Joan on the Road

Several years ago I bought a needlepoint project of sun/moon/stars thinking that I'd complete it for daughter Laura. There are two pictures about 5 x 5 inches. Yesterday, probably 5 years later, I finished it ! :) I just could not work on it for a long time. My fingers would get numb, I'd be unhappy with how it looked, etc. But I'm not a quitter :) So this week I decided no other projects would get in the way. This would get done. It's now in the mail to her. Wonder if it will still fit with her decor :)

I think my needlepoint days are over. It is such close, tiny work and doesn't seem to be as much fun as it used to. Once I made a crewel picture of Van Gogh's Sunflowers. It took me awhile to coomplete but finally it was done, stretched, framed and hung in our house for years. Daughter Renee wound up with that when we sold the house. I think that was my favorite needlework project of all time and it turned out pretty good:)

Now I feel free to begin some crocheting projects and also to start scanning the old negatives. We sorted all those out last week and I have a shoebox full sitting beside me ready to scan....plus 4 more boxes in the outside storage. These pictures start in 1979 and go through about 2001 when I really got into digital photos. I'm anxious to start on these because there will be a lot of young grandkids pix. Who knows what might appear on the family calendar this year!

Posted by Joan at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The California Elks (BPOE) held their 30th Anniversary Rally here at our park for three days. All of the activities were geared to raise money for crippled children. So on Saturday we ventured out in the heat....I mean hot heat....to see what all was being offered.

There were several booths outside covered by sunshades but the sellers were pretty anxious for the whole thing to be over. I did find a craft booth with discounted items and bought Evan a Christmas tree Advent calendar. Very cute, with little pockets to put something in and to hold the counter for the days. We also picked up several paperbacks at a dollar each and then lined up for tacos and sausage sandwiches. The taco was really quite good. We took all the food home and ate in the comfort of our AC house :)

Yesterday I treated my girls to a movie and ice cream. What did we see? Mamma Mia of course! I still have not had my fill of that movie and am ready to go again. Everyone enjoyed it but probably not as much as me :) I suggested we do a girls day out each month I"m here so I'll have to see what I can dig up to do.

We've been biking around the park every morning and then sitting outside with our tea. Yesterday we set up a little outdoor seating area by the shrubs in the back of our space. We realized that it is shady there most of the day and often has a nice breeze. So this morning we ate breakfast out there. I think I'll add some flower pots...settle in for a few months :) Then as soon as it cools off we'll get some firewood for out little firepit! Just like camping :)

Posted by Joan at 04:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

What do you think he just did?

Yep! Finger in the frosting. It runs in the family! I'm so glad we could be here for this special occasion. Evan was napping when we arrived so he was a little grumpy for the first few minutes. But soon his cousins came and that got him going.

Naomi and Brad had their new apartment all set up and comfy. Naomi asked that everyone bring a dish to go with cold chicken and it turned out we had a wonderful buffet. Brad's mom brought goulash (hamburger, creamettes, tomatoes and secret ingredients), son Jim made a beautiful watermelon fruit bowl, we took my spinach casserole and Renee brought dips, chips, and rolls. No one went home hungry.

We made a stab at watching the Presidential debate but soon agreed that a 3 year old's birthday was way more important. He took awhile opening gifts because he wanted to play with and try out every gift as he opened it. So that took awhile but he had fun.

I don't know where the cake came from but it was sure delicious. Chocolate filled with cream and topped with fluffy frosting. Evan was very excited and happy as we sang to him but then didn't want cake....just wanted to play with new toys. The train set from his Grandpa and Grandma was a real hit.

All in all ...we had another great family evening. That's what we enjoy about being here in Hemet...even though it is pretty darn hot!

Posted by Joan at 02:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Uh-oh! Is that a little, teeny red ant on the counter? Damn!!

I guess the ants look for water and often gain entrance to a coach throuh the water lines. So we checked our curly blue line and sure enough...ant armies going in loopy circles to get into the house. Jim put down the powdery ant dust around the hose because that's usually done it in the past.

Middle of the night. Is that something crawling on me ?@#$%! Yep! Ants in the bed. So today the powder goes all around the wheels and the outline of the coach. Inside I sprayed around all the edges of the walls and floors, cupboards and cabinets. I hate the smell of doing that but it seems effective. The sheets are off the bed and I sprayed around and under the bed and in the bed platform. Sure hope that does it!

Posted by Joan at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

We drove 1200 miles and arrived here at Golden Village Palms in Hemet, CA on Sunday. We are always pleased to arrive at this lovely landscaped park.

We hustled down the road to be here in time to help out Naomi and Brad (grandkids) on their moving day. We got to take care of Evan. We met them at the new apartment and he didn't want to leave his Mommy. So he sat in his car seat and stared out the window with a set grimace on his face until we arrived at our house. Then he cracked a smile and was OK.

We had a fine day but he sure has a mind of his own. He totally ignores any comments or instructions that don't fit with his idea of what should be happening. As luck would have it, we had a water connection to the toilet spring a leak on Monday so the toilet was not working right. To flush it we had to use the shower spray to fill the bowl. Jim had ordered the new connector and went to pick it up after he dropped Evan and me off at home.

We took a walk on our street and came back for a snack. He walked around outside studying the wheels and then said, "it's not a house." Several times during the day he asked, "You live here?" (Keep in mind that Evan turned 3 this week.)

He has about a 30 second attention span except when watching Sponge Bob! So he was fascinated going in and out of the house. Must have done that 36 times! He brought a movie, Robots, to watch so we put that in and had some juice and chips. After about 10 minutes we were into something else. He didn't like the scary parts :)

Grandpa came home with the new toilet part and went out to get his toolbox. Evan stuck to him like glue. When Jim took the tools to the bathroom to get into fixing Evan was right behind him.

"You want to share the tools?" says Evan.
"No, I don't think so!!" Grandpa replies.

Evan quickly lost interest and came back out by me and started studying the dashboard.

"How you drive this thing?"

Well try explaining that! Guess I didn't do a very good job because he started to turn the drivers chair around and get ready to drive. That's when I had to say..."Listen mister!" That got his attention because that's what his Dad says to him when he's in trouble.

Of course, he had to check out every door and drawer. He opened the pantry and spotted the popcorn jar. Oh! Popcorn!.....and pulled it out along with an open box of spaghetti! Visualize dry spaghettic sticks all over the floor. As a Mom I would have hollered. As a great-grandma I can have fun with just about anything :) OK! Let's play Pick Up Sticks! That consumed about 15 minutes picking up one stick at a time and carefully putting it in the box. Excellent Job Evan!

He found our walkie-talkies so we played with them for awhile. His little fingers couldn't press and hold the button but I could hear him as he hid in back and said, "Can you hear me now?" I responded that I could hear him and he says, "Check, check!" Ahh...the influence of TV.

About 4 PM when it cooled off a little, we took him to the park where we spent an hour on the slides and play towers. We all had a good time :) He did lead Grandpa on a merry chase. They were playing pretend ice cream stand and Evan decided he was out of ice cream and had to get more so he took off running across the park. We thought he was teasing! Nope. So Jim had to put on his running legs to catch the kid!

Thankfully, Naomi called about 5 PM and said they had everything moved and we could bring him home anytime:) We were pooped! Now they are about 30 mintues from us. We had a light supper and then took him to his new apartment. He was so tired he refused to get in his carseat so I had to be a bit forceful. He was asleep before we got out of the park.

We arrived to find the movers, grandkids and friends, very tired but they had the living room and kitchen pretty well set up. They have a very nice 2 bedroom, 2 bath first floor apartment. The pool and playground with a common outdoor relaxing area around the corner. The complex, amenties and apartment are only two years old so still in very nice condition...very posh. We're so glad they could make this move.

Posted by Joan at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I didn't want to write about Saturday. It should have been a great day. Lovely sunshine, short day. But first of all I got PO'd at Jim because he didn't listen to my backseat driving commentary. I told him there was a car in the lane he wanted to change to but he moved over anyway. The guy behind us backed off and then passed on the left. I was hoping we didn't meet him down the road. So I was in a bad mood.

Then we wanted to stop and get gas in Hurricane, UT rather than try for the crazy crowded stations in St. George. So we headed for a station that looked good, made a left into the lot and hit a big dip at the wrong angle and a little too fast. The rocky, rolly effect caused my crockery dishes to move and push open the door. Crash, clatter, bang and all my plates and bowls were on the floor, broken!! :( Now is was really pissed!

While I'm cleaning up the mess, Jim is pumping gas and the gas attendant came out and tried to convince Jim that the shocks were leaking and the front tire was worn down. What? The tires are NEW. And if the shocks leaked it was because of their damn driveway. Jim very nicely thanked him for his kind advice and we were on our way.

Of course, I worried that maybe the shocks were bad and what could happen now!? But we arrived in Mesquite, AZ just fine. Good thing we had paper plates and bowls on hand.

PS. I forgot to mention that it was very windy the whole distance, gusting to 35 or 40 mph. That makes for a stressful drive even without all the stuff above.

Posted by Joan at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We are safe and sound in Hemet, CA and will be off the road for a few months. Saturday's trip was stressful and today was fine. I'll write more later :)

Posted by Joan at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I always dread driving through Salt Lake City. We've been through that metropolis every year since 2001 and there is always construction!! The "city", to me, actually starts at Ogden and goes south through Provo. It's one big burb. This time the construction was in Ogden and it stopped the traffic. Two lane changes with bumper to bumper vehicles. We decided to just follow the trucks because they usually know what's up :)

We got through it with no incidents. The crappy thing about the area is there are NO rest stops. So we just stop before Ogden, fill up the tummy and the tank and then forge ahead. Utah seems to be thinking about sleepy drivers because they have these Public/Private rest areas but you have to drive the 100 miles through the cities to get to one.

We arrived here in Fillmore at the KOA and found cooler weather. We like this place. It's just an average KOA but the owners are very nice and the ambiance is relaxing. Wish we could stop here for a day or two. But tomorrow it's on to Las Vegas area.

Posted by Joan at 05:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We got off to a good, early start this morning as we headed out to Fort Hall, Idaho, a trip of 350 miles. A little way down the road the darn transmission pump alarm started chirping again. It would just come and go. Then we stopped for gas and it just would not quit chirping. That's not a full out scream, just an irritating noise.

So we put up with that and then later stopped at a rest area. When we started up the speedometer was not working! Yikes! So about 5 miles down the road Jim pulled off the road to turn off the engine and see if the speedometer would start up. Yup! Guess it's like a computer. First thing to do when there's a problem...reboot :) So we don't know what that little anomaly was all about.

When we stopped for lunch we fooled around with all the connections and found a loose wire on the pump itself. Taped that up and voila...no alarm noise. That was a relief! But then a third gremlin appeared. This one we are used too. The rear view camera seems to blip out when it gets overheated. Turn it off for awhile and then it works again. One of these days we'll have to get that fixed :)

We arrived at Fort Hall in the campground behind the casino about 4 PM. It's nice and warm and the sun won't be setting for 3 hours so we still have daytime left. Jim is cleaning the windshield and I'm whomping up some One Pot. (That's where you see what you have to throw in the pot with some ground beef and make a stoup.)

A full tummy, a good nights' sleep and we'll be ready to tackle Salt Lake City tomorrow :)

Posted by Joan at 03:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After a lovely weather week here in Missoula we started to pack it in today in preparation for leaving tomorrow. We will take four days to go 1200 miles from here to Hemet CA heading south on Interstate 15. We've done this trip several times and have some favorite stops. These are long driving days and we have no flex room. We need to be there on Sunday, get a day of rest and then we get a day with Evan :) We will need our energy replenished for that.

Naomi and Brad are moving to a larger apartment which is CLOSER TO WHERE WE STAY! Yeah! Then next Friday they are having Evan's 3rd birthday party and a housewarming bash. We are very much looking forward to seeing all the CA family.

We went to Famous Dave's for a quick dinner tonight. I really love their BBQ. I had the Georgia pulled pork sandwich on a bun with coleslaw on top. I'm stuffed but happy :)

Posted by Joan at 06:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Friday, after sleeping in, we went to visit Laura and Steve in the late afternoon and evening. Laura, aka Julia Child, had a "pot roast" thawed and wanted my coaching in how to cook it. Good grief! I haven't cooked a roast in awhile. She has this huge cast iron enamel ware roaster to cook it on the stove top. She thought it would take an hour and I thought, nope, it will take longer than that.

It took about 90 minutes and we decided it was more like a rump roast. She cooked it until it was just pink inside. I t was very flavorful and tender but mislabeled. They buy a cow from a local farm where it is butchered and frozen for them. The roasts don't seem to match what you'd get in a store but the meat is very good, natural, organic. We put carrots, onions and tarragon in with the roast, Yum!

Saturday was a day of laundry, shopping and book reading. My Mom gave me a series of books by Janet Daily that are set in Montana. I want to finish the series before we leave so I can leave them here with Laura, then she'll give them to her library. They are western romances about the Calder family but they have a lot of Montana history and culture. After I finished the laundry I put on my jammies and read for the rest of the day :)

Today was girls day out. I met Laura for lunch at Famous Dave's and then we went to see Mamma Mia. I love that movie! There were several Mom/daughter groups in the theater. We both enjoyed it. I sure hope it is still playing when we get to CA so I can take all my girls there to see it. We finished off the day with a little shopping spree at the Southgate Mall and then had coffee and dessert at Cafe Dolce. A perfect girls afternoon!

Posted by Joan at 09:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Six driving days and 1630 miles ...we're here. We had pretty decent weather all the way. We joked that we went from summer to fall in one day. Tonight in Missoula it's supposed to be about 50 degrees.

It was another good travel day although we still had a few "chirps" from the transmission pump alarm in the car. We were on the road by 9:15 and arrived here at 2:30.

So what's a typical travel day like? Up at 7 AM with no time for showers. That gets relegated to the night before and actually is a good relaxation after a day of travel. Jim prepares our herbal tea while I "put my face on." We have a light breakfast, check email and the news then shut down the computers. Mr. Moto goes down and we are into packing. The key to packing up is to put the TV on the bed first. So Jim does that then he gets his turn at "prettying up.'

I do most of the inside packing. Computer monitors join the TV. Then lamps, paper shredder, space heater and little office storage stand all move into the bedroom. Secure the front curtains, close all cupboards, turn around the front chairs, secure the lounge chairs, roll up the rugs and put in the bedroom. All this takes abou 20 minutes.

While I do that Jim is doing the outside stuff...packing in the water, sewer and electric. He starts the car to warm up the oil pump and empties the garbage. We get done about the same time and then pull in the slide and raise the jacks. If we've unhitched the car we hook it up then do our exterior light checks using walkie-talkies.

After a final walk around and check inside we are ready to go. Closet doors tight, pantry door shut, water pump off, water heater and furnace off, TV antenna down, vents closed? Check. We're ready to roll. We can do all this in 2 hours easily.

We average about 50 mph and stop every hour or so. Usually we take about half an hour for lunch and maybe even a nap. Jim does most of the driving while I use my Next Exit book and maps to navigate. I probably do 5% of the driving. This works well because I keep my hand on the wheel but we each are doing what we're best at.

At the end of the travel day we reverse the process in about 30 minutes. We always hook up electricity but only need to hook up water and sewer every four to five days. This whole thing is our process when we are going from point A to point B which has been our mode for the last few years. One of these days we'll get into "serious moseying."

We'll be here in Missoula for a week visiting Laura and Steve. Maybe I'll find time to fit in some touristy stuff, get a haircut and visit my fave clothing store :).

On this particular travel day we took time to honor the memory of those who died in the attack of September 11, 2001. We will never forget.

Posted by Joan at 09:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

300 miles today from Buffalo, WY to Bozeman, MT and it was a nasty day. It started out well enough. We got on the road by 8:45 and pushed the pedal to the metal because rain was in the forecast for most of the afternoon. So we thought let's make hay while the sun shines. That worked and we averaged 55 mph for the first 3 hours.

Then we stopped for lunch and gas. The rain by now had started and was coming down heavily. But we still made good time even though we hit 3 long sections of road construction...2 lane driving.

About 80 miles from Bozeman as we were going down a long hill the alarm light for the transmission pump in the car went off. Yikes! It is an ear splitting scream! There was no place to stop and it wouldn't hurt the car to drive a few miles with the pump malfunctioning. So Jim chose to keep on going to a rest area, 20 miles down the road.

Of course, it was still raining. So he checked everything out and could see no problems so he pulled the fuse that turned off the alarm...also turning off the pump. OK. So we turned on the car engine and towed the car in neutral with the engine running. After thinking it all through we figured that would work for 60 more miles.

We arrived at Bear Canyon Campground about 3:15 making real good time. After we were parked and got the furnace going (because it is 49 degrees and rainy) Jim started trying to determine what the alarm issue was. Troubleshooting guides said given the continuous alarm sound it was probably a wiring issue. Jim pulled the electrical cord that connects to the motorhome and the car. Then he sprayed good old Caig's DeOxit on both ends of each connector. Plugged everything in and turned on all switches....VOILA! Caig's saves the day again!! Probably the connector was a little oxidized and then got wet in the heavy rain.

If you don't have Caig's DeOxit in your toolbag....better get it! Never know when it willl save your day too!

Posted by Joan at 04:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

A lovely travel day brought us back to Deerpark Campground in Buffalo, WY. There are 3 sites that work well for us so we had reserved just to be sure. Usually we run into a Datastormer here. But this time we had different neighbors! :)

We had lots of laughs watching these turkeys try to make friends with the turks in the bumper. They were gobbling, fluffing out tail feathers and then looked behind the bumper by the wheel to see where the turkeys were. Now that seems pretty smart!

There's a flock of about a dozen turkeys here that we always have fun watching along with the deer that usually come through every afternoon. A great place to stop overnight or for a few days. And bonus points because there is a very RV friendly gas station at the freeway exit :)

Posted by Joan at 05:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our drive from Sioux Falls, SD to Rapid City was uneventful except for a little rain. That's the kind we like. It did take us 7 hours to travel 350 miles but we kind of poke along, stop at every rest stop, take naps and have a long lunch.

The only "event" in our drive involved the radio. We hadn't listend to the new car radio in awhile so we had to go through a little technical learning curve again. The radio has a remote about the size of a small cell phone. I was trying to figure out how to boost the bass sound but couldn't do it on the remote. So I laid it down on the dash...right above a glass of water. Later, looking for the remote, Jim found it in the water! Well, that's trashed!

Nope! Just take it apart, get out the hair dryer and blow hot air for awhile. 24 hours later it works like a charm :)

Today we spent a couple of hours with Dr. Lytle, the inventor of the low level laser we bought. He gave us further instruction and we got to visit his office and factory. He's a real character and happens to be the same age as Jim. Both of them are focused on 2035 when they will be 100 years old. Jim includes 2035 in his email, Dr. Lytle named one of his companies 2035 Inc. We were pleased to have this time with him and to learn more about the background and development of the laser.

Tomorrow we head for Montana.

Posted by Joan at 03:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by Joan at 05:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We were up at 6 AM to get to the seminar on low level laser therapy by 8. At the end of the day we felt like we'd been in a different world. Jim had done some reading on the potential of lasers but I was the "babe in the woods." I didn't know what to expect.

It was a small seminar conducted by Dr. Lytle from Rapid City. It just happened that this was scheduled as we came through Sioux Falls. Serendipity.

The topics of the day included the healing effects of low level lasers, the physics of lasers (what they do and why they work), the impact of positive energy including acupuncture and massage, and the impact of poor dental alignment. A heavy load of information and you might think "how does this all fit together"? I won't try to explain it to you here :)

Suffice it to say that we will be using laser therapy to help our various ailments and, in fact, will be seeing Dr. Lytle in Rapid City where he is based. Another serendipity.

After the seminar we stopped for dinner at the Olive Garden. My order included a martini up with a twist, unending salad and stuffed mushrooms :) What the hey...life is short...enjoy it! There was a 45 minute wait to be seated but just as we entered a table in the bar emptied out so we grabbed that and we were "outta there" in 45 minutes! Another serendipity.

While we were eating a father walked by with his little year old son, Hammond, in tow. For whatever reason, the kid just appealed to both of us. He stopped and stuck his hand through the wrought iron fence to play with us. He came by a couple of times and each time stopped to visit. No words, just communication through touching and eye contact.

These two days seem filled with intense moments, coincidental events and serendipity. I hope it is all a good omen!

Posted by Joan at 06:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We stopped in Sious Falls, SD to attend a seminar. My Mom had given us some information on low level laser treatments for various health issues so we decided to attend a seminar that happened to be scheduled as we were passing through here. I opted to spend an extra day here in Sioux Falls to explore the area. I'm glad we did.

The main attraction is The Falls on the Big Sioux River. The river is not fed by other bodies of water, only by rain and snow runoff. So the water level varies widely. Last Memorial Day The Falls were rampant, overflowing. Now the water level is mediocre but still impressive.

We viewed the park from an observation tower and got a good overview.

The focal point of the park is the flour mill complex built in the 1880s. Here's a shot of the mill remains in the background and the turbine shed in the foreground.

The water was channeled through the turbine to run the mill. A great idea but there was never enough wheat or water to make the mill cost effective. The mill was 7 stories high but was only in real use for 2 years. In 1956 the mill building burned to the ground.

The rock outcropping is South Dakota quartzite. Many buildings in the area, including this old court house, are built of the stone.

Sioux Falls, like many cities, has a summer sculpture walk that citizens tour and then cast votes. The winner is then purchased by the city and put on display. I love these sculptures. I think they are usually bronze. Here's the winner from a few years ago that is on display in The Falls Park. It's titled "For Which It Stands" and depicts a child saying the Pledge of Allegiance. How does an artist capture such emotion?!

After our brief tour we scoped out the seminar location and then did some shopping at the local HyVee. What a beautiful store. We've always been impressed by the HyVees which are employee owned. I think we've seen them in Iowa and South Dakota. Well we spent an hour shopping. Went in for three items and walked out with four bags and down $99! The food selection and quality is awesome and the service is superb. Makes me want to stay here longer :)

If you just fly by this area on Interstate 90, a flat plain, you'd miss the beautiful Big Sioux Falls and the lovely hilly city. Kind of reminds me of Rapid City...amazing ups and downs and beauty in the middle of the Great Plains.

Posted by Joan at 05:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You may not like the next picture. I sure didn't. I kept saying "Omigod". This is only about one-third the length of the truck. Must be thousands of chickens stuffed in these cages.

This was taken at a rest area in Minnesota. We've seen lots of truckloads of varous foodstuffs in our travels...cows, pigs, lettuce, oranges, corn, potatoes, onions, oranges...on and on. But this was a first. The chickens are actually stacked on top of each other within the cage. The truck driver was going around the side of the truck, reaching in collecting eggs. As I watched, one hen dropped an egg outisde the cage wire and it plopped to the ground. Ugh!

I came home to check that my eggs are from cage free chickens.

At another rest area we met Wilbur, a big, sloppy male Basset Hound. He's a trucker dog, traveling with his master in a semi. He knows no other life the guy said. Funny....the trucker dude looked pretty menacing. Missing teeth, huge, muscled, swarthy, gold earring. All he needed was an eye patch. But with a Basset Hound in tow (or should I say being towed by) he was non-threatening. We enjoyed a brief visit with both of them. They walked back to his truck and Wilbur put his front paws on the step then got picked up and boosted in.

It was a good driving day after we got out of the rainy remains of hurrican Gustav. Yes, even in Minnesota. But it was a long drive for us, 340 miles, so I did a couple of stints at the wheel.

We pulled in here at the Sioux Falls KOA about 4:30. Boy was I disappointed! I should have read the description more carefully! It is very freeway close and the site they assigned us was right next to the freeway fence. If we hadn't already paid for the night we would have been gone. But...we were able to relocate and the freeway noise is not too bad, especially with the windows closed. The ambiance is zero. We'll cross this one off our list.

But once we close the curtains at night we are in our own cozy world and it doesn't matter too much what is outside the door....we can always move on tomorrow :)

Posted by Joan at 07:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We've spent the last couple of days "fixin' to leave" as they say in the south. Fixin' this and that! Nothing major and still enough time to catch all the convention speeches. All I'll say on that is GIRL POWER!! :)

Today we left Gurnee and drove 206 miles to Oakdale, WI. As luck would have it, the temperature dropped about 20 degrees so we had a nice, cool day for travel. We took our time, even stopping for a nap at lunchtime. We'd been at Mom and Harry's for about 6 weeks so the travel feet were getting itchy. It's nice to park for awhile but it seems to me that a month is just about long enough.

We're headed to Missoula, MT with stops in Sioux Falls and Rapid City, SD. I wish we had more time because here in Oakdale we could visit the National Whooping Crane festival and the Cranberry Festival later this month. I'm sure both would have some great photo ops :) Maybe next time around.

Tomorrow we'll head for Sioux Falls where we'll stop for 3 nights. Maybe I'll find photo ops there!

Posted by Joan at 08:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)