Our Year 2011, and Big News

What a year, what a trip. Upon leaving Las Vegas after Christmas, we traveled to Yuma, across Arizona & New Mexico to souther Texas where we stayed for a month. A stop of 3 weeks north of Dallas to visit Deb & family, then north thru the midwest (with several stops) to Williston, ND. Then across to Michigan where we spent 2 1/2 months visiting family & friends throughout the state.

Without question, the highlight was the week with ALL the family in Hart, MI and the Cousin's Reunion near Bay City. After Labor Day, we spent a few days with Cindy & Joe in Marion, IN before heading for Atlanta, GA to visit Brother Don & family.

A few days near Huntsville, AL with Rick & Pam, several days in SE Alabama visiting more friends, then the long trip back to the SW. We stopped near Austin, TX and in the Yuma area fefore returning to Las Vegas November 6th.

We experienced a few issues during the trip. Problem with a slide on the trailer in North Dakota, which we couldn't get fixed until our return to Michigan; a suspendion hanger on the trailer axle had to be replaced near Bay City; and the water pump failing on the truck in the middle of nowhere in Texas required towing into Sonora and an overnight stay in the parking of the repair shop.

Jerry's heart going into A-fib on July 26th required Cardioversion in Traverse City, all ok now.

In all we towed the trailer over 11,000 miles, put 20,000 miles total on the truck, and traveled in 27 states! We visited soooo many friends & family we can't count them all. And the sights that we saw, people we met were awesome! Some of our experiences have been posted on the blog and we hope to put some more there soon.

And now the BIG NEWS!

After 11 great years of touring the USA in our trailer (6 years full-time), we have decided it's time to settle down. Our trailer is for sale, and we are making plans to become residents of Las Vegas, Nevada. Our new address is 5954 Spanish Mustang Ct, Las Vegas, NV 89122. Hope some of you find time to visit us in Las Vegas.

Splinters in her Crotch

A woman from Los Angeles who was a tree hugging, liberal Democrat and an anti-hunter purchased a piece of timberland near Colville , WA There was a large tree on one of the highest points in the tract . She wanted a good view of the natural splendor of her land, so she started to climb the big tree .

As she neared the top she encountered a spotted owl that attacked her. In her haste to escape, the woman slid down the tree to the ground and got many splinters in her crotch . In considerable pain, she hurried to a local ER to see a doctor .

She told him she was an environmentalist, a Democrat, and an anti-hunter and how she came to get all the splinters . The doctor listened to her story with great patience and then told her to go wait in the examining room and he would see if he could help her . She sat and waited three hours before the doctor reappeared .

The angry woman demanded, "What took you so long?"

He smiled and then told her, "Well, I had to get permits from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management before I could remove old-growth timber from a 'recreational area' so close to a waste treatment facility . I'm sorry, but due to ObamaCare they turned you down . "_

Congress??

The English language has some wonderfully anthropomorphic collective nouns for the various groups of animals. We are all familiar with a Herd of cows, a Flock of chickens, a School of fish and a Gaggle of geese.

However, less widely known is a Pride of lions, a Murder of crows (as well as their cousins the rooks and ravens), an Exaltation of doves and, presumably because they look so wise, a Parliament of owls.

Now consider a group of Baboons. They are the loudest, most dangerous, most obnoxious, most viciously aggressive and least intelligent of all primates. And what is the proper collective noun for a group of baboons? - Believe it or not ....... a Congress!

I guess that pretty much explains the things that come out of Washington!

Congressional Reform Act of 2011

1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.
2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!!!!!

I have seen this proposed several times as an Amendment to the Constitution recently and think it has some merit. I would also suggest adding a restriction on the size of the Congressional staff. Most of them have to justify their position by coming up with new laws their bosses can push through Congress, and we all know how dumb most of the "new" laws are.

Anybody care to comment?

Psalm 2011

Obama Is the shepherd I did not want.
He leadeth me beside the still factories.
He restoreth my faith in the Republican party.
He guideth me in the path of unemployment for his party's sake.
Yea, Though I walk through the valley of the bread line,
I shall fear no hunger, for his bailouts are with me.
He has anointed my income with taxes, my expenses runneth over.
Surely, poverty and hard living will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will live in a mortgaged home forever.*

Hmmm, Just Wondering .....

John Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN ) for 6 am .. While his coffee pot (MADE IN CHINA) was perking, he shaved with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG) He put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA), designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE) and tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA) After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA) he sat down with his calculator (MADE IN MEXICO) to see how much he could spend today. After setting his watch (MADE IN TAIWAN ) to the radio (MADE IN INDIA ) he got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY ) filled it with GAS (from Saudi Arabia ) and continued his search for a good paying AMERICAN JOB.

At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day checking his Computer ( made in MALAYSIA ), John decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL ), poured himself a glass ofwine (MADE IN FRANCE ) and turned on hisTV (MADE IN INDONESIA ), and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in AMERICA

Overdue Update

Sorry, I’ve been bad! This is especially for those not on Facebook.

Upon arrival in Williston, ND, main slide of trailer would not work right. We spent 4 nights with slide 1/2in/1/2 out. Only one RV repair guy in the city, swamped with all the RVs around, couldn’t help. Upon leaving Williston, had to manually help the slide close. Stopped at several RV dealers in ND & MN, NO ONE could/would look at it. Finally called Lloyd Bridges in Chelsea, MI (dealer we purchased trailer from) & they agreed to look at it. So we skipped sightseeing in MN, WI & UP of Michigan & got to Lower MI nearly 3 weeks sooner than planned. Got lucky, Lloyd Bridges had parts needed in stock & fixed in one day!

With extra time, spent 4 days in Chesaning visiting relatives & friends, then headed to Sparta for the Barnum 4th (3rd) of July Party. It was Great seeing members of the family that had not been on our schedule. Then to Hart to see Cindy & Joe, Melissa & Kajsa. Great grandchildren Austin, Tori & Logan were there too. A trip to Harrison gave us the chance to visit old friends at Long Lake for a few days! Now we are back in Hart, awaiting the arrival of our kids, grandkids, & great grandkids for a few days of fun, beach & eating!

So in a way, the trailer problems helped – we have had more time to visit than planned, and it’s been fun. Remember, our itinerary as known to us, is in the right-hand column.

Williston, North Dakota

You’ve all seen the emails telling how much oil is under North Dakota? Well, I can tell you, it is being drilled for! Northwest ND is in the midst of a “Boom”.

We planned to stay a couple of nights in Watford City, go visit Theodore Roosevelt Nat’l Park. But as we got closer to the city, we were seeing oil rigs, and tanker after tanker on the highway and going & coming from the side roads. Also started seeing what looked like temporary RV parks everywhere. Downtown was BUSY, late afternoon, & yes, you guessed it, NO room at the RV park or the city park.

So another 50 miles to Williston. Early evening, raining, road construction, mud, trucks of ALL kinds! Fortunately, Prairie Acres RV Park reserves half their sites for travelers, we got the LAST one. Truck & trailer had changed colors because of the reddish brown mud.

The highway is a steady stream of trucks; asphalt, gravel, dirt, tankers, equipment haulers, you name it. Streets are lined with trucks parked on both sides, local commented, “if it has a sleeper, the driver is probably living in it”. We’ve heard comments such as, “Williston is the only city in the US that is hiring homeless people”, “17,000 jobs available, but you need to find your own housing, and there isn’t any”.

While visiting the Roosevelt Nat’l Park yesterday, got talking to a couple from Minnesota, he is a road contractor. He doesn’t have any idea how they got the oil rig there, but he has been asked to cut a road to a rig 13 miles from the nearest highway. The road needs to be able to handle loaded oil tankers. We have also seen several pipe lines being laid along the roads & coming across the fields. The terrain here is very rolling & hilly.

As we came into Williston, we crossed the Missouri River, normally 200 yards wide, now over 3 miles wide. The bridge in the foreground is where the river channel is, the rest is usually dry land! It is currently at its’ all time highest level! And the snow in Yellowstone & Montana is not melted yet, and it rained again since we got here! And FEMA is rejecting ND’s request for help.

North Platte, Nebraska

Golden Spike Tower: The tower rises 8 stories above Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard – the world’s largest train yard, covering 2,850 acres stretching out eight miles. It’s Huge! Every 24 hours, up to 150 trains, 10,000 railroad cars are handled, sorted, made into trains in Bailey Yard utilizing 315 miles of track. The Locomotive Repair Shop can handle up to 750 engines per month.



Scout’s Rest Ranch: North Platte was home to the man who made the Wild West world-renowned, William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, the West’s most colorful showman, army scout and buffalo hunter. Cody established a 4,000 acre ranch where he entertained guests, many of them wealthy & famous (actors, businessmen, royalty). He named the ranch Scout’s Rest as his fellow scouts were always welcome to come visit for a spell.

Fort Cody Trading Post: Ernie and Virginia Palmquist are the creators of buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in Miniature, which has its permanent home at Fort Cody Trading Post. Nationally known, this show of 20,000 hand carved pieces, all hand painted, took over 12 years to complete. The pictures are only part of the display!













More pictures on Facebook.

Taps

The info below is incorrect, see comments for explanation. Sorry! Still VERY beautiful.

Taps, as you probably have never heard it before. In honor of all who died for our Freedom!

http://www.flixxy.com/trumpet-solo-melissa-venema.htm

The original version of Taps was called Last Post, and was written by Daniel Butterfield in 1801. In 1862 it was shortened to 24 notes and renamed Taps. Melissa Venema, age 13, is the trumpet soloist, playing Taps in its entirety. May we always Remember and Honor our Heroes!

The Old Hardware Store

This stone building, built in 1879, has been a hardware store for 126 straight years in Halstead, Kansas. The current owners took over in 1998. Within the store, you walk on the old board & brick flooring under a 12 foot tin ceiling.

The selection of genuine antique hardware for the house or furniture is amazing. Thousands of pieces all tucked away in 1916 parts cabinets - over 500 bins & drawers! The round nail bin is identical to the one I worked with at the Ace Hardware in Chesaning. What a great place to visit!

More pictures on Facebook.

Valentine, Nebraska

Driving from North Platte north through the central portion of Nebraska, we noticed a dramatic change in the topography with the appearance of undulating, grass-covered sand dunes. The Sandhills, covering over 19,000 sq miles, is the largest grass-stabilized dune region in the Western Hemisphere. Sitting atop the Ogallala Aquifer, the area is dotted with spring-fed lakes, marshes and winding rivers - providing outstanding wildlife habitat and prime rangeland. The miles of undulating hills dotted with large cattle herds made for a very enjoyable drive.

Valentine is the center of a diverse region of quiet lakes, grassy sand hills, secluded waterfalls, a national forest, two national wildlife refuges, big ranches with real cowboys and one of the top 10 canoeing rivers in the US. With 2,800 residents, Valentine is the "big city" of Cherry County.

Though larger than the state of Connecticut, Cherry County is home to only 6,000 people. Traditionally, "frontier" was defined as a place with fewer than six people per square mile. Even with all those folks living in Valentine, Cherry County averages only one person per square mile!

While in Valentine, we visited 3 waterfalls, a national wildlife refuge and a State Park. Pictures will be posted on Facebook.

Two notes. 1. In the picture of the Sandhills, notice the sandy spot. These are areas where the wind has managed to strip the grass off the sand, and are known as blowouts. 2. The Niobrara falls - Smith & Fort - are unique because of their convex faces. A very interesting look.

Oklahoma - 2011

Thank you to all who responded to my survey. It appears that most would like more on Facebook, but many want me to continue the blog. And then there is the problem of some who are not on Facebook. As someone said "what to do, what to do, what to do?" Sooo, I will try to do both, but with some changes. Since photos have been a complicated issue on the blog, I plan to put some photo albums on Facebook and put mainly narative on the blog. I will also put a link to Facebook on the blog. Hope it works, let me know.

Our 2nd stop in OK was Guthrie, a city born of the 1889 Land Run. Located in the Unassigned Lands, Guthrie was chosen as a site for one of the Federal Land Offices where land seekers were required to file their claims. It became a city of over 10,000 in a single day, April 22, 1889.

Four months after the Run, in August 1889, The Guthrie City Directory listed: 6 banks, 16 barbers, 16 blacksmiths, 17 carpenters, 2 cigar manufacturers, 5 newspapers, 7 hardware stores, 15 hotels, 19 pharmacists, 22 lumber dealers, 39 doctors, 40 restaurants, and 81 lawyers!

November 1907, OK was declared a state and Guthrie was the First State Capital. However, in 1910, an election was held and Oklahoma City was named the capital. Only 1 session of the State Assembly was held in Guthrie. Today Guthrie is nationally renowned for its collection of late 19th and early 20th century Territorial- and Victorian-style architecture. There are over 2,000 buildings within the Guthrie Historic District covering 1,400 acres.

The State Capital in Oklahoma City was built 1914 - 1917. Though the blueprints specified a dome, it was not added until 2002. It is the only Capital in the USA with an oil well on the grounds.

April 19, 1995 will always be remembered as the day of the Oklahoma City bombing. Pictures of the Memorial will be on Facebook.

Oklahoma has nearly 400 drivable miles of Route 66, more than any other state. We found the only round barn on Route 66, built in 1898. We also had lunch at Pops: gas station, restaurant, shake shop & convenience store with 500+ soda selections; 66 ft soda bottle; & a 12,000+ soda bottle collection. The roof over the gas pumps features angular steel-beam structure inspired by historic bridges on Route 66. Check out the pictures, the anchor beams are buried 50 ft in the ground!

Thoughts On Texas

1. Texas is BIG. And WINDY. As we went around the state, weather kept changing.
2. Fortunately, we did not get caught in the fire area, but Laura did have a couple bad days when winds carried smoke into the DFW area. With 1 1/2 to 2 million acres & hundreds of buildings burned, can't believe Obama turned down the request for disaster relief. Oops, Republican state!
3. The West part of TX kept having fires, and we (being just south & north of Fort Worth - 2 different parks) kept having storms. We missed the tornados, but seemed like every thunderstorm included HAIL! We got hail at least 3 times, no damage.
4. We really enjoyed our time near South Padre Island. Great visiting with Jean & Dick, Bruce & Dorothy, Jerry & Barb. And Laura tried to eat her weight in shrimp (all you can eat meals), but failed. BUT, it's near the gulf, Humid!
5. Visited San Antonio, visited with Kay & Doug. The Alamo & the Riverwalk are amazing.
6. 3 week visit with Deb & family, seeing the kids & their friends, Easter dinner, having Pattie & kids join us, was GREAT.
7. Visited Crossroads Winery (we first visited there April 2010), bought some of their My Cheeky Bastard wine, met the new owners & the old owners were there too, Fun.

Spent 2 months in Texas, now time to move on. I have several pictures which I will post over the next few days. Oh, did I mention that the winds seems to blow ALL the time in TX. Well, we are now in Oklahoma, and YES, the wind is blowing 20+ MPH!

Winstar Casino

Winstar Casino, Thackerville, OK is just a mile north of the Red River, separating TX & OK. The Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma started it in 2004, we visited in 2005. It has grown so fast, it now has 519,000 sq ft of gaming floor, making it the 3rd largest in the world! Trust me, it's a long walk from the Bingo Parlor to the Hotel. They also have a 12 story hotel connected to the casino, a separate hotel on the property, a championship golf course & a 200 site RV park.

Check out the exterior facade! You will see images of London's Parliament Building, Rome's Coliseum, and the Arc de Triomphe from Paris. And since we won money, we like it!

Camp Site in Highland Village

In the past when visiting Deb & Family, we have stayed at Lake Park in Lewisville. This year, a new road (2499) was completed near their new home across part of the Lake making a 5 minute drive from Pilot Knoll Park to the house. Wow! And the Park has GREAT campsites! I have uploaded a couple pictures to show you one of the BEST campsites we have EVER had. Since we don't have sewer hookup (just water & electric), now if they can only do something for the bath room & shower building, but then, Deb's house is only 5 minutes, and they have real nice showers.

Random Thoughts and Comments

1. Our primary reason for traveling this winter was to see & visit with the many friends we have met in the Parks past winters. Great success! What fun it has been to see so many again.

2. We also have managed to meet up with many old friends from Michigan (especially from high school and Long Lake).

3. The weather! Record rainfall while we were in Pahrump, NV, cold - down to 7 degrees in St. David, AZ, and warm - 80's in Southern TX. Oh, did I mention the wind blows a lot in S TX?

4. The RV parks. We have seen more open sites in the parks than ever before. Are people just not traveling, can't afford it, or ??

5. Langtry, TX. Home of Judge Roy Bean, a very nice TX Visitors Center, and the smallest RV Park we've been in. Shared the park with a motorcyclist for 2 nights & a Class B van 1 night. Three of the 6 sites occupied. We were less than a 1/4 mile from the Rio Grande River. Roy Bean was known as "The Hanging Judge", but there is NO record of his having ordered the hanging of anyone.









6. Visits to Mexico. Visit to dentist in Algodones (near Yuma), "Look Ma, no cavities". Felt very safe, lots of visitors from USA, the usual vendors, etc. Went to Palomas (south of Deming, NM) with friends for lunch, seemed very empty. Very few visitors, no street vendors, and more police & military presence than Algodones.

7. My son says I watch too much news, a friend on Facebook says people who watch Fox News are being brainwashed. They both may be right. But, I'm NOT happy with the way our country is headed.

8. Price of diesel fuel. I repeat - When in H... are OUR country leaders going to let OUR oil companies drill for OUR oil?

9. Have shown some of our itinerary in the right hand column. Gee, maybe back in Michigan later this year!

It has been an interesting & fun winter. We now are sitting just across the causeway from South Padre Island, awaiting the arrival of "Spring Break". Should be fun!

Humor

After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, New York scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.

Not to be outdone, a California archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet. Shortly after, a story in an LA newspaper read: "California archaeologists' discovery of 200 year old copper wire have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than New Yorkers."

One week later, a local newspaper in Michigan reported the following: "After digging as deep as 30 feet in his pasture near Houghton Lake, MI, Clem, a self-taught archaelolgist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Bubba has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Michigan had already gone wireless."

Just makes me proud to be from Michigan!

ps. So why is President Obama going to Michigan today?