the Land Yacht and the Church campout

I wasn't planning to blog about this weekend, but so much happened I had to blog it.

The campout was lots of fun. It began with Nick coming out to greet us with "you brought a land yacht!" There were lots of tours of the "land yacht"--all ages. The great thing about this campout was the number of teenagers that came. We all loved it! We have great kids at our church.

The rangers came by to tell us there was a real bear problem and they emphasized the "no coolers anywhere the bear can see them" policy. So our RV ended up being the Bear Locker annex. And still at 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning a bear found a pickup in the campsite next to ours where some people left a garbage bag in their truck and the bear had a great time picking thru the appetizers.


But that was nothing compared to Sat.night. As we were having our usual singalong after the potluck (thanks to Pastor Tom) we got word that a bear had invaded a campsite nearby--before dark! They had just finished eating dinner and as they got up from the table, the bear strolled in and clambored up on the table to eat their leftovers. We saw their video (one of them had the presence of mind to record the invasion). Very scary!

A family that is related to our people from our church attended with their new basset hound, Tank. He is a real sweetheart, only 15 months old. They've had him 10 days. He was rescued from a foster home where they blasted him with buckshot, tore his ear and one pad on one foot. He'd had surgery and they were still picking buckshot out of him. He was the nicest dog, fell in love with Tule and Elsie. Those short little legs and big feet managed to climb into the RV so he could be with them. And every walk saw all three together for their exercise. I can't imagine anyone treating such a sweet dog so viciously. Heck, I can't imagine someone treating a mean dog that way, let alone a young sweetie like Tank.



Aaron brought a half dozen dutch ovens and prepared dozens of yummy dishes over the weekend. It was a real education to watch him and it all smelled heavenly. Now I want to try some, too!



Saturday evening as the condo campers were leaving a boy rode up on a bike, burst into tears and asked for help because he was lost. A bit of creativity and reassurance got him home by dark. He sure asked the right group for help.

Sunday saw the church service under the trees and the potluck leftovers feast. Then we headed home for a good swim after unloading the RV. The dogs loved all the attention, but were happy to be home and so were we.

I don't think we've ever had this much excitement at a church campout. It was quite a weekend.

On the way home, Elsie found a new place to sit. After she scooted as far under my legs as she could, she poked her head up between my knees and sat there the rest of the way home.

We're Home--

It was an easy day today since we stayed in Boomtown last night. Right next to the fenced in dog area there were the most beautiful Russian Thistle plants blooming. They are so prickly it is awful, but the blossoms are very pretty. They grew in our pasture when I was growing up and I didn't appreciate them then. When I was in college I saw them for sale for $15 a stem (about 3-4 blooms on a stem) in Frederick and Nelson's (a nice dept. store in Seattle way back when). I was shocked that anyone would pay for a "weed". I was tempted to pick some of these, but I knew the border crossing would have a fit if I was caught bringing weeds in to California, so I will make do with the photos.



The people who stayed right behind us last night also had a Southwind (2008) and had lots of questions for us. We each toured the other RV to see the differences. This was their first trip so we were able to show them adjustment we've made. Ours worked well this trip--except for leaks under the sinks caused by all the bumpy roads we traveled. It was very nice to have a trip with a working motorhome.

We got home early afternoon to find a lizard in our pool, hanging on for dear life to the leaf basket. Gary let him go in a flower bed, then we kept the dogs inside.

Staying inside was fine with the dogs--they tested out their crates (kennels) we left behind --Elsie stayed in her crate most of the afternoon. Then they moved to the beds by the fireplace. It is so cute to see them embracing their "real" home and acting so happy to see their "stuff".

We got the RV mostly emptied and started on the huge basket of mail. Tomorrow I'll catch up on bills.

It is good to be home. Thanks for joining us in our travels--

Almost home

Today was a long driving day on the "loneliest road" (Hwy 50) again. We took the same route last year on our way home from North Dakota. But last year it was brown and this time it was green, which made the trip much prettier.


We noticed all the small towns we drove thru had American flags flying on every corner.


Another thing we noticed was the "cattle" warning sign. Nevada's cow is less placid and more angry looking than Arizona's cow in the photo from July 4.








We saw beautiful wildflowers on prickly stems with prickly seed pods in several patches along the way.




We arrived in Boomtown after 6 hours on the road in time for Gary to shop at Cabela's. This was one of the top three parts of our trip for him (fishing with his cousin, Mike, the Grand Canyon and shopping at Cabela's).



Tomorrow will be a short trip home. Phew!

Getting closer to home . . .

As we drove today we saw a lot of nothing--dry land with brush and a very few trees. Lots of it was straight road, only the ups and downs created a break in the monotony. Then we came upon an accident where someone must have fallen asleep at the wheel. And a short time later we came upon a cow in the middle of the road. As we approached and some of the first cars we'd seen approaching all day showed up, the cow meandered slowly back to her calf who had decided to stay behind the fence. That was the big entertainment of the drive. Oh--plus the GPS got confused several times on the way and would have liked us to drive into a cliff a couple of times.



Elsie really doesn't like it when Gary drives over the bumps that keep you in your lane. She has pushed and squeezed and now rides completely under my legs and feet. It gets a bit crowded for me, but at least she hasn't pushed me out totally until the last half hour of each day's ride.


As Gary tried to pick out our camping spot for tonight (I know, luxury camping) he spotted this cat tied to a stake and realized we could not park next door to a cat. We moved on down next to a very nice couple with a new puppy. The dogs have been having a ball and haven't spotted the cat yet.

Okay, I admit it . . .

Gary is in better shape than I am. At an altitude of 8800 plus feet, I had a bit of trouble breathing. Gary was able to hike at his usual speed and I had to stop and rest now and then.

We drove to the Grand Canyon past some amazing scenery. In the Kaibab National Forest, there were miles and miles of beautiful trees, then miles and miles of burned trees from a fire in 2006. Gary clocked over 7 miles of dead trees. We stopped to read some of the informtion along the way. One point they made was that the Aspens need fire to reproduce. If there were no fires, Aspens would die out. After all the wildlife signs we've seen, we had to laugh at this one of the cow. Unfortunately you can also see some of the burned out trees behind the sign.




The Grand Canyon's North Rim was fantastic! It was a clear day and you could see forever. My only problem is that I have never been thrilled with heights. The only things holding my rubber knees up were the butterflies in my stomach. It was wonderful to see the sights, but once is plenty, thank you.




As we left the Grand Canyon we noticed that tent caterpillars are killing the Aspens in great numbers. Funny that we didn't notice that on our way up. Sad to see.

We noticed several hoses being set up at the lodge at the Grand Canyon. We were told that since fireworks aren't allowed in the National Parks, the park workers have a water fight for everyone's entertainmenet on the 4th of July.

As we drove home we could the Grand Staircase (look in the distance). The clouds were getting pretty thick and shortly after we walked the dogs a huge rainstorm hit with lots of thunder and lightning. I love the sound of rain on the roof of the RV.


When it was over we drove to the local park to see the festivities, then back to a restaurant for dinner. It was a cute place--note the photo of Gary in the huge chair. He said he felt like Edith Ann on Laugh In (And that's the truth!) They had lots of fun decorations and Gary's dinner was good.


We played some cribbage (Gary won again!), then sat outside to see Kanab's local fireworks, which were pretty spectacular for such a small town.

Dogs have good memories

Last night we stayed at the same KOA in Salt Lake City as we did last September. Tule and Elsie led me straight to the dog walk area, then tried to find each cat they'd found last fall. They were only there one night last September! Amazing.

As we left Salt Lake City we drove past the Great Salt Lake.







As we drove on we went past a sea of purple that was a beautiful field of lavender.





We were heading south, at first down a freeway, then on a narrow old highway. It was amazing to see that all the land to the right (west)of the road was desolate and dry. Everything to the left (east) side was green and lush, even the mountains were green on that side. This went on for many miles.







Eventually we came upon amazing geological formations near Bryce Canyon Park. It was quite a trip. We are now in Kanab and tomorrow will head for the North side of the Grand Canyon. Can't wait!

Wyoming Has Warts!

There were some interesting land formations that look like warts on our route today.

It was a mostly dry looking day, both no rain and no greenery.

Then we came upon some beautiful green landscapes and off in the distance was a thunderstorm. It was fascinating to watch the lightning as long as it stayed so far away. Gary kept saying, "I hope we aren't going to be driving into that storm."




We did drive into rain, but no thunder or lightning yet. You can tell Gary grew up in rain country. After we arrived at Salt Lake City, he decided it was time to wash the RV and CR-V. It was pretty dirty from last night's rain on top of all the dust of Gillette, but washing it in the rain? You have to be from Astoria to do that!

We came upon more telephone poles and I realized how much I'll miss them when they are all gone. They bring back memories of childhood as Dad drove us thru endless miles of farmland in Montana and North Dakota where the only thing to see was telephone poles and Burma Shave signs. I already miss the Burma Shave signs.


After noticing Rest Areas on our trip, we have decided Idaho has the most beautiful designs. Their buildings are gorgeous. Wyoming has only a few rest areas, but lots of these signs where you can pull over to take a break. Nice for the dogs, but we were sure happy we had the Motorhome for that purpose on today's ride!

Antelope Watch

Gary spent the day today hollering "There are two antelope over there, look to your right!" or "There are three (four, five, etc) antelope out your side window." I finally figured out how to spot them myself. It was great entertainment for him--he didn't get tired of driving at all today. Of course, as we got on the freeway in Gillette, the family of mama duck and six ducklings that crossed the freeway right in front of us woke him right up. They did get across successfully, thank goodness.



We drove past the continental divide and are at a KOA up very high. The mountains are gorgeous.


We got to Rawlins, WY and headed for the laundry room. I met a nice lady from Wisconsin and we had a great time chatting as we waited for our laundry. She finished first and got home just in time. I didn't. Gary showed up with hangers to let me know it was not only pouring down rain, but it was raining sideways. We ran thru the raindrops with clean towels wrapped over our clean laundry.


Gary wants you to know he is bringing a horse home from Wyoming.


Someone left it near out RV as we were packing up to leave.

We won again!

There was another raffle at the Rally dinner tonight and Gary won again! This time it was an adapter for 50 amp to 30 amp electrical. It was another fun night. We sat at a table with a couple from Folsom! As you can see in the photo it was a huge group--over 400 rigs and with the grandkids some people brought it was over 800 people. Considering it was the first rally ever for this group, we were all very pleased. Good entertainment, nice conversations. Lots of fun.

Today was windy and rainy. I was out buying groceries when the wind came up, full of dust. I opened the back of the CR-V to put the groceries away and my fabric grocery bag was sucked out by the wind. A nice young man caught it for me and I put it back in, way in the back this time. By the time I grabbed my first bag to put in, the pink bag had blown away and was moving so fast nobody could catch it. I looked for it as I drove away, but it was nowhere in sight. I’ve never seen wind that would grab things from inside and take them away. By the time I got back to the RV Gary had taken photos of the wind blowing the dirt up into the air and the rain coming down to meet it. Sure glad we got the car washed yesterday. Duh.


Right now I am watching a lightning show above the grandstand that we can see from our door. Elsie is helping me watch for lightning. It is far away as the thunder isn’t loud and comes long after the lightning strikes. It is beautiful!


We had a great time at this rally--didn’t hurt that we won two prizes! Tomorrow we are back on the road, heading in the direction of the Grand Canyon.

We Won!

At these Fleetwood rallies they always give you a raffle ticket and usually we don’t win. Today we won! Our prize was a Breeze fan that can adapt to a dog crate or just be used in the RV. It is great!

Many of you noticed when the Bee reported that Fleetwood filed for chapter 11--we were all wondering what was going to happen to the company. Today we found out. AIP is buying Fleetwood and it will become a smaller private company. The deal should go thru by the middle of July. When AIP heard there were 400 Fleetwood RV’s here in Gilletter at the first Fleetwood Motorcoach Association national rally, they told the new president of Fleetwood to get out here. So he came and spoke very eloquently about the future of Fleetwood. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. We do know there will be changes, but the name will still be there and there will still be motorhomes. Maybe not Southwinds like we have, but something will exist. We didn’t know that Fleetwood has been number one in retail sales for Class A motor homes for 21 of the last 22 years. It was a very interesting meeting.

Last night we looked out the window to see out next door neighbors in this pose. I had to ask if I could take their picture. The big lab was so happy to be sharing the lawn chair. It outweighs our dogs by quite a bit.


Tonight was one of the banquets. The food was good and the entertainment was great. They were two guys who sang oldies from the 50’s and 60’s so many of us sang along. The best part of the evening was the very end when they sang “I’m Proud to Be An American” and the whole Fleetwood audience stood and held hands and raised them to sway with the music and sing along. It was a very moving moment. This is a patriotic group and we are happy to be part of them.

We all got back to our motor homes at the same time so there was a real party at the enclosed dog park. The dogs had a ball and so did their owners. Now it is time for bed where I’ll be singing (in my head) “I’m Proud to Be An American”.

A Million Dollars worth of RV's

As we walked the dogs along the row of RV's, Gary asked me to take a photo of just a few of the RV's in this park. This photo shows over a million dollars worth of RV's even in today's dollars!


I told you the restrooms are pretty primitive--the photo of the cream and grey building shows the restrooms and showers at this RV park.





Note how red the dirt is on the roadway. The freeways we traveled in Wyoming were all this red color, too.






Gary and the dogs are standing in front of the dog park. It is large compared to most RV parks.

After buying a lot of great stuff at the rally, we drove around Gillette which has a population just under 20,000. It was interesting. Then we got home to walk and feed the dogs and watch them play with the chew bones (after dinner treat that is like brushing their teeth, only louder). They are playing tug of war with one of them in this photo.

It was warmer here today, but we are so glad we are not in Roseville. Gary saw that it was 109 today. We were only about 85. Phew!

Gillette, WY

We made it to Gillette and the Rally. The trip here was beautiful--more green, but not many places to stop along the way.

When we got here we were a bit dismayed to see how crowded this RV park is. It is basically a parking lot. The rest of the facilities are nice for meetings, though. We have seen a few people we met in Pahrump in February.


An interesting thing we saw yesterday was a fellow who was doing a long bike ride--from Indiana to SF--all by himself, staying in the smallest tent I have seen. He said he usually eats the powdered meals, but was splurging on a tuna steak the night we talked with him in Sheridan. I told him about Dennis and Keith J.'s trip and he was fascinated.



I'll leave you with a photo of the last of a beautiful sunset. It'll be a fun few days, even if it is a bit crowded.