Day 82 - Finally Des Moines

Hello, I just wanted to let you know that we made it to Terri and Bob's.
It is so good to see family. But it sounds like more snow coming. uffda!!!!
I guess we plan to go home on Wed. See you then.
Good Night and God Bless

Day 81 - Nice and warm

Sunday.....

We got rolling about 9 this morning. The roads were good all the way. But there was snow, snow, snow all across Kansas. Liberal to Wichita was the worst. The city of Pratt was just full of various kinds of snow plows and people with shovels and they didn’t even make a dent. The highway was clean but none of the business’s or city streets were clean. Lots of cars stuck or just plain snowed under. Cars and trucks in the ditches along the highway. We sure saw why the roads were closed. We were getting low on fuel and hadn’t eaten all day but there wasn’t anything open. But we finally found a place just as the low fuel buzzer went off. This place had sub sandwiches too. The next stop was Emporia KS at a Flying J and guess what???? They had LP. Yippee!!!!! We have heat tonight. We just had a snack and rested for a while and went on. We planned to go to the casino in Kansas City to have the buffet but when we got there the restaurant was closed. We just had another sandwich at one of the little restaurants there. Back to the camper as Molly was waiting for us. It is 11:00 already. I have to get used to the time change again. Tomorrow we will be at Terri and Bob’s in Des Moines. I might not blog for a couple of days so sending and extra hug to last until we get home on Tuesday or Wed. Take care and God Bless

Day 80 - continued

Now, the rest of the story ... Saturday

I40 finally opened up about 1:30. The police were directing traffic that was coming from 4 or 5 different directions. Letting about 20 go from each way at a time. The reason was that there was single lane road construction about 20 miles away so they were trying to avoid a traffic jam. We decided to wait until some of the vehicles got out of there and we got going about 4:30. Well the traffic jam wasn't avoided and it took us 3 hrs to travel 30 miles. We still weren't sure what the road conditions were ahead. My computer showed another construction area on the other side of Tucumcari so Mel chose to go up hwy 54. This road was also closed earlier but was clean now. We got to Guymon, OK at 11:00 and decided to shut down for the night. Still no LP!!!! Mr Heater sure has been good to us.

Day 80 - On the road again

We are in OK. Finally made it out of the storms and closed roads. But it is to late tonight to tell the story so will tell you about it tomorrow.
Good night and God Bless.............PS No, we still haven't found any LP.

Day 79 - Still in NM

Hi everyone. What a day we have had! One problem after another.
We woke up this morning at 4:30 to a terrible gas smell. Mel thought it was
the generator but it was the LP tank. It should have been a full tank but the guy at the RV park who filled it didn't get it in tight and it must have all leaked out.
We run out of LP and none to be found. so no heat and no coffee.
We have a Mr Heater so it is tolerable in here with a jacket on.
The little cubby that holds the elec. cord broke and the cord was dragging on the road and broke it. Mel fixed it so we do have elec.
Molly was sick all day. She is ok tonight.
The roads were terrible. Lots of snow and slush and ice. We got parked and stayed there as the road was closed ahead anyway. (I40) a couple hours later the road opened so we left. Mostly to find some LP. Got to Santa Rosa and the road was closed again. We got lucky with a parking spot. I don't know where everyone is going to park. They are all heaping full. But still no LP. Didn't dare leave here to look further as we would have lost our spot. the Interstate was full of cars and trucks waiting to go in the off ramp so we couldn't turn off anyplace else.
I had no signal on my computer all day nor did we have TV. I had withdrawals.... ha!
We went in for supper. They had BBQ rib special. We both ordered and we waited, and waited, and waited some more. The waitress kept coming to us to say it will be a bit longer. I think it was an hour and a half before we got our meal. But the manager came over and said there will be no charge. The ribs weren't as good as the Pit Stops at home but they weren't bad.
The storm hasn't moved and it is from here all threw the panhandle of Texas and Oklahoma and all threw Kansas. Just where we need to go. So we might just be here all day tomorrow too. We only drove 200 miles since last night.
So send us mail at the TA Truck stop in Santa Rosa, NM :-) We should have stayed in AZ a couple more days.
Good night and God Bless

Day 78 - more pictures

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We got to nephew, Shannon & Chris's place about noon on Wed. Chris was working but Shannon and us went to lunch and had a nice visit at their home until it was time for him to go to work. Shannon is an officer with the AZ Highway Patrol. Mel had the privilege of a ride along. He rode with Shannon for the day and seen many interesting things. Lots of tickets were issued. When Chris got home we went out for supper at a Chinese place in Camp Verde. Their little doggies and Molly had a ball playing together. Molly got so tired that she slept almost the whole day today. (She is as out of shape as I am and not used to the nonstop running she did.) Shannon is building a huge garage. His neighbor helped him on the roof. We said our good byes about 9. The pretty rock cliffs were at the NM border. The temps dropped steadily as we traveled. Then the snow storm........ I think we should have stayed in AZ a few more days!!
Good night and God Bless.

Day 78 - Picture problems

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What a day. We went from mountain beauty to a dust storm. Heavy clouds started to fill the sky and just as we crossed into NM the snow started. It was such a wet snow that it stuck to the windshield wipers so we couldn't see. We stopped for about an hour. It seemed to let up so we took off again. Only got about 40 miles and the snow got heavy again so we stopped for the night. We are in a Petro truck stop in Grants NM.

I am having trouble getting pictures on so will put more in another post. I suppose the pictures of earlier in the day will show up first. Oh well....

Day 78

We are in a snow storm . We just got into NM. I don't know how much farther we will go today. So far the roads are ok but the temps are dropping. 33 degrees now. More tonight

Day 76 - Heading out

We are almost ready to go. Mel is hooking up the 5th wheel. We have a few things to put in and we are gone. We will stop for the night just north of Phoenix and go to Shannon and Chris' in the late morning.

I might not write for a couple of days. Take care everyone.

Hugs........................PS - Good guess Dixie J. I owe you. :-)

Day 75 - One more day before we leave

The picture of the unknown was actually many many of these moths enjoying the heat of the big lights at the Blythe race track. My camera must not take fast motion as all I could get was the streaks. I thought it was kind of funny. This one landed on my shoulder and Audrey took this picture. Someone guessed pretty close but I have no idea who you are. Send me an email.

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We got the last of the stuff moved into our new place. Now if I had it all put away I would be happy. I will finish that job tomorrow. The 5th wheel is all packed up and ready to travel. Early Wed. morning we will hook up and head out.
I washed a couple more loads. Molly got a bath. She is white again.
I have been so upset with the TV cable here. I could barely see my shows tonight.
Then we find out that it is the TV and not the cable that is the problem. I guess we will have to add a new TV to our list for next year.

Those of you in the storms... stay warm and safe.
Take care and God Bless

Day 74 - We are here. uffda!!

Hi, We got moved to our new winter home. With a little..... should say a lot of help from our friends. I hate moving almost as much as I hate laundromats!
Most of the outdoor stuff was stored in the shed. We will bring all that over next year and sell the shed. It took 2 pickup loads and a car load to bring our stuff here. There is still a little bit left to do tomorrow.
(I have to explain what is a pickup load.... There is a big generator and the 5th wheel plate already in there so can only use about 1/3 of the box.)
We have decided to bring the 5th wheel camper home after all. We just hated to leave it unwatched even though I am sure it would be ok. Besides I don't think there would have been enough room in the pickup to bring home everything we needed.

We worked all day with the move and then AG, Audrey and us went out for supper.
Came back home and put more stuff away. The TV doesn't work the best. We aren't going to get Dish until next year. So I washed cloths and unpacked. Yes, I washed cloths in my own washer and dryer. :-)

It was soooooo windy today. The dust flew so much we couldn't even see the mountains. Tonight the temp dropped. Not sure to what but cold. Oh well, we found out the furnace worked. The weather forecast in the Dakota's and down is unreal. I hope none of you get it.

I am going to see if the bed works. So good night and God Bless.....

PS.....
I didn't get any guesses on yesterdays picture so will wait one more day to give you the answer.

Day 73 - We got it!

................#1...Can you tell me what the 1st picture is of? I will buy a Pepsi for the first one to tell me ....... Answer tomorrow.....
#2....Beautiful sunset...
#3....Winner of the Legends car race. He is about 14...
#4....Second place was an eleven year old. He already has 7 years experience racing...
#5....Mel and AG watching the race
#5....Audrey too

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It was a good day today. We finalized our purchase. The park model is ours.
There is even a desert full size gulf course at the park. Now we will have to learn that game. The papers were signed to late in the day to do any moving so tomorrow will be a busy one. We met the Wilson's in Blythe for supper. We ate at the Sizzler then on to the race track. Tomorrow #5 will win!!! Way past my bedtime so good night and God Bless.

Day 72 - Another move soon

Large bloom on cactus. It was awesome! ..........
The Blackwood Bro.



...................................................................

Hello
It has been quit the day. We got half our business done and hopefully the other half will come tomorrow. It will depend on how good the US post office is???????
I might as well tell you what we did. I think most know by now anyway.

We bought a park model. This is a camper that is permanent in one spot. 38 foot.
no steps. Our 5th wheel is 29 foot and steps to go into the small bedroom.
Not a real fancy one but nice. It has a washer and dryer and even a dish washer.
Lots of cupboards and closets. Just enough yard to fill with plants.
If we can finalize everything tomorrow we can move in before we leave for home.
We have to leave on Wed. morning. Our 5th wheel is for sale. I wish this would have come available weeks ago. It is in a RV park called Wagon West. About 4 miles from where we are now. We still have our Travco so we can spend time with that this summer if we have the need to travel.

I spent most of the day packing. How did I ever get all this in this little space?? Tonight we met AG and Audrey in Quartzsite at a Blackwood Bro concert. One of them is the son of one of the original Blackwoods. They are a Southern Gospel quartet. It was a great evening.

Did you see who got pole in the Sprint Cup race this Sunday???? Goooo Mark Martin!!

Good night & God Bless

Day 71 - Hot

Hello everyone, It was 97.4 degrees on my thermometer today. That is hot.
Mel cleaned out the storage places under our camper. The basement as it is known by.
I watered my plants, washed my hair and made a crock pot stew. Our friends, Ag & Audrey came for supper and brought a grapefruit pie. Oh was that good. We took them to see the extra business we are into..... (are you wondering?? ;-) We enjoyed the Gospel Jam tonight. So many have left the park and the musicians that are left still sound so wonderful. The Blackwood Bro will be performing at a church in Quartzsite tomorrow night. I hope some of you know of these gospil singers. I can't wait to hear them in person.
Good night & God Bless

Day 70 - ??? days left in Brenda

Picture... See who I met in the grocery store?? It was Mark Martin. ha!!
Just look a little to the left.
.............................


Hi everyone, How was your day?
We visited Adams, MN friends in Big River, CA. They had a wonderful lunch for us and lots of grapefruit and oranges to take home with us. (Some for you Dixie J) On the way back home we stopped in Parker for a few groceries. Mostly dog food. We then had some business to take care off. I will tell you all about it on Friday. It is good business.
But because of this we will be staying here a few more days. Now plan to leave next Wed. Hey Trey & Russ, you have more time to finish the bathroom. :-)
Then we went to AG & Audrey's RV in Ehrenberg for a delicious chicken supper.
We played a dice game...can't remember what it was called, but I lost!!!
Home again and talked about the new business we worked on today. Good night and God Bless...........................

Day 69 - 4 days left in Brenda

Hello to all. We had another 90+ day. But I liked it. Almost as nice as our Minnesota summers!! We met our friends, Audrey & AG, in Quartzsite. Shopped around a bit but it was really hot so we didn't stay long. We all came back to our camp and visited a while then went to the Corn beef and cabbage supper. We almost missed it as we got there at the wrong time. But sure was a nice meal. Tonight I had to keep switching channels as American Idol was on one and Dancing with the stars was on another. I voted for Shawn and Mark and Little Kim and Darrick on Dancing with the Stars and voted for Allison on American Idol. It was country music night on American Idol and only Allison sounded country..........Terri, your blog pictures were awesome. Hello to all the Speirs.
Happy St Pattys day everyone. Good night and God Bless

Day 68 - 5 days left

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Good evening,
It was beading this morning and I actually got my project finished. We made a eye class holder. A necklace like thing. I think I could actually make a necklace now.
This afternoon I worked on the bracelet that I started a couple of weeks ago. Almost done. The rest of the day was pretty quiet. It got pretty warm. 91 degrees. Might be even warmer the rest of the week. We had a pork chop supper. After clean up I working on my bracelet again. Now 24 is on so gotta go.
Good night & God Bless

Day 67 - 6 days left

Hi everyone, How was your Sunday? It was good here. about 80*. After church we went out for lunch then home. Just a quiet day from there. The Wilsons stopped in after supper. Not much else. Terri and her family left for a visit to NY today. We are thinking of you guys. Have fun.
Good night & God Bless

Day 66 - 7 days left

Audrey standing buy the flowering bush.



............................. AG & Mel thinking hard







........Hi there,
This morning we met AG & Audrey in Quartzsite for coffee and a donut. There was a Bealls Outlet shop across the street so Audrey and I went and checked it out. I got 2 blouses.
By the time we found the guys again it was lunch time so we went to eat--again.
When we got home again I made some creamed cuks. Later it was supper and spaghetti.
It was a warm evening. Just now cooling off in here. I guess it is going to be in the high 80's and low 90's next week.
I was planning on watching the race tomorrow only to see there isn't one. shucks.
I guess we will have to find something else to do.

Good night & God Bless

Day 65 - 8 days left

Greetings everyone, After Bible Study we decided to go to a big rummage sale that Mel seen advertised on our park bullitin board. It was near Quartzsite. The ad said Park wide yard sales on exit 99 on hwy 95. So we went there. Well as you can see in the picture exit 99 was about a 4 mile long gravel, rough, bumpy, road leading to a RV park for the rich. Fancy houses with big coaches along side. No yard sales!! Our fog light got knocked off someplace along the way. There was a blacktop exit to that place so we went back to Quartzsite. We later found out that road was called 'the wash'. It sure was!! Mel wasn't happy so we went back to exit 99 but passed it and about a quarter mile down was the RV park we were suppose to go to. But.... there were only about 4 sales and only junk, I mean total junk at each one. They will have to come to Minnesota to see what a city wide yard sale looks like. ;-) But it was an interesting adventure.
Take care, God Bless

Day 64 - Fun with good friends

Hello to all, It was a fun filled day. We joined AG & Audrey Wilson for a ride to Lake Alamo. This is about 80 miles north of us. A good sized fishing lake and dam.
Beautiful scenery along the way. We had lunch at a little place where they only had electricity by a generator. On the way home we stopped at a roadside produce market. We got some oranges, cuks, tomatoes, & mushrooms. Even our dogs, Buttons and Molly, were good girls on the trip. Back to our camper and visited a while. We had supper together at Kathy's outdoor cafe at our park and then ended the day by enjoying really beautiful music at the Gospel Jam.
Tomorrow I really have to wash cloths.... unless we think of something more fun to do. Hugs and God Bless

Day 63 - Just a day

It was a quiet day today. We did go for a short ride to see a little
flea market but didn't get anything. The weather was great though. About 85.
I worked on my bead bracelet for a while. Planted the cactus slips I got a couple of days ago. Made supper. Thats about it. Stay warm. Good night & God Bless

Day 62 - When the moon comes over the mountain...

It sounds so cold at home. I wish all of you could be here. Stay safe.
AG & Audrey came over this afternoon and we grilled steaks. Had a good supper and even better visits. We got our satalite fixed. Found that the receiver was not working. Who ever installed it used a tool to tighten the coax to the back of the receiver and it was so tight it shorted it out..... something like that. Good thing I wasn't using one on my TV as my receiver replaced Mel's. He is happy tonight. I am content with the cable connection.
Good night and God Bless

Day 61 - lunch with friends

We met our friends, AG and Audrey, at a restaurant near Blythe. And also had the company of another trucking friend and his wife. They are from Alaska. I think we drained a couple of coffee pots. It was so good to see familiar faces.
We are again having problems with our King Dome satellite antenna. We found a repairman in Quartzsite and he will be here tomorrow to check it out. More expense with the dumb thing. Mel is ready to take it off the roof and junk it. Lets see what happens tomorrow. Cool and windy today. only got to about 69 degrees.... Good night and God Bless.

Day 60 -

We had a nice Sunday. Church this morning and out for breakfast after. Well, Mel had breakfast and I had lunch.
Watched the race but Mark Martin had problems again. Then I lost interest. I didn’t like the winner either. We went to an ice cream social at the club house instead of watching the end of the race. We went back to the yard sale that had lots of cactus and of course I got a few more. Now to get them to Dexter in one piece!! Home again…..
I watered my flowers, filled the bird feeder, and planted some seeds in the rocky ground.
Sweet Peas and grapefruit seeds. Now to see if they grow. Just something fun to try.
Maybe when we come back next winter we will have a grapefruit tree…….. ha ha!!
Mel took Molly for a run.
Our Wyoming friends are here so we will meet them for breakfast tomorrow.
I hope the weather in Minnesota wasn’t to bad today.

Good night and God Bless

Day 59 - Date shake

We didn't do much today. Mel got the shed tied down. We also bought the silver stuff we need to cover windows. We got new watch batteries. That's about it for the day. Tonight I made the date shakes. It was good but couldn't get the dates ground up fine enough. Will try again sometime. Our friends, AG & Audrey Wilson from Wyoming will be here on Monday. Sure will enjoy their company. We will be leaving here on the morning of the 22. Plan to see Mel's nephew, Shannon and Chris. Will be there for a couple of days then on to Iowa and home.
Church and race day tomorrow.
Good night and God Bless

Day 58 - Concert night

Good evening! The pictures were taken near Yuma in the produce field area. This is an iceberg lettuce field with the cutting machine and boxing. The yellow flowers are what a lot of the road sides and into the desert looks like now. I hope the cactus will bloom before we go.
It was cooler today. Jackets worn this evening. We went to Quartzsite this afternoon. Mel wanted to get some more Bolo tie ropes before the store closed. Not many vendors there anymore. Stopped at the grocery store to get some ice cream. I have heard so much about a date shake and how good they are. We haven't found anyplace that makes them so I will try making one myself. Got the dates at a roadside stand on the way home from Yuma. Will try it tomorrow.

So many campers heading home. The roads are full. Our park has a lot of empty spots.

Tonight I went to a concert at the Club House in our park. The Engell Family.
Here is their website. They have some samples of their music.
http://www.engellfamily.com/ ..I sure enjoyed their music. Mel and Molly stayed home. I guess Molly was pouting all the while I was gone. What a baby!! :-)

Good night & God Bless

Day 57 - day trip

Hello, We went to Yuma today. I had a fun time in the flea market there.
I got another family of turtles for a dear sister friend. A couple of baskets to set flower pots in and a lizard (ornament). That's about it. Believe it or not I didn't get one piece of jewelry. We tried to find a Walmart but no luck. There is suppose to be 2 of them in Yuma but couldn't find one. We got back to Quartzsite just in time for supper. We ate at the Grubsteak Chuckwagon. Mel had spaghetti and I had crab cakes. The crab cakes were almost as good as the ones I had in Baltimore with Terri. Not quit though. Back at the park we went to the Gospel Jam. Home to read email and now it is bed time.
Bye bye, God Bless

Day 56 - laundry day

Hi friends,
The picture shows how green the desert is right now. I hope the cactus's start to bloom before we leave.
Other than laundry it was a pretty quiet day. Molly and I even took a walk. Not far but we walked. I read a little and took knots out of Mollys rope. Exciting?
Good night and God Bless

Day 55 - Lobster dinner

Hello, It was a warm humid day today. It rained someplace near by but not here. It was cloudy all day though. Molly got a hair cut and looks so cute. I changed sheets today so guess I will be in my favorite place, ;-/, the laundromat, tomorrow. I made another batch of salsa. I got it a bit hotter than I wanted but Mel likes it.

The weekend was fun. We left here Sat. morning about 7:30 am and took Molly to the puppy sitter. She couldn't figure out why she couldn't go along. She was so glad to see us when we got back. The sitter said she pouted all weekend. We met friends for lunch in Vegas then on to our hotel. We stayed at the Palace Station hotel/casino.
After supper we drove out to the track to try to get an idea of where to go on Sunday. Seen a vendor along the way and I got a Mark Martin t-shirt to wear to the race. Then we just drove threw the Vegas strip to see the night lights. We didn't go in any of them. Back to the hotel and our room. Sunday morning we left for the track by 8:00. We picked up some sandwich meat and bread (our tail gate party meal. ha!!) and had breakfast at Micky Dee's.
We got a pretty good parking spot. It seemed close to the grandstand not realizing our seats were way at the other end. And all up hill to get there. Can't say that I didn't walk today!!!
We checked out all the vendors but was nothing found that we wanted. I planned to get a Mark Martin jacket but the only one they had didn't even have his name or number on it. Our seats were way up in the 73 row. I was so happy to see an elevator. It took us to the top so we only had to walk down 10 rows. We could see the whole track real good and Mark Martin's pit was right in front of us.
The race was good until Marks engine blew. And the one who won was not who I wanted. He did do a mean burn out!!
After the race we waited in the parking lot while some of the traffic went out. An older couple came by while looking for their car. Couldn't find it. So the lady sat with me while Mel went to help the man. It was so dark out. No lights in the parking lot so they used flash lights. We left 2 hrs after the race and it still was bumper to bumper traffic. It took us almost 2 hrs to go 10 miles.
Back at the hotel and rested a bit. I decided to try my luck in the casino. But I wasn't lucky. I had fun and came out only $12 in the hole. not to bad I guess.
We left on Monday morning about 9:30. We went to the NASCAR cafe for breakfast.
I wasn't impressed with the place. I expected much more. Everything was so expensive so didn't get any souvenirs there.
We got home and picked up Molly at 5. We were so tired. It was an early bed time.
Well bedtime after I watched "24".
Tonight we went to the little sidewalk restaurant in our park and had a steak and lobster supper. Oh so good!
Now watching American Idol. I have to say that none of them win my vote so far. Good night and God Bless.

Day 52, 53, & 54. Back to Brenda

We had a wonderful weekend in Las Vegas. I am so tired that I can't even write so will just say hello to all and will tell you all about it tomorrow.
Take care and God Bless