Initially this morning we had decided not to go anywhere today, but around noon we changed our mind and headed north 75 miles to Whitefish Point, Michigan to see the Shipwreck Museum. It turned out to be a perfect half day trip.
There were several buildings on the complex in addition to the shipwreck museum itself. We started by taking a tour of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, which listed many of the ships that have sunk around the Great Lakes area in the last 150 years. There were lot's of relics from the various shipwrecks as well, which I found most fasinating. That's what I love most about thinks like this--it's the history, the people that were impacted, there lives and artifacts. Mark got lot's of pictures too.
We then moved on to the Whitefish Point Lighthouse. I enjoyed touring the lighthouse and the attached Lighthouse Keeper's home the most. The home is in the same shape and condition that it was when used up through 1932 when the lighthouse was shut down. Each room included information about how each was used, including pictures and personal items from the last keeper, and each member of his family. It even included manequins of each of the lighthouse keepers family, during their 30 years in the house.
We checked out the other buildings and walked down past the lighthouse to the beach, which is located on Lake Superior. We've now seen 3 of the Great Lakes, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. After spending a few minutes on the beach, we decided to head back. We made a stop in St. Ignace for lunch/dinner and got back home around 5:00. It was such a lovely day with high temps in the upper 60's that we headed down to the beach here in the RV Park with the lawnchairs and the dogs and chilled a bit watching the sun set.
We had a great day today. We still haven't made it to Mackinac Island, it rained pretty hard all day the day we had planned on going. We're hoping to make it tomorrow, but will have to see if the weather holds up. So, that's a wrap for this update. We had a wonderful day today and hope you did as well. Until later~
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Touring Mackinaw City
We actually slept in this morning and didn't leave until around noon today, heading to the downtown Mackinaw City area. The first place we went was to the Old Mackinaw Lighthouse. We'd never toured a lighthouse before and I really enjoyed it. We toured the old lighthouse keeper's rooms, which included a living area, kitchen, bedroom and small dining area, including period pieces of how the lighthouse was furnished. We walked up to the top of the lighthouse, it was something like 72 steps, and obviously no overweight or larger folks must have ever lived in the lighthouse! I suspect anyone over 200 pounds would have a difficult time climbing the circular stairs and once to the top, the actual stairs to the lighthouse. Whew! But the view was worth it. Awesome.
We continued down the path to the Old Mackinaw Fort, which consists of 10 or so buildings. The primary purpose of this fort was for the fur trade. The French and Indians exchanged goods for furs beginning in the early 1700's. There were also several reenactments while we were there, including firing of one of the canons and the weekly trade and barter that occurred between the indians and french. All of the buildings in this fort were actually recreated as it was torn down by the British during the American Revolution and moved to Mackinac 'Island', where they felt much safer from Americans.
Afterwards, we headed to a local restaurant and Mark had the walleye fish platter and I had shrimp. We topped it off by sharing a piece of homemade bannana cream pie. Yum!! We got back home around 5:00 and called it a day. Our plans are to head to Mackinac Island tomorrow morning. We'll catch a ferry for a 30 minute boat ride across Lake Huron to Mackinac Island.
I've wanted to see Mackinac Island and the Grand Hotel ever since I first saw the movie 'Somewhere in Time', starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. I still have that movie. There's lot's of things to see on the island and we're thinking about renting bicycles to check it out, as no cars are allowed on the island...only horses, horse drawn carriages and bicycles. So, we're really looking forward to our journey tomorrow.
We had a terrific day today and hope you did as well. Until later~
We continued down the path to the Old Mackinaw Fort, which consists of 10 or so buildings. The primary purpose of this fort was for the fur trade. The French and Indians exchanged goods for furs beginning in the early 1700's. There were also several reenactments while we were there, including firing of one of the canons and the weekly trade and barter that occurred between the indians and french. All of the buildings in this fort were actually recreated as it was torn down by the British during the American Revolution and moved to Mackinac 'Island', where they felt much safer from Americans.
Afterwards, we headed to a local restaurant and Mark had the walleye fish platter and I had shrimp. We topped it off by sharing a piece of homemade bannana cream pie. Yum!! We got back home around 5:00 and called it a day. Our plans are to head to Mackinac Island tomorrow morning. We'll catch a ferry for a 30 minute boat ride across Lake Huron to Mackinac Island.
I've wanted to see Mackinac Island and the Grand Hotel ever since I first saw the movie 'Somewhere in Time', starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. I still have that movie. There's lot's of things to see on the island and we're thinking about renting bicycles to check it out, as no cars are allowed on the island...only horses, horse drawn carriages and bicycles. So, we're really looking forward to our journey tomorrow.
We had a terrific day today and hope you did as well. Until later~
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
We're in Michigan
We left Minneapolis early Tuesday morning headed to the Mackinaw City, Michigan area to spend some time in the Great Lakes area. There's so much to see and check out and we're really looking forward to our time here. We arrived at a small town near Ecanaba Michigan yesterday as a half-way point and spent the night at a little RV park next to a casino.
With only a couple hundred miles to go today, we got a late start and since we moved into the Eastern time zone today, we really got a later start. But fortunately we still arrived at Mill Creek campground around 4:00 this afternoon and as soon as we got the RV set up we headed into town to try a Mackinaw pastie. They're kind of like meat pies. We'd heard about them and wanted to try them. They were ok...not sure I'd have another one, but I'm glad we tried them.
There's lot's of things we'd like to see while we're in the area. Initially we're only planning on staying at this particular campground until Monday morning. One of the first things I'd like to do is go to Mackinaw Island. You catch a ferry down the road from where we're at and they drive you over to the island. It's actually become some what 'famous'...Mackinaw Island is where the romantic/classic movie "Somewhere in Time" was filmed, a move with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymoure.
There are lot's of state parks, a lighthouse and lot's of other cool stuff we're looking forward to doing while in the upper peninsula of Michigan. We're excited and looking forward to our time here on the Great Lakes. We had a wonderful day today and hope you did as well. Until later~
With only a couple hundred miles to go today, we got a late start and since we moved into the Eastern time zone today, we really got a later start. But fortunately we still arrived at Mill Creek campground around 4:00 this afternoon and as soon as we got the RV set up we headed into town to try a Mackinaw pastie. They're kind of like meat pies. We'd heard about them and wanted to try them. They were ok...not sure I'd have another one, but I'm glad we tried them.
There's lot's of things we'd like to see while we're in the area. Initially we're only planning on staying at this particular campground until Monday morning. One of the first things I'd like to do is go to Mackinaw Island. You catch a ferry down the road from where we're at and they drive you over to the island. It's actually become some what 'famous'...Mackinaw Island is where the romantic/classic movie "Somewhere in Time" was filmed, a move with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymoure.
There are lot's of state parks, a lighthouse and lot's of other cool stuff we're looking forward to doing while in the upper peninsula of Michigan. We're excited and looking forward to our time here on the Great Lakes. We had a wonderful day today and hope you did as well. Until later~
Catching Up - Minnesota/Tornadoes
Wow, I've gotten behind again. We arrived in Minneapolis last Thursday for a 4-night stay. We decided to go thru the area on our way to the Great Lakes area to spend a few weeks in Michigan. But, first things first.
Wow, were we in for a big surprise the day we arrived! Having spent our entire lives living in "tornado alley", we're not easily spooked or freaked out by thunderstorms...and even tornado activity. So when we received a knock on our door the afternoon we arrived in an RV Park in Minneapolis informing us of severe storms in the area, and informing us where the storm shelter was located, we were not originally overally concerned.....
With menacing clouds rapidly approaching our area and with no access to the local tv channels, I grabbed my laptop and went to the national weather service for reports. Then logged on to local weather stations and whew!!! We were surrounded by tons of tornadoes!!! Really.
Then, I started getting a little Freaked Out. There were confirmed F3 tornadoes (more than one) within 50 miles of our current location. Unfortunately, with all the news I received about the tornadoes, we didn't know the areas or towns where these tornadoes were hitting. Two of the towns we had driven through earlier in the day, both within 50 miles of our current location, had confirmed tornadoes from storm chasers.
The dogs were freaking out far worse than I had ever seen them...and they have meds for storms--so they were definitely picking up on something, as it hadn't even started raining yet and they were turning in circles, barking, panting and just basically freaking out. I thought we should probably go to the storm shelter but didn't appear anyone else was heading that way, and well, I wasn't really sure what to do--other than drug the dogs with their RX for storms that knocks 'em out for a few hours.
Whew! Boy did we dodge a bullet last Thursday!!! Turns out there were "37" Confirmed tornadoes in Minnesota that evening--the LARGEST NUMBER OF TORNADOES IN MINNESOTA HISTORY!!!!!! Sheesh!!! Murphy's Law huh? Can you believe here we were in Minnesota for only a couple of hours and we end up in the worst storm in their history.
What was really freaky for me, was the fact that Minnesota is a relatively SMALL state--compared to what we're used to in Texas, and to have 37 Tornadoes in such a tiny little state, you get a good idea of how close together each of these tornadoes were. Turns out the closest tornado was about 35 miles away, so we only had intense winds of 40-50 and heavy thunderstorms, but at least no tornadoes.
After surviving the worst storm in Minnesota history, the next day we just chilled and hung out around the park. The next day we took off for the Mall of America and spent the day checking out the largest mall in america. We had an awesome time. We spend 4-5 hours and I actually picked up a few blouses and a watch for myself. Mark needed a new wallet and we found one in a western store in the mall as well.
We just chilled our last couple of days in Minnesota, planning our next move and where we would be going and doing. That's a wrap for our Minnesota update. We'll never forget our time in Minnesota. Who'd 'thunk' that we'd have to leave tornado alley at home and travel to Minnesota to encounter the worst tornadic activity in our lives?
Until later~
Wow, were we in for a big surprise the day we arrived! Having spent our entire lives living in "tornado alley", we're not easily spooked or freaked out by thunderstorms...and even tornado activity. So when we received a knock on our door the afternoon we arrived in an RV Park in Minneapolis informing us of severe storms in the area, and informing us where the storm shelter was located, we were not originally overally concerned.....
With menacing clouds rapidly approaching our area and with no access to the local tv channels, I grabbed my laptop and went to the national weather service for reports. Then logged on to local weather stations and whew!!! We were surrounded by tons of tornadoes!!! Really.
Then, I started getting a little Freaked Out. There were confirmed F3 tornadoes (more than one) within 50 miles of our current location. Unfortunately, with all the news I received about the tornadoes, we didn't know the areas or towns where these tornadoes were hitting. Two of the towns we had driven through earlier in the day, both within 50 miles of our current location, had confirmed tornadoes from storm chasers.
The dogs were freaking out far worse than I had ever seen them...and they have meds for storms--so they were definitely picking up on something, as it hadn't even started raining yet and they were turning in circles, barking, panting and just basically freaking out. I thought we should probably go to the storm shelter but didn't appear anyone else was heading that way, and well, I wasn't really sure what to do--other than drug the dogs with their RX for storms that knocks 'em out for a few hours.
Whew! Boy did we dodge a bullet last Thursday!!! Turns out there were "37" Confirmed tornadoes in Minnesota that evening--the LARGEST NUMBER OF TORNADOES IN MINNESOTA HISTORY!!!!!! Sheesh!!! Murphy's Law huh? Can you believe here we were in Minnesota for only a couple of hours and we end up in the worst storm in their history.
What was really freaky for me, was the fact that Minnesota is a relatively SMALL state--compared to what we're used to in Texas, and to have 37 Tornadoes in such a tiny little state, you get a good idea of how close together each of these tornadoes were. Turns out the closest tornado was about 35 miles away, so we only had intense winds of 40-50 and heavy thunderstorms, but at least no tornadoes.
After surviving the worst storm in Minnesota history, the next day we just chilled and hung out around the park. The next day we took off for the Mall of America and spent the day checking out the largest mall in america. We had an awesome time. We spend 4-5 hours and I actually picked up a few blouses and a watch for myself. Mark needed a new wallet and we found one in a western store in the mall as well.
We just chilled our last couple of days in Minnesota, planning our next move and where we would be going and doing. That's a wrap for our Minnesota update. We'll never forget our time in Minnesota. Who'd 'thunk' that we'd have to leave tornado alley at home and travel to Minnesota to encounter the worst tornadic activity in our lives?
Until later~
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Leaving South Dakota/Heading East
We wrapped up our time in the Rapid City, South Dakota area yesterday. We had previously went to see Mount Rushmore, Custer, Black Hills Forrest and several other attractions, which I previously blogged about. A couple of days ago we took a trip to Deadwood to check it out. It's primarily known as the place where Wild Bill Hickock was gunned down during a card game.
We spent the afternoon walking around the town of Deadwood. It's quite the 'tourist' attaction for sure, which lot's of casinos and souvenir shops. We were going to check out the cemetery where Wild Bill and Calamity Jane were buried...but didn't feel the need to "pay" $10.00 each to get in! That's just a bit much.
It's time to move on. We left Rapid City early this morning and decided to stop over in Mitchell, South Dakota, which is the halfway point of our next stop...Minneapolis, Minnesota. Huh? Yep, that's right...Minneapolis. Why? We're headed towards the Great Lakes for some travel and decided to cut through the Twin Cities area for a couple of days. There's a nice RV Park/Huge Casino complex near there and also only a few miles down the road from "Mall of America".
I'm hardly a big shopper, but since we were essentially driving through the area, I thought why not? So that's where we're headed tomorrow. Actually, I think it will be kind of interesting to see the largest mall in America. I doubt we'll see too much of it, as we'll probably only last 2-3 hours of walking. But sounds like fun.
Exactly 'where' are we headed when we leave the Twin Cities area? After all, the Great Lakes area consists of several states! Well....hmmmmmm, we're not really sure yet. I've been doing lot's of research and think we'll probably spend at least a couple of weeks in the Michigan area, or, at least that's the current plan as of tonight.
Whew! I'm embarassed to admit I'm tired this evening. We drove 300 miles today and went and grabbed a bite to eat after setting up, so when we got back home I just crashed on the bed. Wasn't sure I had the energy to type this update! I know, I know...pretty whiney excuse huh? I don't expect any sympathy!
Well, that's a wrap for this update. Hope you had a wonderful day today. Until later~
We spent the afternoon walking around the town of Deadwood. It's quite the 'tourist' attaction for sure, which lot's of casinos and souvenir shops. We were going to check out the cemetery where Wild Bill and Calamity Jane were buried...but didn't feel the need to "pay" $10.00 each to get in! That's just a bit much.
It's time to move on. We left Rapid City early this morning and decided to stop over in Mitchell, South Dakota, which is the halfway point of our next stop...Minneapolis, Minnesota. Huh? Yep, that's right...Minneapolis. Why? We're headed towards the Great Lakes for some travel and decided to cut through the Twin Cities area for a couple of days. There's a nice RV Park/Huge Casino complex near there and also only a few miles down the road from "Mall of America".
I'm hardly a big shopper, but since we were essentially driving through the area, I thought why not? So that's where we're headed tomorrow. Actually, I think it will be kind of interesting to see the largest mall in America. I doubt we'll see too much of it, as we'll probably only last 2-3 hours of walking. But sounds like fun.
Exactly 'where' are we headed when we leave the Twin Cities area? After all, the Great Lakes area consists of several states! Well....hmmmmmm, we're not really sure yet. I've been doing lot's of research and think we'll probably spend at least a couple of weeks in the Michigan area, or, at least that's the current plan as of tonight.
Whew! I'm embarassed to admit I'm tired this evening. We drove 300 miles today and went and grabbed a bite to eat after setting up, so when we got back home I just crashed on the bed. Wasn't sure I had the energy to type this update! I know, I know...pretty whiney excuse huh? I don't expect any sympathy!
Well, that's a wrap for this update. Hope you had a wonderful day today. Until later~
Friday, June 11, 2010
Little Bighorn/Mount Rushmore
I've gotten behind again. We finally left Yellowstone early Wednesday morning, and drove 300 miles to Garryowen, Montana to spend the night. We stopped at Garryowen because it's the location of the battle of Little Big Horn, where Custer and 270 of his men were killed by Crazy Horse and thousands of Lakota and Cheyenne indians.
We got to Garryowen by 1:00 and were set up and out the door by 1:30. We headed directly to the Little Big Horn National Park and were quite surprised how detailed it was. The battle actually occurred voer a 5 mile area, which is quite substantial when on horseback. The Park Service did an excellent job laying out the trails and outling the details. Small tombstones were erected where each US soldier and Cheyenne/Lakota indian were found. In addition, there were several monuments as well.
The tour took a couple of hours and afterwards, we headed to a neat little restaurant next to the Park and had Indian Tacos. Yum! It's like a sopapilla (mexican bread) with taco meat/beans, along with avocado, tomatoes, cheese. It was just delicious. I'm glad I ventured out (well, for me anyway)...and it was terrific!
We left Garryowen, Montana early yesterday morning heading to Rapid City, South Dakota to spend a few days at Mount Rushmore and the surrounding areas. By the time we arrived yesterday a huge thunderstorm was upon us and we weren't able to get the satellite dishes up before it hit. The dogs freaked out, I even had to pull out the old sedative and dose them up. Knocked Clyde out for hours, but not Duffy. He was still terrified. So we didn't get to check anything out yesterday.
We got a late start this morning and headed through Custer State Park and the Black Hills National Forest on our way to Mount Rushmore. You can actually see the monument of the Presidents as you drive through these tunnels dug out through the granite. We were really surprised with the Mount Rushmore monument. It has been continually built up for decades and now includes a large museum, couple of theatres, a large gift shop and lot's of other stuff. As you approach the monument, the first thing you see are all of the state flags as well. It was quite interesting.
When we left Mount Rushmore, we drove through Keystone, South Dakota, which is some what like Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Lot's of old fashioned stores, even an old saloon. We grabbed a bite to eat, walked around a bit and headed back home. We really had a great time today. Tomorrow we're planning on driving to Deadwood to check out the big gunfight Wild Bill Hickock had as well as the other 'touristy' type attractions. We also plan on seeing Crazy Horse too...we were going to today but just didn't have time.
We're not sure how long we'll be here. We're supposed to leave Monday, but really need to get the oil changed on the car, so the earliest we'll probably head out of here will be next Tuesday. Or...who knows, maybe we'll stay longer!
Until later~
We got to Garryowen by 1:00 and were set up and out the door by 1:30. We headed directly to the Little Big Horn National Park and were quite surprised how detailed it was. The battle actually occurred voer a 5 mile area, which is quite substantial when on horseback. The Park Service did an excellent job laying out the trails and outling the details. Small tombstones were erected where each US soldier and Cheyenne/Lakota indian were found. In addition, there were several monuments as well.
The tour took a couple of hours and afterwards, we headed to a neat little restaurant next to the Park and had Indian Tacos. Yum! It's like a sopapilla (mexican bread) with taco meat/beans, along with avocado, tomatoes, cheese. It was just delicious. I'm glad I ventured out (well, for me anyway)...and it was terrific!
We left Garryowen, Montana early yesterday morning heading to Rapid City, South Dakota to spend a few days at Mount Rushmore and the surrounding areas. By the time we arrived yesterday a huge thunderstorm was upon us and we weren't able to get the satellite dishes up before it hit. The dogs freaked out, I even had to pull out the old sedative and dose them up. Knocked Clyde out for hours, but not Duffy. He was still terrified. So we didn't get to check anything out yesterday.
We got a late start this morning and headed through Custer State Park and the Black Hills National Forest on our way to Mount Rushmore. You can actually see the monument of the Presidents as you drive through these tunnels dug out through the granite. We were really surprised with the Mount Rushmore monument. It has been continually built up for decades and now includes a large museum, couple of theatres, a large gift shop and lot's of other stuff. As you approach the monument, the first thing you see are all of the state flags as well. It was quite interesting.
When we left Mount Rushmore, we drove through Keystone, South Dakota, which is some what like Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Lot's of old fashioned stores, even an old saloon. We grabbed a bite to eat, walked around a bit and headed back home. We really had a great time today. Tomorrow we're planning on driving to Deadwood to check out the big gunfight Wild Bill Hickock had as well as the other 'touristy' type attractions. We also plan on seeing Crazy Horse too...we were going to today but just didn't have time.
We're not sure how long we'll be here. We're supposed to leave Monday, but really need to get the oil changed on the car, so the earliest we'll probably head out of here will be next Tuesday. Or...who knows, maybe we'll stay longer!
Until later~
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Yellowstone & More Thoughts
We've spent multiple days here in West Yellowstone locked up in the RV because of continued downpours. It was very cold and rained pretty much continuously for 3 consecutive days...until today! Whew! We felt like a caged animal by this morning. We've thought back and seriously can never remember being in this much rain, for so many consecutive days, until our visit to Yellowstone last week.
We actually had a little bit of sunshine between the clouds today and felt blessed to just see that. Ok, enough complaining about the weather! We didn't get a very early start today but decided come what may, we were going back to Yellowstone today. We had not yet even gotten to see Old Faithful blow, and we've been here for 10 days. We finally got to see Old Faithful blow today and also pretty much drove the entire park today, doing both the lower and upper loops today.
We saw lot's of wildlife again. Tons of bison, lot's of elk, numerous birds, a few ducks and swans, a beaver and most importantly, we had an opportunity to see a momma bear with her '3' little cubs just pouncing around and playing near her. They were soooo sweet. We weren't close enough to get good pictures of the bears, but the little cubs were so cute tumbling on and over moma. All in all, we had a nice day at Yellowstone today and feel like we've pretty much covered it all, or at least what we wanted to see.
After so much cold and rainy weather we've elected to skip Glacier National Park and head southeast to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Custer State Park. We're not sure how long we'll be in the South Dakota area, but probably not too long as there really isn't really much more that we're interested in seeing other than the Mount Rushmore area.
On a very sad note, I received word this evening of the death of a childhood friend. We grew up together and he was a grade behind me in school. He lived his entire life in the same house, next door to me. Even though I had moved away from home by the age of 20, I still saw Phillip regularly through all these years, when I'd stop by the house to visit my parents, or during the time we moved into the house to help care for my mom in the early 2000's. He had been quite ill for a long time, but nothing that should have resulted in his surprising and untimely death at the young age of 52.
Most of the friends I grew up with in the neighborhood are all gone now as well, as well as my brother. It kind of makes my comments on the last blog update even more appropriate. It's just a really sad day today...the thought of touring anything seems a bit pointless right now.
Well, I hope you have a good evening. And don't forget how precious and short life really is. Ever since my cancer several years ago, the first thing I think every morning before crawling out of bed, is "Thank you heavenly Father for allowing me to have this day." Just seems to mean a bit more right now.
We actually had a little bit of sunshine between the clouds today and felt blessed to just see that. Ok, enough complaining about the weather! We didn't get a very early start today but decided come what may, we were going back to Yellowstone today. We had not yet even gotten to see Old Faithful blow, and we've been here for 10 days. We finally got to see Old Faithful blow today and also pretty much drove the entire park today, doing both the lower and upper loops today.
We saw lot's of wildlife again. Tons of bison, lot's of elk, numerous birds, a few ducks and swans, a beaver and most importantly, we had an opportunity to see a momma bear with her '3' little cubs just pouncing around and playing near her. They were soooo sweet. We weren't close enough to get good pictures of the bears, but the little cubs were so cute tumbling on and over moma. All in all, we had a nice day at Yellowstone today and feel like we've pretty much covered it all, or at least what we wanted to see.
After so much cold and rainy weather we've elected to skip Glacier National Park and head southeast to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Custer State Park. We're not sure how long we'll be in the South Dakota area, but probably not too long as there really isn't really much more that we're interested in seeing other than the Mount Rushmore area.
On a very sad note, I received word this evening of the death of a childhood friend. We grew up together and he was a grade behind me in school. He lived his entire life in the same house, next door to me. Even though I had moved away from home by the age of 20, I still saw Phillip regularly through all these years, when I'd stop by the house to visit my parents, or during the time we moved into the house to help care for my mom in the early 2000's. He had been quite ill for a long time, but nothing that should have resulted in his surprising and untimely death at the young age of 52.
Most of the friends I grew up with in the neighborhood are all gone now as well, as well as my brother. It kind of makes my comments on the last blog update even more appropriate. It's just a really sad day today...the thought of touring anything seems a bit pointless right now.
Well, I hope you have a good evening. And don't forget how precious and short life really is. Ever since my cancer several years ago, the first thing I think every morning before crawling out of bed, is "Thank you heavenly Father for allowing me to have this day." Just seems to mean a bit more right now.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Reflections
While in St. George, Utah a few weeks ago I mentioned that we discovered the roof of our RV had a tear in it. Most fifth wheel RV roofs are made of rubber and you have to be careful to avoid hitting any trees or anything else that may tear the roof. We think out awning blew backwards in high winds and caused the tear...but regardless, we had a tear large enough to require 1/3 of the roof to be re-roofed in it's entirety resulting in more $$$ than we had hoped.
While in Provo, Utah last week I mentioned that we had packed up early one morning and were ready to hop in the cars and head to Yellowstone. But, when we brought the slides in and stepped out to lock up the RV, the stairs literally 'fell' off. We had noticed they had been getting lower and lower to the ground over the last several months but just hadn't but 2 and 2 together so to speak, and unfortunately didn't address the problem before it became a big problem. You don't think of steps as being a big issue until you realize you can't get in or out of your 'home' without a 3-4 foot drop, making even trying to take the dogs out for a walk difficult. So we stayed in Provo and Mark went to an RV supply store found our 4-step stairs and installed them. Then, on to Yellowstone.
Which brings me to today. I was fixing a bit of lunch when there was a knock on our door. It was the man next door who asked if we were aware we had a flat tire on our trailer. Uh.....nope, didn't know that either. So, rather than run a few errands and buy some much needed groceries, Mark raised the trailer, removed the tire and took it to a tire store near Yellowstone to get it plugged and then brought the tire back and put it back on the trailer. We've put quite a few miles on this trailer in a short period and will have to replace them within the next year for sure, meaning quite a bit more $$$.
I mentioned last week that I had heard that things always seem to happen in "3's". Well, let's hope it stops at three anyway! In the last month we've had to have a 1) New Roof; 2) New Stairs and 3) Tire Repair. Actually, I realize that we are very blessed that this did not happen while driving 60 mph down the freeway...which could have caused serious damage to the trailer, and possibly injuring or killing us or someone else and that's the only thing that really matters isn't it? And what's more important than our health?
All in all, this journey we're on has indeed been life changing. We're getting to do and see things that we never thought we'd be able to do, certainly not until much later in life. Which brings me to one of the primary reasons we elected to take this journey now, rather than wait until we were 'officially' old enough to retire and it was age appropriate, say--maybe 62 - 65.
Had we waited until when we were "supposed" to retire, would we have been healthy enough to even do it at that time? If not, we would have had such regrets and disappointment, wondering what could've, would've been had we not waited. We've seen this happen to so many people. It's the Journey...not the Destination that counts. Our motto is Seize the Day! Carpe Diem!
We are by no means in a position where we'll be able to actually retire permanently at this point in our lives and we've known that from the beginning. Based on our life experiences, from the death of my immediately family within 5 years (father, mother and brother), to my cancer battle many years ago, we've discovered one thing for sure...Life is Short. Enjoy it. Embrace it. And most importantly Thank God for it. And never, ever take a single day of this precious life for granted.
And we're not.
While in Provo, Utah last week I mentioned that we had packed up early one morning and were ready to hop in the cars and head to Yellowstone. But, when we brought the slides in and stepped out to lock up the RV, the stairs literally 'fell' off. We had noticed they had been getting lower and lower to the ground over the last several months but just hadn't but 2 and 2 together so to speak, and unfortunately didn't address the problem before it became a big problem. You don't think of steps as being a big issue until you realize you can't get in or out of your 'home' without a 3-4 foot drop, making even trying to take the dogs out for a walk difficult. So we stayed in Provo and Mark went to an RV supply store found our 4-step stairs and installed them. Then, on to Yellowstone.
Which brings me to today. I was fixing a bit of lunch when there was a knock on our door. It was the man next door who asked if we were aware we had a flat tire on our trailer. Uh.....nope, didn't know that either. So, rather than run a few errands and buy some much needed groceries, Mark raised the trailer, removed the tire and took it to a tire store near Yellowstone to get it plugged and then brought the tire back and put it back on the trailer. We've put quite a few miles on this trailer in a short period and will have to replace them within the next year for sure, meaning quite a bit more $$$.
I mentioned last week that I had heard that things always seem to happen in "3's". Well, let's hope it stops at three anyway! In the last month we've had to have a 1) New Roof; 2) New Stairs and 3) Tire Repair. Actually, I realize that we are very blessed that this did not happen while driving 60 mph down the freeway...which could have caused serious damage to the trailer, and possibly injuring or killing us or someone else and that's the only thing that really matters isn't it? And what's more important than our health?
All in all, this journey we're on has indeed been life changing. We're getting to do and see things that we never thought we'd be able to do, certainly not until much later in life. Which brings me to one of the primary reasons we elected to take this journey now, rather than wait until we were 'officially' old enough to retire and it was age appropriate, say--maybe 62 - 65.
Had we waited until when we were "supposed" to retire, would we have been healthy enough to even do it at that time? If not, we would have had such regrets and disappointment, wondering what could've, would've been had we not waited. We've seen this happen to so many people. It's the Journey...not the Destination that counts. Our motto is Seize the Day! Carpe Diem!
We are by no means in a position where we'll be able to actually retire permanently at this point in our lives and we've known that from the beginning. Based on our life experiences, from the death of my immediately family within 5 years (father, mother and brother), to my cancer battle many years ago, we've discovered one thing for sure...Life is Short. Enjoy it. Embrace it. And most importantly Thank God for it. And never, ever take a single day of this precious life for granted.
And we're not.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
New Pictures
I've gotten so far behind on loading our pictures since we were in LA/Hollywood through our first few days here in Yellowstone. But I spent most of the afternoon and night working on them and I've finally completed and downloaded our pictures into new slideshows. I've loaded new slideshows for:
1) Teton Nat'l Park/Jackson Hole
2) Yellowstone Nat'l Park - #1
3) Reagan Library (When we were in LA)
4) Warner Brothers Studio (Took a Tour while we were in LA)
I've added the 4 new slideshows and they can be found on the right hand side of the blog. Whew! What a chore. I'll never let our pictures get that far behind again, that's for sure! (I know, I know...pretty 'whiny' excuse for work huh?)
Enjoy!
1) Teton Nat'l Park/Jackson Hole
2) Yellowstone Nat'l Park - #1
3) Reagan Library (When we were in LA)
4) Warner Brothers Studio (Took a Tour while we were in LA)
I've added the 4 new slideshows and they can be found on the right hand side of the blog. Whew! What a chore. I'll never let our pictures get that far behind again, that's for sure! (I know, I know...pretty 'whiny' excuse for work huh?)
Enjoy!
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