On the road again......

It’s been a long time since our last blog, last April. The last we wrote we were driving back to Colorado to spend the summer working in Cotopaxi at the KOA.

We had a great summer, even though it was hot and dry. I worked in the office and Jim planted an amazing garden for the campground (Pictures of Cotopaxi). The fishing was not all that great as the Arkansas River was low all summer as the run-off in the spring was almost non existent. Unusually hot weather all summer stressed the fish, the campers, the staff and the campground.

We got to Golden a couple of times to spend time with the grandkids (and Alisha & Billy). Sadie loves it there because she can run and run and run. Here is a link to a video of her first interaction with a sprinkler….. hysterical! Sadie video with the sprinkler

We started looking for a place to work this winter close to the grandkids in Sacramento or Phoenix but have not had any results so far. So as an interim job we decided to come north to Hallock, MN to work the sugar beet harvest. Hallock is only a few miles east of the ND border and south of the Canadian border. It is a beautiful small town of 981 souls. Lots of hardwood trees changing colors and a great little RV park. There is also a brewery and distillery, so we’re all set. Jim is going to be driving truck (an 18 wheeler) for the 1^st time in 30 odd years! He’ll be hauling beets to the piler, 12 hour shifts for about 2 weeks. (Video of the sugar beet harvest) (Pictures of the harvest and Hallock, MN) Jim started on Monday the 1^st of October and then on Wednesday the rains came! And the snow! The fields turn into “gumbo mud” and after several trucks, including Jim, got stuck,  they called it a day. The weather should clear soon and they’ll be back to harvesting. We should be here about 2-3 weeks, depending on the weather.

Along the way we went to Lake John in Walden, CO. We met friends there and Jim got in some awesome fishing. (Pictures at Lake John) Next stop was our son, Jeremy’s in Whitewood, SD. We picked up our mail and got SD drivers licenses. We were able to take the Needles Highway scenic drive through Custer State Park this year (it was snowed close last November) and the rock formations were amazing. You can even see Mt Rushmore from 1 of the overlooks. There are 4 tunnels along the way and they are all 1 lane, narrow and short. No way you can get a motorhome up there! (Pictures in South Dakota)

We saw on Facebook that other friends, John and Wendy were going to be east of Wall, SD about the same time we were heading east to Minnesota. They are full time Rvers that we meet while working at Amazon. We made plans to meet up and spend a couple of days “boondocking” with them while they went rock hunting. John polishes his “finds” and makes very beautiful creations, especially his wine stoppers. Where we camped was just on the east side of the Badlands with amazing views! (Pictures of boondocking with John and Wendy) When we left we backtracked to Wall, SD and went through the Wall Drug store…. A fascinating road side attraction and a part of history. Here is a link to its story…... (Website about Wall Drug)

Another side trip we wanted to take on the way north was to go to Swanville, MN where my Dad and Aunt Jean were born. My Grandfather owned a gas station and a grain elevator. They moved from there in 1945 when my Dad was 15 and moved to Boulder, CO. My Aunt Jean sent me directions on how to find their house “ I thought I would tell you a little about Swanville. It is a small town - a least it used to be. One main street going North and South. The school is on the south end of town and our house was just close by. On the west side of the road heading North was a road coming into the main street, then a house on the corner and then our house”. 

Needless to say the town is still small, the school is on the south side of town but we weren’t sure if it was in the same location. If it was, there were a few houses in the area, but I couldn’t tell if they were the right ones. It is fun to think that their house was still there. As we were driving the motorhome, towing the jeep, we did not explore the town very much. It is a beautiful little town, population 350. Aunt Jean says its grown from when she lived there. It is right next to Pipin Lake in the midst of rolling, wooded hills. How wonderful to be able to explore my family roots! (Pictures of Swanville, MN)

So long for now. Until next time, from wherever, whenever.

It's great to be retired (again)

I'm writing this on the road, heading back to Colorado. It's almost spring and we've had a great winter. We spent it in Arizona, enjoying the warm weather, the kids and the grandkids. For those of you who are new to our blog or for those who need a refresher course, Jim and I got married 8 years ago and blended our families.

Jim has 5 kids Karen, Jeff, Joe, Melanie and Avey.

Karen has 3 kids, Isaiah 22, Holden 14 and Bella 13. They live in Merced, CA.

Joe has 3 kids, Aravis 13, Judah 10 and Daisy 7. They live in Phoenix

Melanie has 2 kids, Jack 7 and Harvey 4. They live in Phoenix.

Avey has 1 daughter, Elena 4. They live in Sacramento, CA.

I have 2 kids Jeremy and Alisha.

Jeremy has 1 son, Ethan 14 and lives with Brandy who has a daughter, Sydney 11. They live in Whitewood, SD.

Alisha has 2 daughters, Kalyn 16 and Allie 11. They live in Golden, CO

So all in all, we have 7 children and 13 grandchildren. So now you will know who is who when we brag on them and write about all the wonderful time we spend with them. It is not as much or as often as we would like as they are so far flung. Needless to say we spent as much time with the Arizona family as we could while we were there.

We stayed in Black Canyon City, AZ in a funky older RV park, Rivers Edge RV park. Lots of grass and trees, gorgeous sunsets and wonderful owners and neighbors. Casey and Joyce bought it a couple of years ago and have made lots of improvements and really put their hearts into running it. Our RV park and other Arizona scenes pictures It was only 45 minutes from Melanie's house so we got to spend a lot of time with them. 

We spent Christmas with them and Joe. Jack and Harvey loved the Lego video games we got them so we were very popular. Christmas at Melanie's pictures

For Joe and the kid's Christmas we took everybody to the Science Center. The Science Center website. We all had a great time and the kids were full of wonder. The Science Center pictures 

For the 1^st time in a long time, we had the opportunity to spend time with them and get to know them better, especially now that they are older. Both Aravis and Judah are quite the artists and Daisy is nuts about Lego. It was especially wonderful to be able to celebrate Judah's and Aravis's birthday while we were there.

We took Jack to the mall to his favorite store (Black Market Minerals) for doing so good on his tests in 1^st grade Family fun pictures. Avey and Elena came to Phoenix for a weekend and we went to the zoo for Elena's 4^th birthday. A day at the zoo pictures. We finished off the season with a day at Bubble Mania at Odysea in the desert. Bubble Mania pictures

We didn't spend all of our free time with the grandkids. Black Canyon City (a very small town) has a great library with Yoga workouts 3 days a week and Tai-chi 3 days a week at the community center. Jim and Sadie had twice a day “chase the ball” workouts at the RV park. She is turning out to be a great dog. Pictures of Sadie (and Lucy) I did a couple of “ice (tie) dying” workshops and introduced several ladies to the wonders of fabric art. Ice dying pictures Just before we left Joyce had a "Tea Party" for the ladies in the park, complete with scones with homemade clotted cream and cucumber sandwiches. She had many special events during our stay. She does an amazing job and really puts her heart into it. The tea party pictures

Of course we spent time with old friends too. We went off-roading with Mike and Ryan up Table Mesa Rd Jeeping on Table Mesa Rd pictures and also with John and Wendy up the back way to Jerome Jeeping to Jerome pictures. We took a drive by ourselves up to Aqua Fria National Monument Aqua Fria Pictures. Flickr photo album of Agua Fria      BLM Agua Fria website. Paul and Bonnie were traveling through and visited us for a couple of days. We haven't seen them in many years. They are friends that we met while diving in Mexico. We went east to Queen Valley to see Jimmy and Nadine and out west to Goodyear to see Chet and Penny (Alisha's in-laws).

Phoenix and vicinity is home to the Cactus League so of course we had to catch a Rockies game! They didn't win but we had a great time. Our seats were 3rd row up off the 3^rd baseline. Wonderful afternoon of baseball in the Arizona sunshine. Rockies game pictures

It is great to be retired (again). We'll be heading to Cotopaxi, west of Canon City, CO for the season,  April 2^nd.