequim. To the east the trail crosses two wooden railroad trestles. One is 410 feet long and stands 86 feet above the stream below. The section passes through Sequim Bay State Park and goes on the Blyn, a community of Pacific Coastal Indians. We ate a snack at the Hwy 101 rest stop next to the trail then went on to the native art shop to browse the work of some local artists. Our return trip was easier than we expected and we enjoyed a happy hour beverage sitting in the shade when we got back to the motor home.
    Just as we are seeing more RV's on the road, we are seeing parks closer to full capacity. There have been a few no vacancy signs at parks so we are making reservations as we move. This is something we have seldom done in the past. If this is a sign of the times it is a good sign.
  3. tbutler
    We have been on the Olympic Peninsula for just over a month now. Starting on the east side of Olympic National Park and moving north, west and now south we have explored the fringes of this vast wilderness park. We have also explored the towns and villages surrounding the park. There are so many things we have seen and done that I won't even begin to write about all of them in one entry. I'm starting with nature because that is the focus of the national park.
    We have walked many miles of trails over the hills and through the forests of Olympic National Park. I always have my camera with me and I take pictures as if they were free because they actually are since the dawn of digital cameras. After you purchase the camera it costs you no more to take 10,000 pictures than it does to take one. So we return from an outing and I download two or three hundred pictures.
    We were walking a trail in the Hoh Rain Forest on the western slopes of the Olympic Mountains. Here rain falls in annual amounts in excess of 100 inches. Summer is the dry season so the trails were dusty and no water dripped from the leaves of the trees. By the end of September, this will end and rain will start to fall. Higher in the mountains it will be snow and there are active glaciers on the peaks of the Olympic Mountains. The Hoh River has a bluish color associated with the color of rock flour, formed as glaciers grind rock into a fine powder. This is released as the glacier melts during the summer.
    As I walked the trail and snapped picture after picture something dawned on me. I am constantly frustrated because my camera isn't large enough. The trees are up to 300 feet tall. It fascinates me to look up at these monsters towering far above my head. But it isn't just one tree, it is a whole forest of trees. I can turn left, right all the way around and I am surrounded by incredible scenery. With my little camera I get a bit here, a bit there. I can digitally stitch pictures together to get panoramic pictures. But there is no way that I can convey the splendor of what I am actually seeing. It is impossible to put nature in a box.
    I've seen the redwoods of Northern California and the sequoias of Sequoia National Park. The Douglas fir trees, Hemlocks, Sitka spruce, red alder and maple trees of the Olympic Peninsula are no less amazing. The forest here on the western slopes is known as the asbestos forest because it seldom burns. There is enough rain and moisture that the forest is very difficult to set on fire. Most of the trees in the national park are destroyed by wind. Hurricane Ridge in the park gets its name from the ferocious winds that blow here during winter storms. Winds in excess of 100 miles per hour bring down trees, laying them out across the forest floor. Root balls 20 feet tall are raised as a huge tree rips its roots from the ground. The forest floor is littered with monster logs piled up across other logs.
    With the wet conditions, every inch of the forest floor grows something. When a log falls to the forest floor, it becomes fair game. Mosses grow and cover the downed tree. Other trees sprout on top of the log. Such logs are known as nurse logs because they feed the life growing on them. Over time the roots of young trees grow down around the log into the ground. Over time the nurse log eventually rots away and leaves a void beneath the young tree. The roots that once framed the nurse log before it rotted away now are well above ground with a void beneath. The tree towers above these roots as if the tree is standing on its tip toes.
    So I have pictures of the roots of such trees. I have pictures of mosses draped from limbs of trees, covering logs, growing on the ground. I have pictures of streams, waterfalls, rapids. They can be 4 x 6 snapshots, 8 x 10 pictures, 20 x 30 posters or wall size murals Whatever they are, they are flat, two dimensional representations of nature, Putting nature in a box, no matter how pretty it looks, just doesn't convey anything close to the real experience. So enjoy the pictures but you really have to come see this for yourself.
  4. tbutler

    Gems Everywhere We Go

    By tbutler,

    We've been on a discovery tour for the last month. We left familiar territory at Coulee City, Washington. Traveling south we decided to stop in Yakima. The decision was more about taking a breather than exploring. We had arranged to have our mail delivered there and we decided to stay a week just to catch our breath and wait for a service appointment. So we played golf at one of the most beautiful golf courses we have ever seen. Apple Tree Golf Resort is a resort housing development in an apple orchard. You play a hole or two and then drive through the orchard to the next hole. You are encouraged to help yourself to an apple from their trees. There are fountains in the water hazards, a waterfall beside the 14th green, flowers everywhere and the 17th hole par 3 has a tee 60 feet above the green. But the 17th green isn't just any green, this one is surrounded by water and shaped like an apple with a leaf-shaped sand trap on the left top of the apple and a bridge to the green on the right top that makes a stem. So there is a gem we weren't expecting.
    On the way to Yakima we stopped at a scenic overlook on the Columbia River. Information at the overlook mentioned two dams on the Columbia just below that area, Wanapum Dam and Priest Rapids Dam. It also mentioned Ginkgo State Park and petrified wood. So that became a Sunday outing for us. The first stop was Ginkgo State Park where a wide variety of trees were petrified in a shallow lake. Petrified logs were discovered by a geologist in the 1920s. During the depression, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped excavate the site and built a visitors center to display some of the logs. There are dozens of logs at the visitors center, many pieces of petrified wood inside and some logs left in place and protected that can be viewed by hiking over the area where they were found. It turns out that the number of tree species at this site are larger than at any other petrified wood site in the United States. There are also petroglyphs which were relocated to the park when the dams flooded the area where they were located. Gems on top of gems here.
    We had packed a picnic lunch and ate that before hiking the 2 mile trail around the park grounds to veiw the logs that were left in place. Then we drove south to view the two dams. Wanapum Dam is named for the Wanapum Indians who lived in this area. Their fishing grounds were displaced by the dam and the visitors center highlights the tribe, its heritage and traditions. The museum is well worth a stop. The dam itself is undergoing remodeling and is not open for tours at the present time. Construction also kept us from seeing the Priest Rapids Dam from close range. Both dams were sending large amounts of water over their spillways. This only happens when there is much more water than they are able to hold back or send through the turbines to generate electricity. The scenery along the Columbia River in this area is spectacular, the Hwy 243 runs alongside the river which is in a steep sided coulee. Further south, Hwy 243 joins Hwy 24 which takes us past the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, site of one of the first nuclear reactors. Hwy 24 also takes us back to Yakima and gives us another surprise. As we approach Yakima we see huge fields of hops, a key ingredient of many if not most beers. The fields here are extensive, I estimated that there must be something like 8 to 10 square miles under cultivation here. Yakima was giving us surprise after surprise.
    We left Yakima traveling Hwy 12 which runs between Mt. Ranier to the north and Mt. St. Helens to the south. A short scenic drive bring us to Chehalis, WA. Chehalis is a small town on I-5 about 80 miles south of Seattle. We wouldn't have thought to stop there but that is where Cummins NW has a shop which could do repair work on our generator and the chassis air conditioning. We've been working on the air conditioning repair for almost two months. The generator quit on us several weeks ago. We got an emergency appointment for the generator at Cummins in Billings, MT. They found the problem and patched up some burned wires but they didn't have time nor parts for a proper fix. We had the parts for both repairs sent to the Chehalis location and had an appointment for the repair. Trent welcomed us and got work under way. We had one of the most welcoming friendly experiences we've ever had at any repair facility. Trent kept us informed on progress and explained the repairs. Our stay in Chehalis before our repair appointment was at the Riverside Golf RV Park. We were parked backed up to the first hole with a screen behind us to stop stray golf balls. We played the course, it is almost 100 years old and a challenging course. We had dinner on the deck overlooking the ninth green. The campground is a parking lot type campground. There are full hookups. You park on sturdy, clean concrete pads with gravel between pads. There are no other facilities, no showers, no playground (unless you count the golf course) and no store. We had a nice view of the road and the Chehalis airport. Being a pilot I wasn't complaining about that.
    After our day of repair we headed for the Glen Ayr Resort in Hoodsport. This beautiful resort is located on US 101 and Hood Canal which isn't really a canal. Hood Canal is actually a fjord, formed by a glacier, it is 60 miles long, several miles wide and as much as 600 feet deep. Our site was up the hill in the campground. From there we can see Hood Canal over the roof of the resort hotel. We are able to watch the boats and see the tides change from the motor home. We took a day to drive north on US 101 to the Walker Mountain viewpoint. You get a nice view of Puget Sound and Seattle on a clear day. Then we did wineries for a day. A scenic drive along Hwy 106 which borders Hood Canal led us to Belfair. We turned south to Shelton and then north again to Hoodsport. Along the way we netted a little over two cases of wine, stores for the winter. Olympic National Park is a primary objective of our trip and we finally made it when we drove from Hoodsport to the Staircase Ranger Station. A day hike with Ranger Jeff introduced us to the forest and streams of this wonderful wilderness park. Our last day in the area we drove to Olympia to see Paddle to Squaxin. This is a celebration and gathering of the Pacific Coast native Americans from Mainland Canada, Vancouver Island and the US. We watched as 94 ceremonial canoes arrived from as far away as southern Alaska. Rowing their large canoes for over three weeks, crews of 10 to 20 or more in a single canoe paddled into the harbor at Olympia for their final landing of the trip. The host tribe, the Squaxin people, welcomed the canoes with drumming, chanting and singing. The next four days there will be a Potlatch on Squaxin Island as representatives of many different tribes gather to renew acquaintances, much like an FMCA Rally!
    After a week we moved further north on the peninsula to the town of Sequim. We left the motor home at the Gilgal Oasis RV Park and took the Blackball Ferry to Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island. We have friends there and they showed us around the island for three glorious days. We visited art galleries and helped our friends open the art show sponsored by their art society. One day was devoted to a trip to the western side of Vancouver Island to see the Pacific coast. Along the way we saw lakes, mountains, forests and the town of Alberni which was partially destroyed by the tsunami from the 1964 Alaska earthquake. Our last day we visited the Kinsol trestle, a 1920's railroad trestle restored for the Trans Canada Trail. The wooden trestle built on a curve makes quite a spectacular sight. We finished the day in Parksville to see the results of the 30th annual sand sculpture contest. We ate well (perhaps too well) and had a great visit with friends. Our ferry ride back to Port Angeles led to our latest adventure. We drove west from Port Angeles to the town of Joyce. We enjoyed Joyce Daze and Wild Blackberry Festival in Joyce, Washington. A pancake breakfast served up by the Blackberry Princesses was followed by a tour of the history museum, visits to vendor booths and live music. We saw lots of classic cars but skipped the pie eating contest. We did conduct our own personal test of the blackberry pies and they were judged to be wonderful.
    We are looking forward to at least another month here on the Olympic Peninsula. We've already had a spectacular summer. I wonder what the next month will bring.
  5. tbutler
    Leaving the midwest in late June we battled temperatures near or above 100 degrees on a regular basis. Even as we traveled to Montana we were still enountering temperatures in the high 90s. When we got into eastern Washington we began to notice some cooler temperatures. Now, after crossing the Cascade Mountains we have arrived at Chehalis, Washington. We are about 90 miles south of Seattle on I-5. Temperatures here are in the 50's and 60's at night and highs have been in the upper 70's or lower 80's. We've had some rain and plenty of clouds. This is more like what we expected when we decided to travel in this direction.
    Our ultimate goal is the Olympic Peninsula and Olympic National Park. The weather will be even cooler, cloudier, and wetter than it is here. We'll see how long we can stand the cool weather! We are having some repair work done at Cummins Northwest here in Chehalis. The parts should all be waiting for us now and we have an appointment on Monday morning. If all goes well, we should be on our way to the Olympic Peninsula by Monday afternoon.
    We have had a great time in central Washington. This was our second visit to the Grand Coulee area and we learn more each time. The tour at Grand Coulee Dam has changed as they are now remodeling the powerhouse which used to be the tour area. This time we toured the pumping facility for filling Banks Lake which serves as the reservoir for irrigating this part of the state. Banks Lake fills the Grand Coulee from near Grand Coulee Dam on to Coulee City where a small dam across the coulee blocks its flow. The town of Coulee City has a wonderful community park there with a beach on the lake. The RV sites have full hookups with 30A for some and 50A for others. The pull through sites are not real level but we managed to find a spot where we could level the coach. We fell in love with the town. Everyone was friendly and helpful including the people at city hall where we had a package shipped.
    Just below Coulee City is one of the truly amazing features of the area, Dry Falls is a waterfall that was active for only 48 hours as the glacial lake, Lake Missoula, emptied when its ice dam failed. Lake Missoula was larger than any of the Great Lakes today and was as much as 2000 feet deep. Imagine pulling the plug on that and the ensuing havoc that occurred. The Grand Coulee and other coulees in the area were formed by this sudden flush of water over the land. Dry Falls is 3 1/2 miles long and 900 feet tall. When the water was flowing over the falls it would have been 300 feet deep and reached speeds of 60+ miles per hour. This ripping force tore away the columnar lava flows in the area easily forming these great gashes, called coulees, in the landscape.
    It is a wet year in the northwest and all the dams in the area show this. The spillways are running at or near capacity to keep the level of the lakes from becoming higher than dam design. This makes for a very dramatic scene and the sound is nothing but pure power. Of course the Corps of Engineers sees this as a tremendous loss of resouces, energy and irrigation that will be needed someday. On our tour of Grand Coulee Dam where we got a ride across the dam in a bus and a stop to look over the dam to the spillway with its flowing water. Several days later we toured the Chief Joseph Dam, about 30 miles from Coulee City at the town of Bridgeport. This turned out to be a hidden gem. We pulled up to the security gate and called the security office. It indicated tours were available so we asked for a tour. We were checked through security, ID's, car inspection, under the hood, opening doors and hatch, and finally using a mirror to check under the car. Then we were given our visitors badge and directed to park in an area where the tour guide would meet us.
    After a wait of about 10 minutes our tour guide arrived. She loaded us into a golf cart, just Louise and I, no one else. Hard hats were brought along, this was going to be good. We drove past the power house with its 28 generators all in a row, right up to the base of the dam. Unlock the door and we were inside the base of the dam. An elevator took us to the top where we were able to look over the side of the dam above and get the layout of the flow of the Columbia River up to the dam. This dam is a "flow of the river" dam, designed to allow all the rivers flow through the dam. As a result there is only a small lake above the dam. Even with 28 generators, there was still water going over the spillway here. We walked down several flights of stairs to the trunion bridge. This is a walkway along the front of the dam at the level of the trunions or bearings on which the flood gates pivot up and down. Just below and in front of us we were looking at the water spewing from below the gates which were all lifted except for four and an additional one under repair. The roaring water on the spillway was below our feet about 20 feet.
    We made a pass through the visitors center which has exhibits that are only seen on tour now. In the good old days before September 11, 2001 people could drive across the dam, park on top of the structure and then walk into the visitors center and take a tour. Now the tours are on-demand and no one staffs the visitors center. We viewed a short film on construction of the dam and its operation then put on our hard hats. We were escorted into the power house to walk along the top of the generators. One was being rebuilt, new bearings, new turbine, etc. This gave us a chance to see the equipment disassembled. There was the monsterous rotor, sitting on the floor. Its massive magnets visible as were the windings of the stator past which the magnets spin to generate the 60 cycle current we all desire. Our guide points out an assembly on the floor next to the rotor and gives a Jeopardy clue then asks what those blocks look like. She mentioned automobile work and I correctly identified the brake pads which are used to stop the generator when it is shut down. Easy, they were 2 feet by 3 feet and looked about 4 inches thick. An arrangment of eight were spaced around a huge brake shoe which had a hole for the shaft, they had to be brake pads!
    We stand atop one of the operating generators and feel the vibrations in our feet. Then it is down a long flight of stairs to the operating floor. We walk past several generators in operation to go down a short stairway and walk right up to the spinning shaft that connects the turbine to the generator above. We are encouraged to reach out a hand a touch the shaft. For a science teacher, this is a cool as it gets! Then we go down two more flights of stairs and now we are looking a the top of the turbine assembly. This one is operating and water is flowing through the turbine just below us. We can see the actuators which move the gates that direct the water into the turbine. On our way our of the power plant we pass two small generators which provide the electrical power to operate the power plant and dam itself. I laughed and pointed out to Louise the cover of the "in-service" light atop one of the generators was off and there in all its glory was a twisty flourescent light bulb. Here we are in the middle of a facility that is generating more than 2000 megawatts and they are using a flourescent light bulb to save electricity. We were touring the dam for almost two hours. It was without a doubt the best dam tour we have ever had. The only downside was that cameras were prohibited so we have no pictures of all this great stuff.
    Back to the car and into Bridgeport for lunch. Surprise, this little town is larger than we expected. We are welcomed into town by a series of creative sentinals. Trees that once lined the street had died and their stumps were carved into figures of people, animals and other art forms. Wow, another unexpected find. There was an advertisement for Nel's Cafe and Bait Shop so we had to eat there! We enjoyed a nice lunch then drove around town to see what else this town offered. We found a nice RV park right along the Columbia River. As we exited the town we drove across the bridge over the Columbia River which gave us our best views of the Chief Joseph Dam. Louise snapped pictures as I drove across the bridge. Then it was back to Coulee City for a BBQ and rest watching the sun set over Banks Lake.
  6. tbutler
    It is hard for me to add things to my BLOG when we are living in our fixed home. Now that we're back in the motor home for the summer I have dozens of things to write about. At home I've been busy settling in for two years now, kind of like a dog turning around several times before it finds just the right spot to lay down. During this period of settling in I am afraid that I've been pretty much ignoring the motor home through the winter. It's plugged in and we keep minimal heat and air conditioning on to keep the interior in top shape. When we hit the road this spring we found out all the things that had quit during the winter. As I explained to Louise, if we were living in it through the winter these things would have occurred one at a time rather than all in the first week back on the road. The list is long, but not overwhelming. We will be making repair stops as we travel. Our first three stops have been complete wash-outs, 0 for 3. Things will get better, I know it.
    Our first stop out of the blocks was at the Lone Star Chapter of FMCA rally in Rockport, Texas. Being new residents of Texas I want to be involved with a local chapter and Herman Mullins has been inviting us to join for several years so we had to give it a try. We got a royal welcome from the assembled membership. Herman was there to help us get parked! We found lots of friendly people and plenty of good food. We managed to drum up a golf game the first morning of the rally. A happy hour circle, games and other activities gave us plenty of opportunity to get aquainted with the 40+ members at this rally. To top it all off, I was on the championship bean-bag toss baseball game and got a ten dollar signing bonus! That was topped off when we got our official chapter license plate. And then we ran off with the grand prize in the door prize drawing. We actually got our entire registration fee refunded! What-a-deal!
    Leaving the rally we found out that the generator wasn't in a working mood. It gave us overheating errors on two tries to start it. So, just turn on the dash air for some relief - wrong, it blew only warm air. Louise gave the generator another try out of desperation. We planned to drive 500 miles from Rockport to Little Rock, AR and it was going to be blistering hot. Thank goodness, the generator finally gave in and ran. We turned on the roof air and kept our fingers crossed. Thank goodness it has been working ever since. The dash air is out of commission until we can get the compressor replaced. It's on order... The KVH dish has quit so we're back to broadcast TV. I was surprised to find that the number of channels that are available have increased. Our stop to determine the problem revealed a faulty computer card, no replacement available. The company wants the entire antenna unit returned to the factory... I'm thinking about it.
    Arriving at our destination in Missouri the next day, we picked up our two grandsons for a ten day tour of Nebraska and South Dakota. At ages 10 and 11, they are really interested in paleontology so we made the U of N State Muesum in Lincoln, NE our first stop. These are two exceptional 10 and 11 year old boys. They actually stop to read and learn from the displays. Sure, the gift shop is not an optional stop but they really love all those bones! Then we were off to Custer, SD. We made that our base for four days of exploring. We hiked to the outstretched arm of the Crazy Horse Monument with the annual Volksmarch. The boys would get 20 or 30 yards ahead of Louise and I then wait for us to catch up. I have lots of pictures of them standing by the side of the trail waiting! Our next day was a visit to Mount Rushmore followed by a drive through Custer State Park. I've been through the park several times and seen only an occasional bison. Thank goodness this trip was different. We saw many herds of the giant of the plains. Frequently they were only a few feet outside the window of the toad. And there were huge numbers of calves. We arrived back at the campground just before dark.
    Speaking of the campground, we stayed at Beaver Lake Campground and found it to be a great place for the boys. They actually had a collection of bicycles for use in the park, free. The boys would pick their bikes to ride and the next day get a different one. They enjoyed the playground, pool and the rabbits. Our final South Dakota activity was on the way back to Nebraska. We stopped at the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, SD. We had arranged two special experiences for the boys. They learned to throw an atlatl in a hour session with Chelsea. We ate lunch in the motor home parked on the parking lot. Then returned to enjoy the advanced lessons in paleontology. The boys learned to map and record their finds and how to preserve the fossil bones by plaster coating them. Then they were tunred loose on a plot to find bones. With each find they would record the find on the map then continue excavation until they had exposed the bones sufficiently to identify them. As the proceeded they would update the information on the map. Chelsea was our instructor and with the help of several assistants they even got Louise and I through the exercise.
    We then drove on to Nebraska and stayed two nights at Fort Robinson State Park. We explored the reconstructed buildings on the frontier cavalry post. We walked the ground where Crazy Horse died and learned about the life of late 1800's cavalry soldiers in the western prairie. They also have a paleontology museum at Fort Robinson which the boys still found interesting! The boys are cousins and they really enjoy each others company. I told Louise we got double points for this vacation with the boys, one point for the places we took them and one point for their chance to be together for an extended time. Through all this they never tired of each others company.
    Our final stop with the boys was at the Ashfall site in northeastern Nebraska. Here there are rhinocerocus bones that were buried in a volcanic ashfall. The rhinos had clustered at a waterhole along with camels and horses and other animals, trying to cope with a smothering ash cloud. Four feet of ash fell and the animals suffocated and were buried. The site was discovered about 40 years ago and has been preserved inside a large building that protects the unfossilized bones. There are dozens of skeletons and excellent information about the nature of the animals. Both this site and the museum at Fort Robinson are extensions of the U of N State Museum in Lincoln.
    We returned the boys to their parents and picked up their sisters. Two girls ages 7 and 8 are a world apart from the two boys. We planned an eight day trip to Indiana and Kentucky. We visited the zoo in Evansville, Indiana. The youngest was disappointed that there was no elephant. They managed to make friends with a jaguar. Both girls got to hand feed a pair of giraffes and they enjoyed the many play items on the grounds of the zoo. Then drove on to Palmyra to stay in the county park there. Our first day we toured the Schimpff's Confectionery in Jeffersonville, Indiana. This is a great place to take kids and adults. The tour covers the history of the business which has been in continuous operation by the same family line for over 100 years and they have the equipment to show for it. We got to watch them make their signature red hots and then got a sample that was still warm. We got a special treat at the county park has a swimming lake with a sand beach. The girls enjoyed several hours of play in the water and on the beach.
    The next day we drove the toad to Lexingtion, KY to vist the Kentucky Horse Park. The girls weren't ready to leave when the park closed. The horseback ride around the park was followed by several visits to the Children's Barn where they learned all about horses in hands on activities including a brush and shine lesson with a real horse. Thomas, a large black Frisian, stood absolutely still as a dozen children brushed and combed him to be show ready! We saw several shows and rode the horse drawn trolly around the park. After all that it was Pizza Hut, a break for Louise, and a long drive home. Their final experience was at the Indianapolis Children's Museum. This museum is a wonder for young children. We've visited this museum a number of times and it never disappoints. They seem to find ways to make it more interesting every time we visit. The girls loved the carousel and then spotted the play houses. They even enjoyed the Lego's and Hot Wheels exhibits. Taking after their brothers they even enjoyed the dinosaurs.
    After returning the girls we attended a baseball game for the 11 year old boy and then celebrated fathers day with my son and the 10 year old boy and the 6 year old girl. Today we rested. Louise caught up with the laundry and gave the entire motor home a thorough cleaning. I was off to spend the afternoon working at my mothers home, helping to get the house ready for sale. We buried my mother in late April followed by Louise's mother in mid-May. Both were near/in their 90's and had been in failing health over the last few years. We are parked at my daughters home and they are leaving on vacation tomorrow. I'm looking forward to some quiet days ahead. We'll leave Missouri mid-week next week and be pretty much on our own for the rest of the summer.
    Dozens of things to write about... more soon.
  7. tbutler
    We recently made a typical trip that included some sightseeing and maintenance stops. I submit this description as an example of full-timers' travel experiences even though we are no longer full-timers. This trip is like many drives we have made as the final trip of the summer travel season.
    We left south Texas in early May of 2011. We visited family and I had knee replacement surgery during the summer. We left Missouri September 7 and arrived in California on September 16. After a stay of a month we departed our campground about noon on Thursday, October 13. We had an appointment to have our entry door lock repaired at Paul Everett RV in Fresno on Friday morning. They have an adjacent area with water and electric hook-ups. By sunset we were parking and hooking up electric. We had water and empty sewer tanks so no need for any other hook ups. We had been to Paul Everett for service before and they were always willing to take us in even though we have never purchased a motor home from them.
    Friday we lined up for service as the shop was opening. After a brief check in the motor home went into the shop. I browsed the parts store and found a few handy items we needed including a new propane detector. They were happy to install that for us. With the lock repaired we were departing Fresno just after noon.
    Our next destination was Albuquerque, New Mexico. I had Southwest Airlines tickets from there to St. Louis for a 12 week check-up after knee surgery. The doctor appointment was for Wednesday the 19th so we didn't have to push too hard. Still, I'd rather be sitting in a campground than driving an extra day so we didn't let any dust collect on the tires. Friday night was spent at Wal-Mart in Barstow, CA. Saturday night we parked at the Wal-Mart in Winslow, Arizona. Sunday night we were in the Santa Fe Skies RV Park in Santa Fe, NM. We talked over plans as we traveled. When it became apparent that we should be near Albuquerque on Sunday we decided to spend some time in the Santa Fe area. This was not our original intent but it was going to work well on several counts. I could take the car to the airport, leave it overnight and pick it up the next evening. Louise would be fine in camp for a day and a half without a car. We would be better off making one trip to Albuquerque for the plane flight than staying in Albuquerque and making multiple trips to Santa Fe for sightseeing.
    Monday we spent most of the day exploring Santa Fe. Tuesday I left for the airport shortly before noon arriving in St. Louis just after dark. Wednesday morning I saw the doctor and got the OK for six months until the next appointment. I was back in Santa Fe by 9:00 p.m. Wednesday evening. On the drive back to Santa Fe I was listening to the St. Louis Cardinals beating the Texas Rangers in World Series Game 1. Thursday we did more touring in Santa Fe. Friday we decided to drive to Taos. As we drove through the gorge of the Rio Grande on the road to Taos we enjoyed the brilliantly colored leaves so much that we made numerous stops to photograph the scenery. We picnicked along the river in the middle of a grove poplars with bright golden leaves. We barely made it to Taos when we decided to return to Santa Fe. The trip in this case truly was the destination. We would return to Taos another time and explore the area further.
    Saturday we left Santa Fe taking the most direct route toward San Antonio. Saturday night we stayed at the Wal-Mart in Lamesa, TX. By Sunday night we were parked at Cummins Southwest in San Antonio. Monday morning, October 24 the motor home goes into the Cummins shop for an oil change and lube. We're out of the shop before noon. We had a rock hit the windshield during our drive from Santa Fe. I used the waiting time at Cummins to arrange a stop at the glass shop for the afternoon. They were very flexible. We pulled up and parked on the street in front of the shop. Ten minutes later they were at work on the windshield. I called our next service appointment while work on the windshield proceeded. We would be at Iron Horse RV after their lunch hour. They had installed a water pump which had failed. A second had been installed and it was showing the same problems the first pump did. They made some adjustments, I changed water filters, it was working better. Will it last? We'll have to use the pump for a while to see. Now I called ahead to Texas RV which had ordered parts for repairing our toilet. They would accommodate us for the night on their lot with electric hook ups. The next morning, Tuesday, we had a tech at work removing the toilet. Inspection showed that we needed new vacuum breakers. They hadn't ordered them and it could be several days before they could be shipped from the manufacturer. After some checking they found them at another dealer in San Antonio. Now it is 2:00 p.m. and we are leaving San Antonio. We used our passage through San Antonio to take care of several maintenance items so we would be ready to go next spring.
    Tuesday as the last light faded from the sky we were pulling into our winter residence in Edinburg, TX. We park the motor home next to our mobile home which makes the unloading process easier. Still, late in the evening we pretty much settle for just getting a few items into the house before hitting the sack. The next day we would take the motor home out for its annual safety inspection. Once that is done, we can park for the season. By Wednesday evening the motor home is on its wood pads, leveled and we're unpacking and storing the contents in our house. Several days later we close up the slides. We left the campground in California on October 13 and have parked the motor home for the winter on October 26. Thirteen busy days from summer travel to parked for the winter.
  8. tbutler

    We start at day 1...

    By tbutler,

    I am Tom, my wife is Louise. I'll not spend time on further introductions. If you want more information, please see our Meet a Member feature under Join FMCA on the main menu of the FMCA page. I promise you more information than you could possibly want to know. Even my friend Pipewrenchgrip said he read MOST of it!!!
    I have been very active on the FMCA Community the last few days. We are away from our motor home doing babysitting for my daughter and her husband. Grandson Ryan and granddaughter Kaitlyn are pretty good most of the time so I have time on my hands while they are busy. We are in Foristell, Missouri (Go Tigers!) where the temperatures are 50 degrees right now. Our motor home sits in Edinburg, Texas where the temperature is 100 degrees today! Glad we left the air conditioner set or we'd find the interior melted when we got back.
    Speaking of Tigers, was that a great game last night or what?? I guess that depends on your perspective. From the Missouri bench it was fantastic. Sorry Memphis fans. I'm speaking Elite Eight in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament.
    We'll fly Southwest Airlines back to Harlingen (about an hour East of Edinburg) tomorrow and be in our cozy home by evening. Pipewrenchgrip, Bill and Laura, will have dinner for us tomorrow evening. Sure hope I can convince them to tune the NCAA for the Mizzou game. They have been watching our rig while we are gone. This is a duty we've traded off during the winter for the last seven years.
    Harlingen, Edinburg, McAllen are all in extreme southern Texas in an area known as the Rio Gande Valley. You have to look at a map or drive there to really appreciate how far South these cities are. Our latitude is about equal to the southern tip of Florida. We are much further South than Yuma or San Diego. In fact, Amarillo Texas is closer to Fargo, North Dakota than it is to Brownsville, Texas! Mild winters and hot summers rule. We usually arrive about the end of October and depart for cooler climes in mid April. Our community is a close knit "family" and springtime brings the sorrow of parting. Being one of the last winter visitors to leave means saying good bye to everyone one at a time. Most of them will return but there are a few every year who we won't see for some time. We have a directory that lists all who want to be listed and use it to plan visits when we are near our friends.
    Enough for today, got to leave something to say in the future. Look for more information once or twice a week.
  9. tbutler
    When my computer feels neglected it starts running through my photo files. One by one, pictures from our life and travels pop up on the screen. Some pictures fade in and out, others come in pairs. After a while they switch from color to black and white so I'm seeing them in a completely new way. They remind me of the rich life Louise and I have. Clearly, we are not wealthy in the conventional sense. Our bank account would not impress anyone. Still in so many ways, we are in the current vernacular, 1%'ers.
    I'm certain that the number of people who have lived in a motor home for any length of time amounts to less than 1% of the population. Even in today's mobile world, the number of people who have traveled to all states in the US is less than 1% of the population. Not only have we traveled all over the US, we have lived in our home while doing this. Spending a week or even a few days living in a location is so much different than flying in, staying in a motel and flying back home.
    Speaking of flying, my pilot's license also puts me in the 1% category and Louise has shared much of that flying with me. Many of my pictures are from our flights. I have pictures looking up at Denali, Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Ranier, Death Valley, the Florida Keys and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. There are pictures of deserts, rivers and lakes, crops, plains, glaciers and so many other beautiful places. Each picture reminds me of another adventure, experiences and people we've met. All that said, there is nothing like the feeling of lifting off from the ground into the air and experiencing the freedom of flight. With no roads to follow, the possibilities are limitless.
    Louise and I were able to retire at an early age. We worked another job for several years beyond our retirement then gave up full time work at age 55. Looking back on this now, from the age of 65 and still not being eligible for full Social Security, I really appreciate the years of travel when I was physically able to take on some of the adventures we did. To retire at such an early age probably puts us in the 1% category again.
    I wrote this several months ago as you might suspect. I still feel like I'm in the 1% category. I recently gave blood for the umteenth time and after shoulder surgery and knee replacements on both knees I'm back on the tennis court. I bowled a 200+ game last week and got a 96 (I broke 100) on a golf course we've played for several years, so life is good.
    The last few months I have devoted my time to getting certified as a Texas Master Naturalist. The certification requires 30 hours of class time (generally in 3 hour chunks) and 10 hours of field trips. A final 40 hours of volunteer time is required before you get your certification. After that, you can work with the parks and nature centers in the area as a volunteer on a regular basis. Needless to say, my time has been at a premium. I have completed all the requirements for graduation. Still, there are intersting field trips and classes. Tomorrow, Monday, I'll take a cactus field trip. I've seen tons of cactus in the last 11 years but there is always something to be learned.
    Meanwhile, I'm consumed by homeowner responsibilites that I haven't had for years. It's just a mobile home on a small lot but there are endless projects to be tackled. I'm battling the spring bloom of weeds in the lawn and beyond. I spent the day attending to the drainage system, gutters, downspouts, etc. We'll depart for the summer in six weeks and there are plenty of things that have to be done to get the house ready. Then there is the list for the motor home. It has been sitting in "storage" next to our house, for almost six months so I'll have to turn my attention to getting it ready for a summer of travel. I can't wait to get her rolling and leave the house in the rear view mirror. It promises to be a great summer.
    We are planning to take our grandsons on a trip through Nebraska and South Dakota. Fun you say? Yes, there are numerous palentological sites (boys and dinosaurs, mammoths and other ancient creatures) in both states as well as the historical and scenic sites. We're hoping to get them to the annual Volksmarch at the Crazy Horse monument near Custer, SD. Our two oldest grandaughers are overdue for a trip to the Kentucky Horse Park and some stops in Indiana including a great candy store and the Children's Museum in Indianapolis. After that, we're off to enjoy ourselves, heading for a long delayed destination, the Olympic Penninsula of Washington. We may stray into Canada to visit friends on Vancouver Island if time allows. We have two young grandaughters in California to visit. Then we'll return to take care of Louise's mother in Denver while Louise's sister celebrates her husband's retirement on a cruise. That is small payment for their care of Mom in their home for the last 9 years. Our final journey will be back to home in south Texas sometime in October.
    If you own a motorhome, the possibilities are endless. Life is much better when you can travel at will.
  10. tbutler
    We are taking care of our two granddaughters, age 5 and 3. Our first day was a trip to a local zoo and amusement park in Lodi, California. Day two we planned to stay at home. It turned out to be a very good plan as the second day it rained all day. We had planned on being outdoors for part of the day but we were all inside the motor home for the day.
    A day indoors with the girls is eased by Louise's experience as an elementary school teacher. We keep a supply of crayons, stickers, coloring books, scissors and drawing paper in the motor home at all times. On a rainy day those are available on the table-side counter all day long. Anytime the girls want to draw or color, they can sit down and go to work. We also have a variety of favorite animated movies available. The final piece of the hat trick is the Wii game. The girls also bring a few toys from home. Finally, every young child needs a nap after lunch.
    Louise was catching up with the laundry all day long. The girls enjoyed watching the Splendide washer/dryer tumble the clothes as it washed and dried. They had never seen a washing machine with a window so this was a novelty. That evening they wanted to watch the washer TV so the girls set up a step stool and a seat cushion in front of the washer. Louise picked up on that and got out my construction flashlight, placed it on the bathroom counter and aimed it at the washer door. The girls thought this was real fun. We had to referee who had the best seat a couple of times. This now ranks right up there on my Art Linkletter list of things our grandchildren like about our motor home.
    Our final day with the girls we planned a picnic lunch at Columbia State Park. We woke up in the morning to the sound of rain on the roof. I checked the Weather Bug and there was some hope. As the morning continued, so did the rain. About 11:30 we decided to go ahead with our plans. Columbia State Park is an 1849 era gold rush town. Many of the original buildings remain and have been preserved. Some of the buildings are dedicated to their original purpose, a bank, the assay house, a pharmacy, a fire house, a bowling alley, a livery and blacksmith shop. Other buildings house shops, restaurants and stores. They have a gold panning experience for people to try and some lightly excavated mining areas the kids can climb around on bedrock left between mined areas.
    The drive from San Andreas where we are staying to Columbia State Park is about 30 miles and there are two ways to get there. We decide to make it a round trip, taking a different route going to and from the park. The route on Parrots Ferry Road has spectacular scenery. We cross an arm of New Melones Lake on the Stanislas River and then drive along it for some distance. We'll cross the reservoir in another place on the return trip. When we arrive at the state park it is still raining lightly. The picnic tables are in a low draw between parking lots and water is standing around the base of the tables. We picnic in the car. Louise makes restroom runs with one of the girls before lunch, the other after lunch. As we finish lunch the rain stopped. We venture forth to explore the town. The first building we pass has an ice cream parlor. The girls have been here before and we explain that we will get ice cream on our way back to the car.
    Our next stop is the gold panning shop. They have rocks and minerals on sale but the gold panning is closed on a cool rainy week day. We walk through the panning area looking at the water troughs that would house the running water for panning. At the far end is a rock maze, granite bedrock that remains after the quartz veins were mined from it. The girls enjoy exploring various passages and then give climbing a try. There is mud everywhere but that doesn't stop the girls. As the day goes on they find many a puddle to walk through. If you are young, there is nothing better than a wet muddy day out playing.
    We visit most of the shops and stores. As we exit each building the youngest asks if we are going to the ice cream parlor. One of our first stops was the candy shop. Everyone picked out candy they wanted. We spent a while at the bowling alley. There is a nine pin set up complete with pins and balls. I was the pin spotter, Louise helped the girls get the balls off the return rack so no fingers were smashed. The girls took turns knocking down pins. We spent a few minutes at the blacksmith shop picking out a dinner triangle for our new house. We found some period toys at a general store. A penny whistle and a ball and cup for the girls to play with. The youngest is fascinated by a guitar on display. The rule is look but don't touch but a three year old can't remember that for long. I go to remind her and see the price on the guitar, $3000. I picked her up explaining I didn't have enough money to buy that guitar! We took a quick tour of the visitors center and museum. By the time we got back to the ice cream parlor they were closed! Disaster. We knew of another ice cream stop on the way back to the girls home so we said we would stop and get ice cream there. They took it well, no complaining.
    Our trip home was delayed for about a half hour as an accident was cleared from the road. We were several curves back so couldn't see the action. On our way through Angels Camp (of Mark Twain Jumping Frog fame) I spotted a lighted ice cream cone in a store window. I pulled into a parking spot, hopped out and hustled the girls to the shop before they closed. It turns out they serve food as well and they were open when we left. The youngest ordered a bowl of spotted frog ice cream, the oldest wanted double chocolate. I ordered a bowl of gold nugget ice cream and Louise had a cup of hot coffee. The spotted frog ice cream was mint with cookie crumbles. My gold nugget ice cream was butter pecan. This was the perfect end to a fun day. We stopped on the way back to pick up a couple pizzas at the Pizza Factory in Valley Springs then returned the girls to their mother. We regaled their mother with their adventures over pizza. The girls were mastering their new toys and telling tales of their own. Louise and I left, ready to put our feet up for a while.
  11. tbutler
    Our trip to California had one commitment, taking care of our two granddaughters, ages 5 and 3, during their two week school break. The school is on a year round schedule which explains the vacation this time of year. We look at this as a special privilege of grandparenthood.
    Monday we stayed with the girls at their house. Tuesday morning Dad dropped the girls off on his way to work. The girls would be ours for three days and two nights. Mom had several night events at the school where she works. Dad's schedule runs in 12 hour shifts. We'd save traveling to and from and the girls get the fun of staying with us in the motor home.
    All of our grandchildren think that the coolest thing about our motor home is that the couch folds out into a bed. We have wheels, a big engine, we can go anywhere. We have satellite TV, satellite radio, hot running water, cold drinks in the refrigerator, air conditioning and heat on demand. But none of that matters ... the first thing the girls want to do is turn the couch into a bed! It's ten o'clock in the morning and they want to turn the couch into a bed.
    We had plans for the day, a trip to the local zoo and amusement park, Micke Park in Lodi, California. After two weeks of near 100 degree weather, the weather has been rainy and cool this week. We arrive at the zoo after several attempts to navigate an area with roads that have been rerouted after our GPS data. There are about a dozen cars in the parking lot. We pay to enter, where are the restrooms? We enjoy walking through at a child's pace. Check 'em off, eagle, snow leopard, turtles - yawn, baboons - he-he!, iguana, doves and ibis. Thirty minutes later, we're leaving the zoo.
    The attendant at the zoo had told us she didn't think the amusement park was open but a short walk and we found the open gate. The young man who sold us the tickets for the rides left the booth to be the train engineer for our first ride. This is a small amusement park, the most challenging ride is the scrambler which grandpa rides with the girls. They both love the scrambler. The girls ride the cars, the airplanes, merry-go-round, the strawberries and the fish. Along the way the girls make friends with a boy who is here with dad. They exchange names, become friends in an instant. They are the only three children in the amusement park. The two boys who are running the entire park today take turns escorting us all from ride to ride.
    There is a Japanese Garden so the three children and adults go to see the carp swimming in the ponds. The girls love fish and enjoy watching the carp, marveling at all the interesting colors and patterns. Did I mention that dad is an avid fisherman and the oldest girl has a stuffed fish that she sleeps with? Yes, as in a mafia novel, she sleeps with the fish! The fish was with us this morning, waiting in the car while we enjoyed the park. Both girls give their new found friend a hug goodbye and we're off to the parking lot.
    Lunch comes next. We're off to Denny's where the girls start with a trip to the restroom. They order kid pizzas and smoothies. And yes, there is another trip to the restroom for both. We need a quick stop at Wal-Mart which turns into another trip to the restroom for both girls. Boy, grandma is getting a real work-out doing restroom duty. A quick stop for gas and we're on our way home. Day one comes to an exciting close as we fold out the couch into a bed! The girls sleep well through the night.
  12. tbutler
    We have just completed our trek across country from Missouri to California. We've done this trip many times since we have grandchildren in both states. The quickest route is to travel I-70 west to Denver then jog north on I-25 to Cheyenne, Wyoming where we pick up I-80 on to California. This trip we decided to take a different route. We planned to visit friends in Yankton, South Dakota so it seemed that going north into Iowa and then west to Sioux City, Iowa would be a nice change. Interstate 70 across Missouri is always a race track, loaded with trucks and lots of auto traffic. Avoiding the interstate tangle of Kansas City was another plus. So we decided to drive north on US 61 and US 281 and I-380 to Waterloo, Iowa. That was the first leg of our trip.
    US 61 is four lane from I-70 almost all the way to the Iowa border. The road surface is fair to good and traffic is light. US 281 is good surface and four lane most of its distance. The only heavy traffic we encountered was on I-380 from Iowa City to Waterloo. This may not be consistently busy, it was Friday afternoon about 4:00 p.m. when we passed through Iowa City. We arrived at the Wal-Mart just off US 20 in Waterloo about 5:00 p.m.
    I spent an hour or more working on replacing our water pump. When we unhooked and switched to the water pump preparing to leave my daughters home, the water pump wouldn't work. I found a blown fuse, replaced it and it blew again. Calling ShurFlo I found that we would have to send in the old pump to get warranty service. I wasn't ready to do without a pump for a week while we waited for a replacement so picked up another matching pump at a local dealer before we left town. Now I'll return the defective pump for an exchange and have a spare on hand.
    Saturday morning we drove west on US 20 through central Iowa. Traffic was very light and the highway was excellent. About 100 miles from Sioux City the four lane pavement gives way to the old two lane highway which wanders from town to town, up hill and down dale. That part of the trip was slower but still comfortable travel with very light traffic. On our way, our friends from Yankton, South Dakota called to let us know that I-29 was still flooded by the Missouri River and was closed south of Sioux City. We laughed, if we were on our regular route to their home, we would have been searching for a route around the flooding. As it was, we would not be affected at all by that closure. We took I-29 north from Sioux City to US 50. The final ten miles of I-29 was littered with orange barrels and two way traffic which slowed our travel before we arrived at Junction City and US 50.
    We spent two days with our friends, sharing our summer experiences. They took us to the Gavin Point Dam on the Missouri River to see the water being discharged from the dam. We marveled at the 90,000,000 cubic feet per second discharge from the dam which was considerably smaller than the 160,000,000 cubic feet per second discharge that was occurring in May and June of this year. The force of water is a spectacle not to be missed, whether from a dam, waterfall, rapids, or waves on a shore, water is awesome. Of course that force is also threatening as the people downstream from the dam learned this spring.
    We enjoyed dining out at a nearby restaurant overlooking the Missouri River. We went bowling one evening which gave me a chance to try out my new knees. I didn't have my ball or shoes so bowled using a spare ball loaned to me by my friend. By the end of the evening it felt like my own ball! I was back to bowling my average. That was reassuring to everyone as the four of us are a bowling team in the winter in south Texas. By the end of the evening I was ready to get off my feet and ice down my knees.
    With the recommendation of a neighbor we found a welder to fix part of our towing linkage. One of the two brackets that link the car to the tow bar had developed a crack. The welder was able to clean up the crack and put a good weld on the crack. It is holding well and should get us home for the winter. Then I'll have to pursue a replacement.
    Leaving Yankton, we drove south on US 81 to US 20 in Nebraska. This is the same highway we were on in Iowa. Right away we experienced several sections of road repair. We were beginning to question our decision when the repairs stopped and we traveled many miles before encountering more repairs. There is very little traffic on US 20 in Nebraska, the road surface is generally good and travel is surprisingly fast. The towns are small and widely scattered so you travel many miles before the next town. Most of these small towns don't even have a stop sign so you can keep on rolling. After miles of crop and pasture lands we reached western Nebraska which has beautiful scenery of sand hills. These are ancient sand dunes, now supporting grasses and trees. As US 20 continues into Wyoming, there are more rocks and mountains. The scenery is beautiful. We encountered a few showers but arrived in Casper, Wyoming before dark. The Wal-Mart parking lot, our overnight stop, is packed with RV's, many are on the way to or from Yellowstone we suspect.
    US 20 joins I-25 about 50 miles before reaching Casper. Wyoming 220 from Casper south to Rawlins, Wyoming gets us back to I-80 and our normal route west. Rain hit us again on I-80 in western Wyoming and eastern Utah. Louise and I are sharing driving duties. I simply can't sit in the drivers seat for an extended time. I set the timer at 2 hours and when it goes off I look for a spot to pull over so we can change drivers. Louise takes the wheel for an hour then looks for a stopping place. While she drives I have my legs propped up on pillows on the passenger seat leg rest. That coupled with wearing the surgical stockings from the hospital keep my swelling in check.
    Louise drives the approach to Salt Lake City until we reach the Park City area where the slopes become steeper and the curves tighter. I'll get us through the city and to our fuel stop at Lake Point, Utah. From there Louise drives to our next overnight stop. Near Knolls, Utah is a wonderful rest stop which we have used frequently. Most of the truck parking is on a slope but there are a few nearly level spots at the western end of the west bound rest stop. The rest stop is well off the highway and high above the highway so there is no highway noise. A truck pulls in next to us late in the evening and immediately shuts his engine down. We both sleep well tonight.
    Thursday morning we are up and away about 8:00 a.m. We've been making really good time and our scheduled arrival in San Andreas, California is assured. We're stopping for fuel as we travel west because the fuel keeps getting more expensive as we travel. We'll grab some more fuel in Winnemucca, Nevada and then head on to Fernley where we leave I-80 for the short cut to Carson City, Nevada. We find the Wal-Mart posted "No Overnight Parking." This is a change, we have stayed there many times before. We continue on south on US 395 to Hwy 88 which will become California Hwy 88. This will take us over the Sierra Nevada. It is now late and we're not going to tackle that highway at night so we find a wide area along a river and park for the night. We are alone and it is quiet. I bookmark this spot in the GPS for future use.
    Friday morning Louise fixes a fine hot breakfast and we're on our way. Only 90 miles to Gold Strike Village in San Andreas, California. These 90 miles are real mountain driving. We're on two lane roads, plenty of turn-outs and lots of tight turns. The engine brake gets a workout on the down slopes and the engine has lots of exercise on the climbs. We arrive in Jackson, California just before noon. Louise wants a grocery stop so we make our way to the Safeway in Jackson. After shopping and eating lunch we are into our campground by 2:30 p.m.
    Saturday morning we are watching our five year old granddaughter play soccer. It's just too much fun to be missed. It makes the whole trip worthwhile. We'll be here for a month enjoying both the 5 year old and our 3 year old granddaughters. More soccer games, reading books, babysitting, and just being grandparents. The girls want to know what the scars on my knees are. They trace the line of the scar on my right knee and talk about stitches. I laugh and tell them they used staples. Ewww! Wait until I get the x-rays on disk. They should arrive in the mail next week. That will keep the girls entertained for five minutes.
  13. tbutler

    A Day of Exploring

    By tbutler,

    Our summer has been one of little travel and few activities beyond medical care. Fortunately, this has not been life saving medical care. The medical care was more like quality of life care. My left knee was replaced on June 2 and my right knee replacement was done July 28. As a result, I haven't been getting out and about as much as normal.
    Exploring has been a big part of our life since we started living full time in the motor home. We've traveled all 49 RV states and most of Canada. Along the way we drive, hike and explore our surroundings. This summer we have missed that activity until this last week.
    With the healing well under way, I'm becoming more mobile. A fellow camper here at Goldstrike Village in San Andreas where we are staying mentioned that California highway 4 was a wonderful scenic drive into the Sierra Nevada mountains. Having nothing scheduled on Friday we decided to explore that route.
    Our first stop was in Angels Camp to drop off our water pump at the UPS customer center. It's going back to the factory center to be repaired. Leaving Angels Camp our next stop was at Murphys to top off the gas tank, always advisable when heading into the mountains. From there it was a steady uphill drive. The highway is excellent here with a good stretch of new pavement that hasn't been painted yet. We stopped for lunch at Bristol's Ranch House in Big Trees, a fair sized town near the state park of the same name. Louise had the special for the day, stuffed peppers and rated it first class. I had one of the best French Dip sandwiches I've ever had. Prices were reasonable and we were able to eat outdoors on the deck and enjoy the nice weather, sunshine and comfortable in short sleeves and shorts.
    Leaving Big Trees we were headed into high country. We passed up Big Trees State Park wanting this to be a thorough exploration of highway 4. The state park is close enough to our base that we can visit it another day. Once we are at higher elevations scenic view points start popping up. We stopped at several, enjoying the view taking pictures and doing some light hiking. The first stop had just a short trail out onto the white granite bedrock. At the second stop we found longer trails through a feature named H*ll's Kitchen. The granite bedrock was strewn with granite boulders weathered from the native rock. I guess you could picture it as a very messy kitchen.
    We walked around the whole area taking our time and plenty of pictures. This was my first real experience with rough terrain since my surgery so I was slow and deliberate. My right knee is just nine weeks old and I'm still favoring it a little when it comes to up and down grades. I was also being sure footed when picking my way along the trail. Scattered over the landscape are giant sequoia trees which dwarf the tall pine trees among them. Still, these are not the true giants which are found in the state park and further south in Sequoia National Park. It felt good to be back out on a trail.
    As we left this area we passed a sign for the Spicer Meadows Reservoir on the Stanislas River. Louise asked if we could drive to the reservoir and I agreed. It was a ten mile drive into the valley on a smaller, unmarked road through some spectacular scenery. There was very little traffic and one hardy bicyclist on the road. We took our time and enjoyed the ride. The reservoir is beautiful with the surrounding scenery being truly spectacular. I've seen the California reservoirs dreadfully dry in past years but this year the level was quite good for the end of the summer. We walked onto the dam as far as the Department of Homeland Security would allow, then drove below the dam to hike to a view of the generator housing and discharge pipe which feeds the Stanislas River below the dam. There was a full flow of water coming from the six foot diameter discharge pipe and additional water coming from two active generators. This put out a nice spray which the wind drifted to us from time to time. We enjoyed viewing the resulting river rushing downstream as we walked over a low bridge.
    After returning to highway 4, we continued on east toward Pacific Pass and Ebbetts Pass. It was now getting late in the afternoon. As we drove the road narrowed and became serpentine. The road was entirely unpainted, not even a center stripe. Signs cautioned snow plows not to continue past the point where the road narrowed. They also indicated permits were needed for vehicles over a certain size. This was going to be true mountain driving. We continued on for about a half hour, passing over Pacific Pass and descending to the bridge over the North Fork of the Mokelumne River. We had about an hour of daylight left. I elected to abandon further exploration so we could return over the narrow steep curving road in the daylight. We had already had a pair of deer stare us down and there were sure to be more as darkness descended. Besides, who wants to drive on a narrow snake of a road in the dark with oncoming traffic. No thank you!
    We made it all the way back to the town of Big Trees before stopping for dinner. The final 30 miles back to Goldstrike Village were done in the dark but on much better road. We had seen some spectacular scenery, walked among some of the big trees. I felt like an infant that had taken their first steps, I was going to get better and we would be returning to our life of exploring.

  14. tbutler

    Preparing for Departure

    By tbutler,

    The weather is taking one last lash at us. Temperatures have been in the high 90s and into the 100s the last three days. Friday and Saturday are forecast to be in the 100s and then we should see cooler temperatures for the remainder of our stay here in Missouri.
    My right knee was replaced on July 28 and is now 5 weeks old. I'll see the surgeon for the 6 week check on September 7 and then we are leaving. I will need to come back for a 12 week check and will do that by flying back to St. Louis for the appointment and then returning to the motor home the next day. I got a bargain fare out of Albuquerque on Southwest Airlines that will be cheaper than driving the motor home all the way back to Missouri before heading to Texas for the winter. Meanwhile we have two granddaughters waiting for us in California.
    Next week will be busy. After being parked for over 3 months, there are always plenty of things that need to be stowed in the motor home. In addition, we've collected some family heirlooms from my mother who is cleaning house. We'll take them with us to California and then to Texas. Mom saved all kinds of memorabilia from my childhood and career. I'd have discarded lots of the stuff at the time but now, looking back they are more interesting. Some make me laugh, others are serious stuff. It is funny how our lives seem pretty routine, just getting by one day at a time. When you look back at it from a historical perspective, it becomes so much more interesting - at least to me.
    So we'll head west the end of next week. I sure hope the fuel prices plummet after the holiday. It is funny how the price of gasoline fluctuates wildly while the price of diesel remains pretty constant. I guess the trucking industry keeps the demand pretty constant. I checked the fuel prices along our route and as usual they increase as we go west. We'll pay about $0.30 more in California than we do here in Missouri. That means that as a rule, I'll keep topping off the tank before leaving each state.
    I'm looking forward to getting the wheels rolling again. Even though we've been over this route dozens of times over the years, it is always good to be rolling down the road. There is no greater freedom!
  15. tbutler

    Role Reversal

    By tbutler,

    Today we become house sitters. Our daughter and her family are off for a family vacation. They are leaving, our motor home remains parked in their driveway. The summer continues to melt away and we aren't going anywhere. Normally, we're long gone by this time of the summer. One of our reasons for buying the motor home in the first place was to escape the unbearably hot mid-west summers. This summer we're stationary and the rest of the world is on the go.
    Despite my whining about our being parked, it was planned this way. My knees have been getting more painful as the years have stretched on. In the last several years, they have tolerated my activity only at the price of long recovery resting periods after each period of activity. I was spending more time sitting in a chair than on the go. It's not the lifestyle we wanted. I've done knee braces, medications of various kinds and modifying my activity, all with diminishing returns. So finally after all this, we decided this was the year to rebuild my knees. As of last Thursday, I now have two shiny new knees. You can tell by looking, the zippers are evident.
    Today I start home therapy for my right knee. A visiting nurse will arrive this morning to assess my condition and guide me through the next three weeks of my recovery. The therapist arrives this afternoon to lead me through the first exercises to recover full use of my new knee. I know the drill, still it helps tremendously to have some guidance with the whole process. I see one of the great values of this kind of attention being that a professional is assessing my condition and prescribing activities to challenge me appropriately to keep the recovery going at a fast rate. Without professionals monitoring me, I might go too fast or too slow. My right knee seems to be recovering much faster than the left knee. I'm experiencing less pain and greater mobility.
    So today my daughter and her family are off on vacation and we remain parked, a reversal of our normal situation. We'll stay here for the next six weeks. After the six week visit to the doctor, we are going to head for California to visit another daughter and her family. We'll spend a month there then return to the mid-west for the final visit with the surgeon before heading south for the winter. In the meantime, I am having a number of interesting experiences.
    On Saturday, I was in Wal-Mart, waiting for the pharmacy to fill my prescription. I had three separate discussions with other customers. I don't usually visit with other customers at Wal-Mart, it is a place to shop not visit. Most people are there on a mission and aren't looking to visit. Sitting there by the pharmacy, one after another, three people came up to me to comment on my knee surgery. The first, a man, his wife and daughter approached. He asked me about my knee surgery, did I have them both done recently? I told him they were eight weeks apart. He lifted his shorts a little to show me his scars. He had both knees replaced in one surgery and we discussed his recovery process. Later a younger man came up to me and asked about my knee surgery. He talked about the pain and difficulty of movement he was experiencing. He is planning to have his knees replaced in two months and was full of questions about the process and the recovery. Then a lady approached. She was picking up medications for her husband who had just had a knee replaced. She was surprised to see me out and about so shortly after my surgery. Her husband was having a much more difficult recovery.
    So I'm part of a club. I guess I'll be meeting lots of new friends. At a picnic for the local pilots organization last week I picked up several more new friends who noticed my scar. We visited about our surgery, recovery and current condition. Who knew there were so many of us? I certainly didn't know until now.
    I'm joining another club today. Today my insurance switches over from the insurance policy of my employer to Medicare. Yes, I'll be 65 this month. Having insurance with my employer has been a mixed blessing. They haven't been paying for my insurance, only keeping me in the group. Being in a group means I have insurance, good insurance and won't be dropped. It also means that I have expensive insurance and the cost has been an increasing burden on our budget. Medicare will reduce my insurance costs while providing good insurance and a guarantee of not being dropped. At my age, I would not want to be without good health insurance.
    When we went full time, being tied to my employers insurance meant that we had to return to Missouri for all of our medical care. Louise has been in the same situation, being tied to her employers insurance. We've managed to do the routine stuff without problems by planning to swing through the area each spring and fall. In the case of my knee surgeries, we've had to change our routine to be in Missouri for this surgery. Now with Medicare, we'll be able to get our medical care wherever we are. It gives us a bit more freedom. Still, since I have a good doctor and a favorite surgeon here in Missouri, we'll keep returning as long as it is convenient.
    The whole Medicare enrollment process has been an interesting challenge. It took me quite a bit of reading, searching and questioning to arrive at an understanding of the possibilities available to me through Medicare. Both Louise and I have elected to go with the "original" medicare for the simple reason that it allows us to travel and receive medical care anywhere in the US. With the right supplemental policy, we are even covered for trips outside the country. It is a little more costly than some other routes but compared to what we have been spending on medical insurance, this is a real improvement.
  16. tbutler
    I haven't been doing much work around the motor home lately. My left knee replacement is healing well and I'm up to getting out and around more these days. The water filters in the basement needed replacement so I waded into the midsection of our home. As I began removing stored equipment I noticed little chewed bits of the blue shop towels I use. So now my task becomes a project. Sure enough, there are more and more signs of a mouse. We haven't had one for eight years but it has finally happened again.
    As I dig through the stored materials, more signs emerge. Under the sliding drawer in the forward storage area I find bits of acorns. Somebody had a picnic here. There is only one answer here. Everything has to come out and a good cleaning is in order. One compartment after another is emptied and cleaned. Our son-in-law brings the shop vac which speeds the cleaning tremendously. The trash bag of mouse debris keeps growing. I've grown careless over the years, there are rags that should have been secured that now are waste. A used sponge has been gnawed to a nub. The motor home hasn't been cleaned this well in years.
    Did I mention that the temperature is 97 degrees on a clear sunny day. I have the large awning out and some shade on the other side of the motor home. I'm pushing hard to get done before the sun gets to the door of each compartment. Our grandchildren are enjoying the swimming pool and our daughter is supervising. We visit during breaks. I have to stand up and sit down occasionally. My new knee doesn't take well to all the bending and kneeling. I'm drinking water like a fish at every break.
    The mouse or mice have been throughout the basement. We have seen no evidence in the living area but the storage area has evidence in every compartment. It takes me four hours to finish working through the storage areas. I check every access point. The sewer hose has gaps around it so I rearrange my improvised collar to better block the space around the hose. Everything else looks secure, so this must be the access point. I have two old traps from our only other encounter with these critters. These are baited and and placed in the utility compartment. A quick trip to town secures four more new traps. Every compartment has two traps ... now I'm waiting. It's possible that our daughters family cat, Miss Race Car (named by our grandson when he was six years old), a Norwegian Forest Cat, has already caught up with the offending mouse. I had a conversation with Miss Race Car, who sleeps under the motor home regularly. I impressed upon her that I had been counting on her to keep the motor home free of mice. If she hasn't already done so, I'll get the little rascals.
    The water filters are changed and we have a good flow of water for my well deserved shower. Louise fixes me my favorite libation and sends me out the door to fire up the grill. We'll have steak tonight! We enjoy sitting outside even with the heat. One of the really unusual things about this heat wave is that there has been a light breeze constantly. I lived in Missouri for most of my life and my recollection is that when the weather got really hot the air would be deadly calm. This year we have a breeze and it makes the heat almost bearable. I'm glad to be out and about and back to work. There will be only a few more work days before my right knee replacement on Thursday next week.
  17. tbutler

    It's a Great Life

    By tbutler,

    I was standing at the window of our daughter's home looking at our motor home parked in their driveway. I was baby-sitting two of our grandchildren, the payment we make for camping in our daughter's campground. I do the early shift because our son-in-law and daughter leave for work earlier than Louise likes to rise and shine. I enjoy the early shift. If I'm quiet, the children will sleep until my shift is over. I can use the time to read the paper and catch up on my computer communications.
    Anyway, back to my original thought. Looking at our motor home, I realized that our motor home offers everything we need to be at home. This is not a new thought, we've been living in it for 9-1/2 years. We are able to live independently of our daughters family even though we are parked right next to them. We interact as much or as little as we or they desire. For an extended stay that could turn into mooching on the kids, the motor home allows us to stay independent and out from underfoot.
    We have been here for almost two months and will be here for another two months until both my knees are replaced and I'm healthy enough to travel again. When we do hit the road again, we'll head west to California to visit with another daughter and her family and see two more grandchildren.
    We aren't traveling right now. We aren't parked in some exotic scenic location. We aren't in a cool summer location. Parked or on the road, our motor home enriches our life. This is one versatile machine.
  18. tbutler
    I am one month from my left knee replacement and life is returning to normal. Once off the powerful medication, I began driving when I returned to the rehab facility. I'm slow getting in and out of the car but once there, completely comfortable driving. Rehab is progressing from stretching and improving range of motion to building strength. The pain level in the knee is decreasing and I'm able to sleep better at night. My surgeon has me on extra strength Tylenol now. I thought I would see if I really needed the medicine a few nights ago. I was sleeping well and woke up about time to take the next dose of medicine but decided just to go back to sleep. The next morning it was obvious to me that I wasn't ready to give up the medicine just yet.
    I've made several outings lately. There have been several shopping trips, just a store or two. Wal-Mart is a long walk by the time you get to the back of the store! I've been to the bank and the office supply store. My first real excursion was Friday afternoon. Louise and I joined my daughter and her family for a trip to Herman, Missouri. Herman has a great German heritage from the early 1800's. Early immigrants brought wine making skills to the area and it remains the pioneer wine making area of Missouri. I had received an e-newsletter advertising a BOGO sale at the Stone Hill Winery so we planned a trip.
    The car trip through the back roads of central Missouri was a delight. My daughter and family and ridden the KATY Trail State Park from near their home to Herman a year ago and this trip was a chance to refresh all those memories. "Look kids, here is the bridge where dads bicycle broke down." We saw plenty of high water as we neared the Missouri River but it isn't flooding seriously in the Central Missouri.
    At the Stone Hill winery we tasted a flight of wines and picked out a few to take home. Then we had a late lunch in the Vintage Restaurant at the winery. The kids enjoyed eating lunch in a horse stall in the old barn building. The food was excellent and we even had dessert. We followed that with a trip back via another route. There were more memories of the bicycle ride and some close looks at the bank full Missouri River.
    Saturday night my daughter had snagged VIP tickets for the fireworks display at Innsbrook, a local recreational community. Her employer had contributed to the fireworks and then gotten a bad case of poison ivy so wasn't going to attend. We arrived at 7:00 p.m. to take advantage of the picnic lunch before the fireworks. This was a fine show, plenty of music playing during the picnic. Kids swimming in the lake. Boats gathering near the fireworks display. It was a very warm summer evening. They used periodic salutes to mark the time. As dark neared the music changed to marches and the fight songs of the branches of service. This ended with the fireworks accompanying our National Anthem. The fireworks were spectacular and we were watching from directly across the lake from where they were being fired. I had to walk to and from the car on grass on a hillside but managed that without any problem.
    The last visit to my surgeon we scheduled the replacement of my right knee for the end of July. I have four weeks to turn my left leg into my strong leg so I can support my right leg when that knee is replaced. Despite my summer of surgery we're getting in a few interesting events. Our plans now are to be here in Missouri through September before hitting the road again.
  19. tbutler

    Knee Knews

    By tbutler,

    It has been two weeks since my last entry. In that time I've made great progress in my recovery. I had doubts about the wisdom of doing the recovery from my knee replacement while living in the motor home. After two weeks any doubts have been erased. Actually I believe that the recovery has been easier in the motor home than it would have been in an actual home.
    From the time I opened the door and faced the five steps to get into the motor home I found everything worked very well. There are grab bars on both sides of the entry stairwell so it is easy to find something to hold onto. While holding the grab bar on the dash, I was able to also brace myself against the floor in front of the passenger seat. Then I could use the seat and the dash to steady myself. Once inside, my recliner was just a few steps away.
    The walker I was to use was pretty much unnecessary in the interior of the motor home. I had a cane also and with it, I was always within reach of a counter, chair or table to steady my other hand. So getting to the toilet was about eight steps from my recliner and the bedroom another three. I could prop the cane against the wall by the bed within easy reach. The trip from the bed to the toilet was a three step dance. Even getting onto the toilet was easy. Cane in one hand and the other braced against the magazine rack. There are built-in courtesy lights in the bathroom and the kitchen so I could get up at night without turning on the overhead lights and still see to get around.
    My knee is healing nicely. The staples have been removed and the incision looks clean and infection free. Swelling and bruising are both in serious decline and I have recovered full range of motion. There is still some discomfort when I sit in one position too long and walking isn't completely pain free. Each day brings noticeable improvement. I'll see the surgeon in less than a week for my first follow up visit. I'm almost ready to take on the replacement of the other knee! The motor home has been a great place to recover!
  20. tbutler

    Bad to the Bone

    By tbutler,

    Our travels after Denver were easy to plan. We drove about three miles from Golden Terraces RV Park to I-70, headed east and stopped when we got to Foristell, Missouri. Another three miles south of I-70 and we were at our daughters' home where we are parked for an extended period of time.
    Our activities since arriving here have included a dance recital by our granddaughter, a barbeque on Memorial Day weekend which included several killer games of croquet, and now a brand new knee for me! We've visited with my mother, both of our children and their families including our four grandchildren in the St. Louis area.
    Our granddaughter loves to dance and it shows. The dance school has a huge performance about this time each year. The participants range from 2 and three year old dancers up through high school and beyond. The really young ones are cute beyond description. The older dancers have amazing ability. Our granddaughter is somewhere in the middle. She does love to dance and it shows in her performance. The show starts at 1:30 and runs until 4:30 for a full afternoon of dancing. We treated everyone to ice cream at Fritz's, the local ice cream shop.
    The next week included hitting the doctor's offices including getting surgery for my knee scheduled. Louise has had a persistent cough, ear congestion and swollen glands. The doctor diagnosed a sinus infection and bronchitis. She is now on the mend. My orthopedist scheduled my knee surgery for June 2. This set off a series of visits for tests and exams at the GP and a pre-surgery visit at the hospital.
    As part of my pre-surgery routine, I set about getting everything top shape on the motor home. I had no idea how long it would be until I was able to work on fix-its after my surgery. One of my projects was to install the day/night shades from MCD Innovations which we ordered on our way out of Texas. The shades arrived on Friday after our arrival in Foristell. I had them installed by the following Monday. So now we have first class shades in the motor home. Louise loves how dark the night shades are. She has been sleeping late trying to shake off her bronchitis and sinus infection.
    At 5:30 a.m. on June 2, I reported to the surgery unit at St. Anthony's Hospital. Two hours later I was in the operating room and two hours after that I was waking up in the recovery room. It is now the 4th of June and I'm resting comfortably at home in the motor home. My orthopedist prescribed a rigorous pre-surgery exercise and conditioning program and it has paid off by getting me home quickly. Now I'll continue with the follow-up therapy. Once this knee heals, I'll have the other replaced. I thought perhaps I didn't need to have the replacements but a week off the pain medication I've been taking for the last several years settled that issue. Once both knees are replaced and healed completely, we'll break camp and head down the road for more motor home adventures. In the meantime I'm really ddddddddddddddddrowsy. Those hospital beds aren't all that comfortable. I only got about six hours of sleep the last two days. It turns out I'll be enjoying those MCD Innovations shades also!
  21. tbutler

    On the Road Again!

    By tbutler,

    Our winter this year was spent in our new mobile home in Sandpipers Resort in Edinburg, Texas. The motor home has been seriously neglected during this winter. We don't have to winterize in the normal sense. Tanks are drained and the refrigerator emptied and unplugged. We left the heat on and air conditioning when needed. Tires were inflated to maximum inflation pressure and we were parked on wooden blocks. I did wash the motor home several times through the winter and we were in and out moving items to and from the motor home. Still, we were occupied with the new house more than the motor home this winter. This is quite a change after almost ten years living full time in the motor home.
    Our goal was to leave south Texas on Sunday, May 1. Everything was going according to schedule until Louise came down with a serious cold just days before we were to leave. Fortunately, she had a good head start getting things into the motor home before the cold hit her. The final day was mine with all the mechanical things to tend to, check fluids, fill fresh water tank, move the coach off the blocks and adjust tire pressures. I finished loading the last of my personal items and closed up the house about 5:00 p.m. - yes, 5:00 p.m. We had delays, the starting batteries now 7 1/2 years old decided today was the day to quit. I started the coach using the battery boost from the house batteries. Then the Trailblazer wouldn't shift into neutral for towing. It has a chronic loose connection that no GM dealer has been able to fix. After a number of tries we finally get a shift and we're on our way - out the gate at 6:30 p.m.
    Our first stop was just 200 miles down the road. We were scheduled for maintenance at Iron Horse RV in San Antonio. Top of the list was to replace the starting batteries. Then there was a drip from the hot water heater that turned out to be a loose connection. That took several tries and replacing a broken fitting to finally solve that problem. The water pump was failing so it was replaced. The big job was replacing the refrigerator. The Norcold 1200 had finally become unusable during our last trip of the fall so when we unplugged it for the winter I knew it was the last time it would run. Our food was packed in ice chests for this trip, it would be transferred to our new refrigerator once it was installed.
    We chose to have a residential refrigerator installed in place of the Norcold. Iron Horse identified a model which would come close to fitting the space occupied by the Norcold. It was about 4 inches taller and three inches deeper but was the same width. Removing the old and installing the new took about two days with some interruptions for our tech to do other jobs on our coach and occasional assists working with other coaches. We left Iron Horse RV about 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday with good batteries, a working water pump, no drip from the water heater and a cold refrigerator.
    We spent the night at Riverside RV Park in Waco and then drove to MCD Innovations in McKinney, Texas the next day. The first of our pleated shades had broken just before we parked in the fall and we were unable to get repair because the shade couldn't be disassembled. Knowing that all the rest of the shades are 7 1/2 years old, we decided to replace the whole lot. Being on a schedule we elected to have MCD Innovations measure the windows for us and then ship us the shades for self installation later. With the roll up day/night shades and all our other fix ups we'll have a much improved coach. They got us measured Thursday afternoon and we were ready for an early morning departure on Friday.
    Our next destination was Denver, Colorado for a family wedding. It is an easy two day drive of about 400 miles each day. We had never driven the route from McKinney to Amarillo before and I really enjoy seeing new country and a new road. From Amarillo to Denver is a route we've traveled many times. We stayed overnight at the Wal-Mart in Dumas, our first night boondocking with the new refrigerator and it did just fine running on the inverter for the night.
    We arrived at Golden Terraces RV Park about 3:00 in the afternoon on Saturday, right on our planned schedule. Now we have a week of preparation for the wedding. Family visits, planning, scheduling, and on Saturday our youngest niece will be married. For now, we're sitting out a fine spring rain in Denver. The temperature is a cool 43 degrees. Wednesday morning I brushed snow off the Trailblazer. It is good to be back on the road again.
  22. tbutler

    I'm Still Alive!

    By tbutler,

    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 really mobile at all. The wheels are gone and I can't imagine what it would take to cut it all loose and move it - though they do that all the time. It usually only moves one time after it's initial installation.
    So now I have a lawn mower, a string trimmer and a host of other lawn tools. I'm planting landscaping shrubs and watering a lawn. These are all things that I haven't done in 10 years. There is a long list of things to be fixed and improved upon and I'm tackling them one by one.
    Still, we're living in a place we have stayed for the last 10 winters. This is one of the great benefits of traveling in a motor home. We have been all over the US and have found a place "fits." We tried several parks on our way south our first year and then we found our current home park. It just felt like a fit and each year we made more connections, solidifying our decision to make this a permanent home. At least as permanent as any home can be.
    Meanwhile, the road is calling. I can't wait to get the motor home on the road again and live the carefree lifestyle we had before. Is it possible? Only time will tell...
  23. tbutler
    As we were driving from Texas to Missouri last weekend it occurred to me that we were in the car making a road trip. Well, I knew that! But this was the second long-distance road trip we've made in the six months since we moved into a stick house. We chose to make this trip by car because of the driving distance and the possibility of encountering some real winter weather. Somehow, driving the four wheel drive Trailblazer seemed a better choice than taking the motor home.
    We'll leave Missouri next Monday headed for Denver and a family wedding before returning to south Texas. So packing for this trip we're digging deep into our stored winter clothes. Now we're using suit cases instead of the closets in the motor home. We needed formal clothes for the wedding and I just had shoulder surgery so I needed clothes for the rehab following the surgery. The uncertainty of the surgery added to reasons for driving the car instead of flying commercial. The shoulder surgery, by the way, was was successful. I still have a shoulder and it still hurts but give a few days or weeks to heal, it should be good as new and the pain of a torn rotator cuff will be a distant memory.
    Last summer we left the motor home at my daughters home while we hauled our stored goods south to our house in Texas. I took along tools so I could do some finishing work on the house while down there. Again, I was unloading the motor home for the trip. Traveling was much simpler when we just closed up the motor home and headed down the road. Now it is a real production getting ready for a trip in the car. We need to remember to take everything we need instead of knowing it is all in the motor home.
    So I guess this is an adjustment I'm going to have to make. At each of our stops we have family to stay with and on the road we're staying in motels again. I can't help but compare this with the days when we hardly ever stayed at motels and our family visits always ended each day with our return to our home parked not far away in a RV park.
    Louise almost ran the car out of gas when she was driving. Actually the alarm would have gone off first but our fuel choices would have been quite limited at that point. She said we had just fueled up in the morning and she was thinking it would be several days before we needed gas again! Oh the joys of motor homing.
    Funny how the equation for making decisions changes so much once we have a house.
  24. tbutler

    Putting Her to Bed

    By tbutler,

    It's been a shocking month and a half since I've written about our motor home and the experiences it brings us. There are many excuses: busy lives, family challenges, etc. Most of all, there has been little activity involving the motor home. We parked the motor home in the driveway next to our new mobile home at Sandpipers on October 13. I buttoned her down with window sun screens, and tire covers. Then we began to unload our gear from the closets and cabinets. This was new territory for us. For the last 9 1/2 years we have been living in a motor home. We unloaded one motor home before this one and that was a direct transfer from the old motor home to the new. I carried drawers from the old motor home out the door of the old, two steps on the ground, and right into the new motor home. Louise unloaded them, packing them away in the new motor home, and I brought the drawers back to the old motor home. Three days and we were on our way in a new home!
    Now we were moving into a house. The half-empty motor home will sit beside our home until spring when we head north to escape the heat of the south Texas summer. The refrigerator was emptied post haste. It was near failing and we were glad to shut it down. Will it ever run again? Only time will tell. Some clothes came out right away, others as the occasion demanded. One of those rare times when I needed a pair of dress slacks I had to hustle into the motor home and dig into the closet to bring several pairs into the house. I reluctantly unpacked my tools as the jobs in the house began to pile up. After a while, my focus is on getting the house in operating condition. I'm spending less and less time in the motor home.
    When we returned home we made a stop at a inspection station to have the motor home inspected. We weighed in at the Flying J as we needed a weight ticket for our license plates. We planned to take it out one more time for our driving test to get our Texas drivers licenses. With that in mind, we didn't refuel on our way home. We would do that after we had completed the driving test. Shortly before Thanksgiving, Louise called the drivers license bureau to get specific details of the testing procedure. She was told we would not need to take a test and could get our license by turning in our South Dakota licenses. So we picked up all the required paperwork and headed off to the license bureau. After waiting in line for two hours, we arrived at the counter. Anna Marie efficiently worked her way through our paperwork and issued us our Texas drivers license. After checking her computer, she apparently found the information that equated our South Dakota operator license with the Texas Class B license. We were able to exchange our South Dakota drivers licenses for a Texas Class B license required to drive a motor home greater than 26,000 pounds without having to take a written or driving test! Louise was visibly relieved. Every time I had mentioned the impending test to her she got this graven look on her face that said she really didn't want to face the test now or later. I was greatly relieved because I was beginning to think that I was going to be the only driver of the motor home.
    So now we didn't have to take the motor home out for the test. But there it sits, with a partial tank of fuel and no fuel preservative. So I pulled the tire covers off and removed the sun screens. Several hours going through the interior to ensure that it was secure and we're ready to make a run to the Flying J. Now that I've done that, I am in the process of parking the motor home for the winter. Unlike my northern neighbors, I don't worry about securing the motor home against freezing temperatures. Here, the sun is a constant worry so the sun screens and tire covers go back on the motor home. Tires are protected from the concrete by parking on a set of boards that also help level the motor home. It will be plugged in to keep all systems live and the leveling system will be kept active. We'll keep the furnace active, set at a low temperature to conserve fuel but warm enough to prevent freezing of the water pipes when temperatures drop low during the winter. I'm working on the routine maintenance items, tire pressure, flushing the water heater, cleaning the furnace, etc. This will continue on and off through the winter with the goal of being ready to hit the road next spring.
    Having a house is nice but it has it's own challenges. I have a whole new set of tasks to keep me busy. I'll keep dreaming of the next trip, the new territory to be explored and new friends to see. The motor home will be there to remind me that there is still a whole world out there to be explored!
  25. tbutler
    I am still trying to put recent events in perspective. We attended a rally in Prattville, Alabama, recently. The rally was sponsored by Monaco RV, a subsidiary of Navistar. The focus of the rally was the Navistar/Monaco LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) Tournament at Capitol Hill in Prattville.
    We arrived on Wednesday, the 6th of October and set up "camp" with our friends Bill and Laura. Over 100 motor homes were parked at the entrance to the golf course during the event. Thursday morning we caught the shuttle to the course, walking distance from our coaches, but if you are going to walk a golf course, saving a few steps really helps. As we waited for the shuttle a volunteer visited with us asking us questions and we in turn asked him questions. It turns out they were still in need of volunteers.
    So, being spontaneous, we volunteered to help with the tournament. Twenty minutes later, we, Louise and I, were standing on the 9th green with our signs to silence the audience. Our friend, Bill, was on the 7th tee. We were marshals for the duration of the tournament.
    Soon the first of the ladies were hitting onto the green. As a rank amateur at golf, I was amazed to see the balls clustered around the flag. These ladies definitely were expert golfers. By noon I was pulled off the 9th green and sent to the twelfth tee. I had a chance to see the ladies hit their tee shots. Being the sole marshal on the tee box gave me a chance to talk with the ladies, occasionally. My day ended when the last of the players had cleared the 12th tee. Louise on the 9th green was still working. There were two starting flights that would conclude at the 9th and 18th tees about the same time. Louise got an early release from her position, as the supervisor took over sole responsibility for the green for the last few groups of the day.
    The next morning, Friday, started at 6:30 a.m. I got to watch the last group from the previous day putt out on the 9th green before we started the next round of the tournament. Today I would be on the 9th tee. All day, through the entire group of 160 ladies, I watched them tee off. The leader in the tournament was 7 strokes under par after the first day. Today, she would add an additional 5 strokes to finish at 12 under par after 36 holes. I would leave the 9th tee at 6:30 p.m. Louise had spent the day with a friend. She made up a plate of food for me from the buffet at the rally.
    After two days, the number of golfers is cut in half. To make the cut in this tournament, ladies had to be two under par! Those who were one under or at par or above were sent home! So now the field was smaller. Our day would be shorter. On Saturday we started at 8:00 a.m. and finished about 3:00 p.m. Louise took over the 9th tee while I was a spotter on the 9th hole.
    Stationed on a knoll overlooking the bend in the dog leg ninth hole, I was responsible for watching the drives off the tee to see where they landed. If any balls went astray, I would help to find them. With 76 of the best players on the tee, not one went astray. Louise helped by signaling the direction of each ball as it left the tee.
    As the day ended Saturday, the leader was 17 under par. Before the end of her round she was 20 under par but had several bogeys in the last three holes. Was this an indication of the direction the final day of the tournament would take? The leader was now tied for first place with another lady also at 17 under par. We enjoyed a thank-you dinner for all volunteers and headed home to our motor home, ready for a good night's rest.
    Sunday morning arrived and we were again on the job at 8:00 a.m. Today I would be on the 9th green, while Louise staffed the 9th tee. In groups of two, the ladies put their approach shots onto the green and then putted out. There were excellent shots onto the green and the occasional stray shot. The leaders were in the final groups and the excitement and crowds built with each passing group.
    The leader came to the green. After going -7, -5 and -5 in previous days, she now was even par after eight holes. Her approach shot put her quite a distance from the cup. A long putt put her closer but here was still a 7-foot putt to be made to par the hole -- it missed by just a few inches. One more hit and she was in the hole but 1 over par for the day!
    She finished the day at 17 under par, the same as she started the day. One lady was 18 under par and the winner finished at 19 under par after making a birdie on the 17 hole. Katherine Hull from Australia would claim the $193,xxx prize for first place and we were there to see it all.
    By the end of the tournament we were completely exhausted. We never dreamed we would be able to watch the tournament from such an intimate viewpoint. This was a bucket list experience that we didn't even imagine we could do! We had watched the best women golfers in the world play golf. There were ladies from five continents in the tournament. If you love golf and have a chance to visit an LPGA tournament, go, you won't be disappointed.
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