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.