Back to Yuma

Well, we are headed back to Yuma much sooner than we had thought. I developed a medical problem we need to have taken care of and the best answer seems to be back in Yuma. Hated to leave Care as that leaves them very short on volunteers but can't do the work anyway. Plan to take 6 days to get there. After the first day when we were on the road till mid afternoon we have started getting on the road earlier in the morning and trying to get off shortly after noon before the sun starts hitting the front of the motorhome. Much better. Spent the first night in Mineral Wells, TX. A very pretty area we would like to go back to and spend a few days. People went there in the day for the mineral baths. We came by a beautiful old hotel. Sure hope they restore it before it gets anymore run down. The lady at the campground told me in the 60s there were over 100,000 people there because there was a big helicopter training base there for the troops going to Vietnam.

Second night we stopped in Big Spring, TX. Didn't see much of it as we stopped right along the interstate and didn't venture out.

Tonight we are in Van Horn, TX. Not much here now but according to the brochure we picked up there is lots of history here. Lonesome Dove was filmed in this area too. It is a beautiful area. We are starting to feel like we are almost home. At least you can see more than a few feet.

First Month at Care

Can't believe our first month is almost over. It really has gone by quickly. Guess that is because we have been so busy. I haven't driven very many times but Gary has done quite a bit. All of our driving has been here in town. We haven't had to do a run to Houston or Lufkin yet. Gary has driven the bus for the twice weekly Wal-mart trips a few times. They go on Tuesday morning and Thursday afternoon. He particularly loves the Thursday afternoon run. Several of the assisted care facilities also bring their people on Thursday afternoon so there is a run on the battery carts plus just a challenge getting to the door to unload the bus. I tell him he has a "deer in the headlights" look when he returns from that one.

All in all we are really enjoying our time here. The people all have interesting stories to tell if you take the time to listen. Most of them lived through World War II and some will talk about it a little. It makes you feel silly when you complain about your aches and pains when you find out the things they are living with. The saddest thing is many of them have lost or are losing their sight. Several have macular degeneration and a couple just woke up without their sight. Some deal with it better than others but they all adjust and most have amazing attitudes about it all. Not sure I would have. We do have one man who is mad at the world over losing his sight but the majority just take it as another challenge.

The weather hasn't been as bad as we thought it might YET. Everyone keeps saying it will get worse. Thankfully our air conditioner keeps humming along.

First day on duty at Care

June 1 was our official start date on our own. Turned out to be quite a busy day. We went over around 7:30 to say a final good bye to the 5 teams that were leaving. What a neat bunch of people they were. Around 9:00 Gary drove the little bus into town for the twice weekly Wal-mart trip. He only had 5 people this morning. At 9:30 I drove one of the residents in to an appointment with the chiropractor. When we both returned we needed to move our motor home from the Escapees Campground over to our spot at Care. We needed to be moved by noon. Moved it over, plugged in the electric, turned on the AC and headed in for lunch. When lunch was over we went out to try to get the motor home all set up. Thought we had a few hours until our next assignment. Just getting started when Dan (the volunteer coordinator--our "boss") called and said he had scheduled a meeting for 2:30. So much for the few hours. I went into the building and by the nurse's office to have my TB test and made it to the meeting on time. Gary finished the things he had to do, took a quick shower, ran by the nurse's station and made it to the meeting a little late. We were still in the meeting when it was time for us to be in the kitchen for our evening duty there. Ran in there and helped serve supper, helped clean up and went back to the rig and collapsed. Hopefully that will be the only day quite like that.

The residents are all such interesting people that you are glad you can do things to help them. We have people with Doctorates, retired civil engineers, one that was the book keeper for the Grateful Dead, people that traveled all over the world for their jobs and many more. Of course they love to tell their life story to a whole new crew of listeners.

Livingston, Texas

Tuesday the 25th we made it on to Livingston. We got all checked in and set up and stayed in the rest of the day. The middle of the afternoon here with the heat and humidity is not a pleasant thing.

Wednesday morning we checked in with the Volunteer Coordinator at Care and then went to take care of a few errands.

Thursday morning we had a volunteer meeting and then started in "shadowing" the couple we will replace on June 1. There is lots to do and lots to remember. There will be 5 new couples (including us) taking over. One other couple besides us is staying for June, July and August. The other 3 are just here for the month of June.

The participants that are here are sure special people. They appreciate all we do for them.

So far we have mainly worked in the kitchen. Other duties are driving them to appointments and being on call at night. Usually not too much goes on when you are on call and that is what you hope for--no emergencies.

Today we have having a typical Memorial Day cook out with potato salad etc. Think we will settle into a routine once the couples we are replacing leave. They are really a nice bunch and have had a good time together. Think we will enjoy our crew as well.

Austin, Texas

Saturday we drove from Hondo to Riverbend RV park just outside Luling, TX. We are a little closer to Austin here. Sunday we had a lazy day and caught up on some chores. We did go into town and eat BBQ. Finally getting into a part of the country where they don't think BBQ is anything cooked on a grill. It was pretty good.

Monday we drove into Austin, only about 40 miles. Found our way to the Capitol building and took a guided tour. It is a very pretty building and of course being in TX it is Big. After a stop at the nearby visitor center we headed out for lunch. Had seen a place on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives we wanted to try. We found Maria's Taco Express. It is a very interesting place and the food was good too.

After lunch we made our way to the LBJ Library. It is the only Presidential Library that is free. That was a mandate by President Johnson. It is a quite a big place and has lots of interesting displays. We finished up there and made it out of town before rush hour traffic started. We had a very enjoyable day.

Fredericksburg, Texas

On Friday we drove up Highway 173 from Hondo to Kerrville. What a beautiful drive. This is a really pretty part of Texas. We took 16 on over to Fredericksburg. It is an old German town and has wonderful old buildings. The main reason we went was to go to the National Museum of the Pacific War. Fredericksburg is the boyhood home of Admiral Nimitz and part of the museum is in the old hotel owned by his grandfather. We spent all day there and could have stayed longer. Your ticket is good for 2 days so that gives you an idea of how much there is to see. It is very impressive. They have lots of static displays and wonderful pictures and videos. It takes you step by step through the war in the Pacific. We really need to stay longer in the area and check out lots of the other things to do there. Fredericksburg is also renowned for its peaches but they were not quite ready.

The museum has an excellent web site if you want to see more: www.Nimitz-Museum.org

San Antonio

Left the cave and drove on to the Escapees park just west of Hondo, TX. It is a very nice park. The laundry was very nice and after a week on the road it was time to do a couple of loads. Drove into San Antonio on Thursday. Went to the Alamo and rode the boat around the Riverwalk. It was a cloudy day and even sprinkled on us a little. We enjoyed our visit but get tired of the city quickly.

Caverns of Sonora

This part of Texas isn't overflowing with campgrounds. Decided to drive a little off the highway and spend the night at Caverns of Sonora. It was a pretty drive. Not much of a campground but Gary took the tour of the Cave and says it was worth the drive. My knee has been bothering me a little so decided the 300 plus steps might not be a great idea. No internet service and hardly phone service here. There were at least 15 deer in front of our motorhome the next morning.

Pecos, Texas

Didn't travel too far today. Made it back to Texas. Stopped in Pecos at the Escapee Park. It is a very old park and needs some attention. Have to get our vehicles inspected. Had the car done today and will get the motorhome done in the morning and then head on out. Not much left of this town but you can tell it was a pretty good sized town at one time. Claims it is the site of the world's first rodeo. I think Prescott, AZ claims the same thing. It is the home of Pecos Bill. Our kids had a record about him they used to listen to a lot.

Roswell, New Mexico

Saturday we drove from Las Cruces to the Escapee park at Lakewood. We had a beautiful drive over the mountain from Alamogordo to Artesia. The road wasn't bad and they had lots of passing zones.

Sunday we drove about 45 miles to Roswell. Have always wanted to go check out all the "Alien" stuff there. Not a whole lot going on this time of year but everything in town is Alien themed. It was fun anyway. We toured the White Home in town that is the Historical Center for southeast New Mexico Museum. It was a beautiful home and had wonderful exhibits.

We also drove out of town to the Bottomless Lakes State Park. Really neat area. They are actually sink holes that collapsed into caves. One of them has a wonderful swimming area with a beach and nice facilities.

White Sands National Monument

We had a great day at White Sands National Monument today. It was a very pretty drive up to the park and then an amazing drive through the dunes. It is hard to believe how white they are. Drove on to Alamogordo and looked around a little. Made an early start back to Las Cruces but then the traffic was stopped and the whole highway was closed because the missile range was doing "lazer testing". We sat about 1 hour and then they finally let us all go. Back on the road tomorrow to the Escapee Park at Lakewood so we can see Roswell. We will stay there a couple of days and then head into Texas. We were surprised that they let people ride sleds down the dunes and play volleyball on top or whatever you wanted except drive a vehicle up. The kids were having a wonderful time.

Las Cruces, New Mexico

We changed our minds and went on through Deming and stopped at Las Cruces, NM instead. Had kind of wanted to stay at the Escapees park in Deming and see the new clubhouse they built. Also wanted to see if anyone we know is working there. Decided to spend 2 nights in Las Cruces and go to the White Sands National Park. Have always wanted to go there but never have taken the time. Our travels have gone well so far and it feels good to be back on the road. We do enjoy the trip. Our next stop will be Lakewood, NM and some time in Roswell. Should be interesting....... More later

On the road to Livingston

We are finally on the road. Had planned to leave on Sunday but that didn't work out. Turned out to be a good thing as the wind blew on Sunday. Tuesday was a much cooler day to finnish loading the motorhome. We plan to do some sightseeing on the way so hope to keep some things posted here as we go. Today we made it all the way to Benson, AZ. Tomorrow we plan to stop in Deming, NM. After that should be stopping for a couple of days to do some looking around.

Back in Arizona!!

We left Niagara Falls on the 27th of July and headed west. We spent one night in Ohio and one night in Indiana and then went into Illinois. We have friends who own a campground in Knoxville, Illinois so decided to spend a couple of nights with them. We took a day and went into Moline to see the John Deere Pavilion and World Headquarters. We had hoped to take a factory tour but they were all booked up.

We decided since we were so close to Kansas City to go back through Missouri and spend a few days. When we had been there in April we froze to death and now on the first of August we were roasting. While in MO we did make it to a couple of soccer games to see the grandkids play and also a couple of fish frys. We stayed about 10 days and then continued on west.

We stopped for a couple of days in LaVeta, Colorado. It was a beautiful area and we definitely found some cooler weather which was nice. We went on to an area just outside Dolores, Colorado on the west fork of the Dolores River. Our friends Bill and Edith were there. We had found the spot together many years ago. We stayed a few days there and did some fishing. At least we didn't have to clean any fish. We came on to Flagstaff yesterday and will stay a few days before heading to Yuma for one night on our way to San Diego.

15 Miles on the Erie Canal

Yesterday was a long tiring day but it was so worth it. We started the morning by driving to Lockport, NY to ride a boat thru some locks on the Erie Canal. We always sang about the Erie Canal in grade school so really wanted to see it. We had a very nice 2 hour trip and really enjoyed the history of the area. Also in Lockport the First Presbyterian Church has Stained glass windows actually made by Louis Comfort Tiffany. They let you take a tour and even provide wands to listen to a description of each window. Very awe inspiring.

We came back to Niagara Falls and drove across Rainbow Bridge to the Canadian side. You can really on see the water "fall" from that side. It is so amazing!!! We stayed to see the falls lit up after dark which was well worth staying for. At 10pm on Friday and Saturday night they have fireworks over the falls. What an incredible evening. Our visit here was wonderful!

Niagara Falls

Sunday the 20th we left PA and headed in to New York. Monday we finally went to the falls, how AWESOME! We rode the Maid of the Mist right up to the falls. It was everything we had imagined. We loved it!! We walked around and saw the falls from several different angles, all of them are fantastic. Tuesday we were back and did the Cave of the Winds. You don't actually go behind the falls anymore but you still get plenty wet. It is amazing to look up at the falls from the bottom of the gorge. Today we drove north along the river and stopped at the Power Vista. It is a visitor center for the USA power plant. They have a very nice display and quite a view as well. We also made a stop at the Whirlpool State Park. That area is something to see. The water really does "whirl" around. We drove on up so we could see Lake Ontario and then came back to Old Fort Niagara. They have restored it very nicely and have very interesting exhibits. They also have the first lighthouse on the Great Lakes.

Still in Pennsylvania

You can see we were busy during our 2 weeks in PA. We did move on to the Scranton area. We came here to see Steamtown. The largest collection of Steam locomotives in the country. They have a great museum. We spent most of 2 days there. Another day we drove out and around in the country around to see some of the amazing viaducts the railroad built. Next to Steamtown the county has a very nice Trolley museum and we spent some time there and took a 10 mile ride on a restored trolley-very nice! This part of PA also has a lot of coal mining history and they have a very nice museum and trip down into an underground mine.

Another day we drove to Allentown. Most of you know Gary likes to do stained glass projects and the supplier we always ordered from is there so we had to go look around in their studio and store--Amazing! Our last day in Scranton we took a ride on a steam train to Tobyhanna, PA. It was only a 4 hour trip and 2hrs we were off the train. It was hot and sooty--can you even imagine riding for days in those conditions? It was fun and at the end of the day we could go back to the motorhome and have a much needed shower.

Pennsylvania continued...

Wow, hard to believe how much we did in the 2 weeks since I posted! We really kept busy. It did rain all evening on the 4th and we had to settle for fireworks on TV. Not quite the same, but at least we were dry. Saturday we went to the National Toy Train museum in Strasburg. They have some wonderful displays. Gary finally saw his engine there on display and found out a little more about it. Sunday we drove in to Philadelphia to look around a little. We went to the historic area and lined up to see the Liberty Bell. The crack is much bigger than it looks in the pictures. It was really neat to see it for real. We walked around the area and had authentic "philly cheese steaks" for lunch. Yummm!! We didn't like Philly. We thought it was very dirty and not friendly at all. (Brotherly love??) The traffic was also terrible even on Sunday. We had tickets for Wednesday for Freedom Hall but decided not to make the trip back.







Monday we did laundry in the morning and then spent the afternoon in a big antique shop. We didn't buy anything but it was fun to look.







Tuesday we drove to Antietam battlefield. We decided we couldn't be in this area and not go there since Rons' ship is the Antietam. It was quite impressive. Hard to believe how many men died that day. It was the bloodiest day of the war and the beginning of the end for the South.







Wednesday we drove in to York and took a tour of the Harley Davidson Factory. We were a little disappointed because they had just switched to the '09 model and they can't let anyone look at them until they have their dealers come and see them. We got to see the lines where they make parts but couldn't see any assembly. It was still interesting.







Thursday we had to take the motorhome in for its' 45,000 mile check up. We had to stop and think of all the things we have seen in those miles. Wow!! We called the Ford Motorhome Division to find out where in the area they could do the service and they sent us to New Holland, PA. We were dreading spending the day there but were quite surprised at how efficient they were. We arrived about 6:30am and they started on it at 7 and we were leaving there by 10am. They really know what they are doing. We found that the town of New Holland is where they make New Holland farm equipment. We were able to go back that afternoon and take a tour of the plant. They gave us a really nice tour. They have some very impressive machinery to make the parts for their equipment. We also saw a round hay baler from start to finish. On our tour was one of the engineers that had helped develop one of the first round balers. He had some extra info that was very interesting.







Friday we drove to Harrisburg to see the state capitol building. We have been to quite a few capitol buildings but this one was way over the top. It was so beautiful! If you are ever in the area you should really see this one.







Saturday we decided to drive to Wilmington, Delaware. Right down the road from our campground we saw a sign that said it was only 31 miles so thought we should go. Neither one of us had ever been to Delaware. It was a pretty drive and we even found the Wilmington and Western railroad depot on the way. It was just another "city". We did find their 100 year old depot down by the waterfront.

Back in a service area

Hello everyone. Sorry we haven't been posting. We got a little behind and then hit an area where our air card barely worked. That was the first time it has failed us. We were able to check our email most days but could not upload anything. We arrived in Niagara Falls late yesterday and our service is really good so will try to get things caught up soon.

Pennsylvania

We had a great trip from Maryland to Kinzers, PA. We are in the middle of the Amish country. The farms all around us are so beautiful. The roads all have buggies and wagons on them. It is amazing to see the farmers in the fields with the horse pulled implements. Most of the businesses are not genuine and the area is overly commercialized but it is still amazing country. Strasburg is about 10 miles away and has the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. They have some wonderful displays and most of it is indoors. One day we made a trip to Hershey. They don't give actual factory tours anymore but do have a nice museum and a little ride that shows you some of the manufacturing process. We have spent a couple of days just riding around enjoying the wonderful countryside. We hope to go see fireworks tonight but it has been raining off and on all day so not sure if that will work out or not.