Window to the World

Updates and ramblings

2011-08-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

We've been Busy - Florida Update

2010-11-30T08:47:00.000-08:00

Hello and Greetings from our "home" in Zephyrhills, Florida.

We're on our lot in Emerald Pointe RV Resort and arrived here in early October after spending the month of September traveling south from Long Island.

After leaving Virginia Beach we stopped at our old homestead in Hertford, NC for a visit with friends and some golf then moved over to meet up with friends in Raleigh, NC. Bob Brickhouse and his grandson Brian met us in China on our tour there in 2007 and we have stayed in touch. We had a nice dinner together and caught up on each others activities.

We moved on to Augusta, Georgia and a quick visit with my niece and her family. From there it was onto Jacksonville and the annual PM for the coach and some minor repair work, coupled with a visit to my nephew and his family. Then off to Cocoa and a week with long time friends, Jack and Gail + Bob & Betty and some more golf.

We arrived in Zephyrhills on 10/2 and have been busy ever since.

We are taking this opportunity to investigate numerous areas in Florida for eventual home purchase, sometime in the next 12-18 months. While we love Arizona and the desert the travel back to see kids and grandkids would become more expensive and more time consuming. Florida to LI is basically a one-seat ride. The housing market in Florida is very attractive and we just need to find the right locale.

We want to be south of Tampa on the west coast and south of Vero on the east. We've spent several days in Ft. Myers visiting friends and looking at communities as well as in Naples. Although we looked at central Florida, we really want to be on a coast or relatively close to water. We've checked out Sarasota and Bradenton too and so far have a strong possibility in Bradenton. Gated community, on a golf course with activities and about 20 minutes to the Gulf. Prices are reasonable, taxes and fees too. We plan to check out the east coast in late January.

The big excitement so far has been the arrival of our family for a week in Disney during Thanksgiving. Our daughters, son-in-law and grandchildren flew down on the Saturday before T-Day and we had 3 day tickets. One day in Magic Kingdom, one in Epcot and one in Animal Kingdom exhausted everyone. We arranged for a days rest in between each park visit and managed a trip to Clearwater Beach too.

A magic family vacation !

Not sure if he'll still be smiling in 10 yrs !

Being 'Tailgated" by my grandsons

Mickey's new "apprentice"

Taking stock ?

Somebody is gonna get wet !

Watching the parade....Happy ?

Magic Kingdom at night

Off to explore Epcot !

Mary Poppins and Friends !

A quiet moment of reflection

Face painting !

Do you think they're having fun ?

Pluto & friends

As close as I ever want to get to a Snowman !

Maybe a little Magic ?

3 Happy children !

The look of joy on our grandchildren's faces was a sight I will never forget. Seeing all their favorite characters and getting their pictures taken too was magical. Some of the rides were just spectacular. I've got hundreds of photo's and I'll post a few here to give you a sense of all the fun we had as a family. The trip went way too fast but they did leave us a remembrance: we both have the colds they bought with them from LI ! UGH.

Goofy, Donald & 3 happy kids !

Dreams do come true when your 7 & 9...

....and even a little older !

We won't get to see them for Christmas but plan a to fly up in January for a quick visit. Once we return we'll pack up the coach, travel to the east coast and check on some communities then back to Tucson by mid February.

Enjoy your holidays, enjoy the photo's and we'll talk again soon.

Gene & Laurie

Fun Times on Long Island....now back on the Road!

2010-09-10T10:44:00.000-07:00

Hello:

We're back on the road again heading south after spending 38 days in our daughter & son-in-law's driveway. Wow, glad we get along ! Seriously, it was fun and especially rewarding to be "next door" to our 3 grandchildren who are a pleasure to be with and to watch them grow & enjoy their lives.As most of you know, my son-in-law has been fantastic and set-up our own campground with 4 point hook-ups, including 50amp service & the driveway is big enough so we are not a burden on their activities.

Now for the surprise I talked about in my last post: we're taking the family to Disney World ! Yep, everybody goes. We've booked flights for our girls and son-in-law and the 3 grandchildren for Thanksgiving week and we were able to get the Park tickets before the recent price increase. We'll rent another RV and set it up on a lot at our resort park in Zephyrhills and Kristin can bunk in with us.

To add some fun to the surprise we bought the kids t-shirts that say "I'm going to Disney" and had their favorite characters imprinted on them. I made up a story about financial hard times and had them believing that was why we couldn't do our annual Jersey Shore trip and purchased them small consolation gifts. Watch the video for their reactions. Although I think Grandma was more excited then they were ! (Note: technical difficulties, I need to figure out how to shorten video, it's too big a file.....stay tuned, any suggestions ?)

So we were busy on Long Island and tried to get to see as many of our friends and family members as possible. Of course the first week in August is always the East Northport Fire Department Fireman's Fair and I try and "work it" whenever I'm in town. It gives me the opportunity to see all my fellow members and many neighbors plus I can give back to the department.

Jesse Rae....my cup is empty ?

Is the big slide still fun, Kane ?

......Jesse and Hogan think so !

Hogan & Kane...are we excited yet ?

I've been a member since 1973 and have some great memories. On Saturday afternoon, it's members family time and our grandchildren and daughters look forward to the rides and food and seeing friends. Our girls grew up participating in activities and social events involving ENFD and they enjoy seeing some of the friends they grew up with and their families. I got to attend a monthly meeting and we also enjoyed the annual clambake just before we left. It's more like a day of "grazing" with the copious amounts of food provided but it's at a private beach on Northport Bay and always a great time.

We took a day and rode the LIRR into Manhattan and the subway up to the American Museum of Natural History with our 3 grandkids in tow ! Great fun watching them view the exhibits, especially the dinosaurs and the fellow subway riders ! Believe me, they stayed close to Grandma & Grandpa !

A real "pearl" in an oyster shell !
An Indian maiden
looks like intense research !
Now this is what I call a drumstick !
Jesse, Hogan & Kane....is that her "Vanna White" gesture ???
They love the camera !

Katie and Kenny both had opportunities for some extra work and he's got some built in OT so we were right in position to help with the child care, although at 7, 9 and 11 they are not much work. I got to see my middle boy, Hogan practice for his Pop Warner football team and Jesse Rae for her cheer leading. The oldest Kane enjoyed some art lessons from Grandma and boy is he ever talented with a pencil ! Jesse Rae had numerous guitar lessons from Grandma and I took both boys, separately for 9 holes of golf ! Great fun !

Grandma's guitar lesson "studio"

They have a big front yard and we had lots' of games of bocce, ladder golf and bean bag toss. Laurie and Kate built the boards and we put Harley decals on them and had bought HD bags from a flea market in the midwest.

Outdoor fun, great weather and a visit from "pop".
Guess someone like Harley's !
Serious competition !
Laurie & Kate setting up the games !

Our youngest daughter Kristin was an almost daily visitor. It was fun to spend time with her and we had a very special dinner together in a great restaurant right in Greenlawn. She's still hunting for that one great job with benefits but manages to stay very busy with some side work.

In between dinners with friends and family members, I got in a few rounds of golf, we helped trim a few trees in the yard and put up a fence for better backyard privacy. We enjoy our stays on the Island but it is expensive to live there and the traffic congestion is horrific.

We're back on the road now and just arrived in Virginia Beach after 4 relaxing days in Cape May, New Jersey. We visited with our neighbors from PA who owned the townhome next to us. Shortly after we moved , they too sold and are full time in Cape May. A beautiful place to live and work.

A short but rough ferry ride to Lewes, Delaware and the easy ride down the eastern shore let us watch the sunset over the Chesapeake from the Bridge Tunnel before settling into the Norfolk Elks lodge for the weekend. Long time friends from the Island are retired here and we'll visit with them before heading onto North Carolina.

We have a few more stops to make before we wind up in Zephyrhills by Columbus Day.

I'll keep y'all posted on our travels and enjoy the pics.

Gene & Laurie

Long Island Bound

2010-07-28T15:08:00.000-07:00

Hello and greetings from western New Jersey.

We're en route to Long Island for the month of August and have stopped overnight just off Route 80 in Columbia, N. J. about 65 miles from NYC. We'll navigate the bridges and Cross Bronx Expressway tomorrow. We should hit the city mid day and hopefully not too much traffic. A lot will depend on the "orange cones"..............how much stimulus money is being used on the NYC roadway system.

We've been inundated with road work since we left the motor coach factory last Saturday. Ohio and PA are running through the "obama dollars" quicker than a Friday night paycheck in certain bars. Huge stretches of roadway are being repaved and bridge abutments replaced. Some roads in central PA don't seem to have enough traffic to warrant the work, but hey it's "free" federal money, right ?

Oh well, off my soapbox. We stopped in the central part of PA in Indiana County and the village of Brush Valley for a few days to research Laurie's relatives. Her great, great Grandfather, John C. Dick was born here and there are lots of people here who have the same last name. While we couldn't find a certified direct connection, we are 97% sure that this is where he was born and we know he moved onto New York shortly after 1850. He was in a Civil War regiment in New York.

John C. Dick, born 1833, died ????

We have more research to do and the exploring is fun. Ancestry.com sure helps and makes it easier. The picture is the only one we have and he is in his Grand Army of the Republic uniform. The GAR was/is a veterans organization for those that served in the Union Army during the Civil War.

So we'll be on Long Island beginning tomorrow and plan to have some fun with our family, especially our 3 grandchildren. We have a big surprise for them...........watch these pages to find out...........and we're hoping to see many of our friends as well.

I still have some more pics to post from the earlier blog and I hope to get to them later tonight.

Till next time,

Gene & Laurie

Better Late Than Never

2010-07-17T12:21:00.000-07:00

Hello & Greetings from Northern Indiana. We're at the Newmar factory in Nappanee and have some repair work scheduled for Monday. Free camping, with full hookups while we are here too !
So, it has been awhile since I last posted something and lots has happened. I'll fill you in on the last 3 months and let you see some of the great places we've visited (and some of the not so great too) while we've criss-crossed this great country of ours.

We visited Page, Arizona and Lake Powell along with some beautiful slot canyons and a relaxing float ride down the Colorado River...........no rapids in this section just deep canyon walls and wonderful scenery.

Glenn Canyon Dam

Colorado River, south of the Dam and bridge

Lake Powell in northern Arizona

"Cruzin' down the River"

Spectacular scenery

"potty-break"

From there we headed east. As most of you know I was diagnosed with some medical issues this winter and the best place to get treated was in Baltimore, Maryland at Johns Hopkins Hospital. We had a month to get there and started a slow trek east after Lake Powell. We also had to dodge the spring storms that plague the mid section of the country. We were fortunate and were either a day ahead or a day behind some really bad weather.

A quick stop in Albuquerque for a round of golf and to wait out a passing storm then onto Oklahoma and a visit to Weatherford. In the 1980's there was a big boom in oil exploration in this part of the state and Laurie's brother found work, friends and a good life for many years. After his passing in November we felt it appropriate to leave his ashes in some the parks and places he loved most.

Bruce was a biker and worked hard, played hard and lived a full life, especially here in Oklahoma. We actually found some folks who remembered him; found the places he partied at and left some of him there. An emotional farewell.

On to Memphis and the home of the Blues and Elvis ! We were fortunate to see Elvis live in 1969 on our honeymoon in Las Vegas and had always wanted to stop at Graceland. It's quite the tourist attraction, nee "trap" but he was a fabulous entertainer and musician and it was great to see his home and all the memento's of his life.

In her best "Vanna White" imitation !

Graceland

The "Lisa Marie"

Downtown Memphis and Beale Street also gave birth to the Blues and music is king in this city. The Gibson guitar factory is in the middle of downtown and we had a great tour of how they are made. Every Wednesday night is "Bike Nite" and Beale Street plays host to hundreds of "Bikers and Babes"; from Harleys to Honda's and Crotch Rockets to Scooters they all come to party and display their machines. Quite a site.

Bike Night on Beale Street, Memphis

A truly amazing creation

Beale Street

From there we were off to Jacksonville, Florida and a mini family gathering. My nephew is stationed there in the Navy along with his wife and newborn daughter and her baptism was scheduled for May 2nd. What better way to see family and celebrate a fabulous occasion. Chief Bryan was able to get us a site on base and we also got in a round of golf at Mayport Navel Station. Our campsite overlooked the lagoon and we enjoyed seeing the ships traverse the channel.

Kennedy O'Hagen's baptism

Ships lagoon at Mayport Navel Station

Bryan's ship

USS Philippine Sea

Plenty of family members joined in and it was good to visit with them. We even got to play some Bocce ball and enjoy a cookout at the campground.

Cousins: Bryan & Katy - Christian & Vanessa

We headed north to Baltimore and set-up in a small campground just outside the city. Expensive but it was right on the upper Chesapeake Bay and was the closest facility to JHH. Before my surgery we spent a week in PA near our old home and visited with friends, played some golf and traveled to LI for a much anticipated visit with daughters, grandchildren and son-in-law. My operation was on May 28th and everything went as planned. I spent 3 weeks recuperating and the time went by very fast. We did get in one day of sightseeing at the Inner Harbor and before we left took a side trip to St. Michaels for a night in a B & B and some good seafood. Love the soft-shell crabs !

We've belonged to a family camping organization for 35 years and they host a "campvention" each July. We've been to many (13) and this year it was on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, just above South Bend in small town called Berrien Springs.

From Baltimore we headed west, but we had lot's of time.

We stopped in Altoona, PA and visited the old PRR shops and toured a spectacular railroad memorabilia museum; we went to the famous Horseshoe Curve and "train-spotted" and it bought back many memories of my 32 year career in railroading.

A pair of NS haulers eastbound on the curve

Altoona Shops

A GG-1

PRR museum in Altoona

We've always driven by, through or around Pittsburgh but never stopped. This time we spent 4 days exploring this old steel city and the 3 rivers that surround it. Pittsburgh has a great art museum which we enjoyed exploring it and the downtown full of bridges. We took the Duck Boat Tour and actually got to go down the Ohio River in it.

River juncture, downtown Pittsburgh

The Ohio River

Overlooking the Rivers

A city of bridges and rivers.

We moved on to Dayton, Ohio and the home of the USAF Museum. Another stop on our "bucket list" and a fabulous display of aircraft and all things air force. We spent a full day exploring the exhibits and the Imax theatre and except for a really bad campground we enjoyed our stop.

Off to Indiana and some visits with friends. We met Mary & Roger on our way out of Alaska in '09 and have stayed in touch. They live in a small town in north west Indiana and we toured the area and enjoyed talking about our respective adventures.

Steve & his wife Linda lived on LI for 25 years and we worked on the RR together. He retired and returned to the family homestead in north central Indiana. They're campers too and we joined them at their lakeside campsite and enjoyed a great 4th of July and some really good fireworks.

We met Pat & Walter in eastern Indiana and backtracked to Berrien Springs and the 50th Reunion of Family Campers and RV'ers. We camped with folks from New York state and got to see many of our old friends from our years in the organization. It was hot, but we had 30 amp electric and water (no sewer) and we made the best of it. the entertainment was great; I played in a golf scramble and my team tied for 1st place.

That brings us to Nappanee and the factory. About a week here and then east. That also brings you up-to-date on our travels. We're having fun. We enjoy our lifestyle and look forward to many more sights and adventures.

Till next time,

Gene & Laurie

More Pics to come..............stay tuned !

On the Road, Again !

2010-04-15T21:47:00.000-07:00

Hello & greetings from Tucson and our last nite here in Voyager RV Resort. Wow, it's been over 4 months in the Arizona dessert and the weather is getting much warmer, a lot drier and the sun stronger. Time to move on.

Our time here has had many ups and downs. We lost Laurie's brother suddenly in November and after dealing with his affairs we headed here to recoup and deal with the sorrow. While we got to see our girls, son-in-law and grandkids when we were back in Massachusetts, we missed not seeing them during the holidays. We celebrated Christmas with our Voyager "family" and Laurie's cousin and her husband live here in Tucson and we have spent time with them too over the past months.

We got to spend New Years in a remote dessert area west of here near Gila Bend and joined 15 other families in an old fashioned campout complete with roaring campfire, pot luck dinners and good plain fun. Long time friends and fellow co-worker Ray Anderson and his wife Becky invited us to join their group campout and we bought along Bob & Betty (fellow campers, travel companions and good friends) and enjoyed a few great days in the dessert.

Back at Voyager we settled into our winter activities of golf, fun band, painting and staying out of the cold and snow. We had visits from Gene & Lynn (our partners from the Alaska adventure); Jim & Jodi (fellow lot owners from Emerald Pointe); Walter & Pat (friends from PA, Mallards & LIRR) and long time friends for 30+ years, Jack and Gail flew out from Florida and visited for a few days of fun and golf and catch-up.

We made some new friends this year as well and did lots of exploring again in the local area. Laurie again competed in the talent show and her guitar playing is much improved and has become a serious pastime for her. My golf handicap still hovers around 18 and I enjoy the company of a great group of golfers from varying walks of life who have fun playing and being together.

The local air base has a fabulous air show and we were fascinated by the many daring aerial feats of the USAF Thunderbirds and the Academy students who jumped out of a C-17 at over 5,000 feet and free fall to 2,500' before pulling the parachute cord. The reach speeds of over 200 mph.

We caught up on some doctor and dentist visits, got the dent fixed on the Honda and a recall done on the coach. We visited way too many restaurants, ate way too much food but did manage to keep up our exercise routines. For the most part the weather this winter cooperated with moderate temps and none of the white stuff the east coast experienced. There was a lot more rain and the dessert now blooms with fabulous colors and great expanses of green.

We head out tomorrow morning and will continue exploring this great land of ours. We actually have no special route planned like Alaska last year. We will stop in Mesa, AZ this weekend for a big flea market and the Organ Stop Pizza, then onto Page and Lake Powell for some exploring. Beyond that we plan to be on Long Island by late July for an extended visit with family.

We'll wander the USA. Watch these pages for reports on our exploits.

Till we talk again,

Gene & Laurie

Our 50th State - Hawaii

2009-12-26T15:14:00.000-08:00

As promised here a few pics from our trip over to Oahu and Maui.

We got a fabulous package deal from Hawaiian Airlines and flew from San Francisco to Honolulu. We stayed at the Hilton on Waikiki Beach with a view of Diamond Head and the ocean. The view was great, the hotel was ok.

downtown Honolulu

The view from our hotel in Waikiki, Diamond head

Luau.....the Pig !

From Here to Eternity.....beach scene !

The Waikiki beach area is very crowded and very upscale. There is also a huge Japanese population and it is a favorite vacation destination for them. It reminded me a lot of Tokyo. We toured the Island, saw Pearl Harbor and the Arizona monument and climbed Diamond Head. It was 4 days and very expensive. Although a highlight not to be missed is the Polynesian Cultural Center run by the Mormon Church. Everything you could possibly want to learn about south pacific island nations is presented in a fun and exciting format capped off by a huge luau feast and dazzling stage show.

On top of Diamond Head

the view from Diamond Head toward Waikiki Beach

On the Arizona Memorial

Arizona Memorial

Spectacular Hawaiian sunset

We then flew over to Maui and met friends Bob & Betty Sobeck in Lahaina. We stayed at the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel next door to their family condo at Whaler's Village. Maui is spectacular and very casual and relaxing. We enjoyed the fabulous weather (80's) and abundant sunshine along with some great dinners, some fun sightseeing, a Cirque performance and golf at Kapalua's Plantation course, home to the PGA Mercedes Championship.

An outrigger at Mama's Fish House

Surfin'

Cirque

Golf at McKenna in Maui

On top of Haleakala, with Bob & Betty

the 605 yd. 18th at Kapalua

Great vistas at Kapalua

More great views

Lefty Bob at Kapalua

Number 1 at Kapalua

Enjoy the pics.

Gene & Laurie

Long Time Betwen Posts.....

2009-12-26T14:41:00.000-08:00

Hello & Holiday Greetings.

It's been a month since my last update and much has happened in our lives during that time. First off, we are now in Tucson, Arizona at our winter RV site in the Voyager RV Resort.

Voyager is a full service, active adult resort with every imaginable amenity from pools and hot tubs to hotel, restaurant, beauty parlor, health clinic and golf course. We were here all last winter and have made many friends in the complex and surrounding area. There are about 20+ guys I play golf with twice a week and Laurie has her fun band, Red Hats and painting. This is a fun place to spend the winter and Laurie's cousin and husband live in Tucson as well.

Last tine we spoke our travels had us in northern California and we spent 15 glorious days in Hawaii. I'll post pics from there shortly, but after returning from our 50th state we did some sightseeing around San Francisco and Sausalito and headed south to Monterey for the Thanksgiving holiday.

We figured that since we could not be with family for the Day, we would find a beautiful locale, a great restaurant and enjoy a quiet, relaxing dinner overlooking the ocean. Which we did at the Intercontinental Hotel's bay front restaurant.

Unfortunately, the day before Thanksgiving we received a call from the Marlborough, MA police that Laurie's brother had passed away suddenly. He was 67 and it was unexpected.

Air travel on the holiday weekend is chaos and we were forced to wait until the following Tuesday to get a flight back east. We relocated to just outside Los Angeles and spent 6 days handling the affairs and cleaning out his apartment. Our daughters, son-in-law and grandchildren came up from Long Island and we could not have done it without their help and support.

After returning from Massachusetts, we headed for Tucson and have set up here for the winter.

Christmas is here and we exchanged some gifts with grandkids while back east but we won't get to see them for the holiday.

We're meeting friends in the desert, near Gila Bend for New Years Eve at a BLM campground. Should be fun to have a pot luck dinner, campfire and a group campout again.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and we wish each of you a healthy, prosperous and safe 2010.

Gene & Laurie

Sunny California......well almost !

2009-11-22T10:55:00.001-08:00

So we bade farewell to the wet, wild and windy Oregon coast and headed south to Crescent City, California and lo and behold the sun came out, the temps came up and we said Yea ! Unfortunately it was short lived since we woke up the the next morning to a rainy and cold sky.

Crescent City Lighthouse

But Crescent City is the start of the impressive Redwood forest and we were certainly impressed with their size and magnificent beauty. But you can only look at trees for so long and the weather situation was really getting to us so, we headed south toward San Francisco and better weather.

Small car......BIG tree

They really are impressive !

............Even in the rain !

An overnight stop at an Indian casino netted us a free night of camping, $10 each of free gaming monies and some good food. Plus we met another couple who were traveling in their motor home and enjoyed some great conversation.

We've found an Elks Lodge in the wine country of Napa & Sonoma and will stop there for a while. Reasonably priced, safe, secure and convenient. Our plan is to leave the coach for 2 weeks while we visit our 50th state and find the warm sunshine of Hawaii.

Last minute packages from the airlines are offering some great deals and we took advantage of it. Plus it's less flying time from the west coast !

Enjoy the pics of the redwoods and we'll talk again soon.

The Oregon Coast

2009-11-22T10:23:00.000-08:00

The Oregon coastline is billed as some of the most spectacular shore line in the world. It certainly lives up to it's billing. Rough, rocky, imposing cliffs, beaches and scenic little seaside villages for miles upon miles. During the summer months this has to be superb; during a rainy fall it was quite the opposite.
Rough and angry surf on a rocky shoreline

While it's beauty comes through regardless of the weather and an "angry" Pacific Ocean crashing on the shoreline most of our 10 day trek along the coast was in cold and rainy conditions. We selected several towns to stop in and sample the rugged beauty and uniqueness of the region.

Haystack Rock - Cannon Beach

The end of the Lewis & Clark Trail

Where the Columbia River meets the Pacific

The Columbia River end !

Cannon Beach, Lincoln City and Florence Oregon are all quaint seaside villages with special characteristics each. Cannon Beach has Haystack Rock and the convergence of the Columbia River and Pacific Ocean as well as an old growth forest. Lincoln City is a collection of what was several smaller villages and is now sprawled over 7 miles and offers some sandy beaches and spectacular sunsets. Florence offers a quaint seaside village and harbor setting while being the gateway to the Oregon Dunes National Park and miles of fabulous sand dunes.

The new Delta kite flys in Lincoln City

Riding the Dunes
Miles of fun riding in the sand

Unfortunately, most of our ten day visit was in rainy and cool conditions but we persevered and the sun came out on rare occasions making the beauty even more spectacular.

A quick stop toward the end of the coast road

The sun sets over the Pacific

We'll let some pics tell the rest of the story of our days on the coast. We'll head south to California and the redwoods. We'll talk again soon.

Mount St. Helen's & Portland, Oregon

2009-11-01T21:39:00.000-08:00

Hello:

So we flew back to the west coast and headed south. We made a quick stop at Mt. St. Helen's and were really surprised to see that a major portion of the mountain is actually gone........spread out over a valley some 14 miles in length. The destructive power when this let loose had to be awesome. We drove up to the observatory, viewed the exhibits and the movie and drove around the local area.

Cold........Mt. St. Helen's

Mt. St. Helens

Unfortunately, it was cold and after looking at the mountain and volcano we opted to move along to Portland the next day.

We again parked at the local Elks Lodge and set off getting the new tires for the Honda: the price was right, no sales tax and they did it in about an hour while we got some shopping done at Costco.

Portland is a neat mid sized city with lot's of eclectic shops, a clean and modern downtown and a very progressive transit system. You really don't need a car if you live in any of the suburban areas and work downtown. We visited the art museum, did a walk-about-town and saw Pioneer Square.

Downtown Portland

Pioneer Square, Portland

We actually met another couple from Zephyrhills and Emerald Pointe RV Park in Portland ! Jim & Jodi Giroud, who also own a lot in the same RV park as us were parked in the Elks in Portland. They too had just finished touring Canada and Alaska and were working their way south to Arizona for the winter. We swapped stories of the road, shared some laughs and plan to meet up with them again in Arizona this winter.

Our next stop is the Oregon Coast,

Enjoy the pics

Gene & Laurie

Friends

2009-11-01T18:27:00.000-08:00

Bob & Aida Cook on the rocks with us !
Lefty Bob at Wildwood

Jerry Grover in the beach !

Mike Bauer on the "Sea Napper"

Beach Activities & The Zoo

2009-11-01T18:26:00.000-08:00

All 4 kites are flying high !

GrandMa & Hogan setting things up

Putting the boys to work on the sand anchor

Heading for the ocean

A "kodak" moment

At the Zoo

A Special Dinner & Memories

2009-11-01T18:23:00.000-08:00

A special dinner

A memory blanket

The Amusement Park

2009-11-01T18:19:00.000-08:00

Kane, Jesse Rae & Hogan

Family bumper cars

GrandPa on a mission

Hogan, Jesse Rae & Kane

Do you think they like the camera ?

Kristin & Hogan share a quiet moment on the ferris wheel.

GrandMa having Fun !

Jersey Shore 2009: The Narrative

2009-11-01T17:19:00.000-08:00

Hello:

We spent 2 wonderful weeks visiting family & friends on the east coast. For the past several years we've been renting a 4 bedroom home in Ocean City, NJ about 2 blocks from the boardwalk and the ocean.

It has given us the opportunity to have a mini family reunion with our daughters and grand children and see friends from our days living in the Philadelphia area.

This year we flew from Seattle to Philadelphia on Friday and the girls and kids came down on Saturday. They were able to spend 4 days with us and we spent some time at the Boardwalk amusement Park, the Cape May County Zoo and some beach time flying kites with GrandMa.

Kane is 10, Hogan is 8 and Jesse Rae is 6 and we have some real good quality time with them and enjoy learning from them and their lives at school. We had a Wii and all learned to play golf, tennis and bowling. Some fun rounds of Mexican Train dominoes added nights of laughs and good competition too.

Katie and Kristin surprised us with a specially prepared formal dinner in honor of our 40th anniversary. A Memory Book with photo's and wishes from friends and family over the years added a special and emotional moment to the evening.

We also had time to visit with Bob & Aida Cook from Long Island. Bob and I went to grammar school and high school together and we've been friends for over 55 years. It was fun to see them and we really enjoyed their company for 2 days.

Our next door neighbors from the townhome neighborhood in Montgomeryville sold their unit right after we did and purchased a home in Cape May. Mike is an avid boater and fisherman and I had the chance to try my luck on his 38' Viking for some black sea bass. A wonderful dinner with his wife Diane and son Brandon made for a great visit.

We also spent some time with Jerry & Eileen Grover who have a oceanfront home in Wildwood and Jerry and I played a few rounds of golf. Yep, I bought my clubs with me.

All in all a great trip and chance to catch up with the east coast folks.

Well, I tried to develop a slide show and attach it to this post but for some reason it will not download even after putting them on Picasa. For some reason Picasa broke down the 23 pics to 4 each and sent them to different posts.

To make easier, I just left it that way, so read the narrative here and follow the action in the next few posts. Something different.

Till next time,

Gene & Laurie

Oh My Oh MY, did I get behind................

2009-11-01T15:51:00.000-08:00

Hello & greetings from California...........opps, looks like I forgot to publish a draft I wrote over 3 weeks ago and since I've been unable to get good broadband service on the Oregon Coast wasn't able to d/l any pics to the blog site.

So, to catch y'all up I plan to publish the early October post w/ pictures (I wrote most of it in the Philadelphia airport waiting for our plane back west) and then go ahead and write a new post to catch up on our activities down the wet, cold and windy Oregon Coast.

So, enjoy the pics, sorry for the delay and confusion and hope you have fun reading about our adventures...........we've had fun doing them.

Gene & Laurie

Seattle Sojurns

2009-10-10T08:43:00.001-07:00

Hello & Greetings from Philadelphia Airport !

We're in the city of Brotherly Love waiting for our flight back to Seattle. We've been here for 2 weeks visiting with the girls and grandkids and catching up with some old friends. More about all that next time.

We spent most of the month of September in the northwest and Seattle area. After visiting with friends in the San Juan Islands we moved the coach down the road to just outside Seattle in a small suburb called Burien. Another Elks Lodge and fantastic rate and 10 minutes to Seatac airport. All in all, very convenient.

Downtown Seattle & The Space Needle

Very active harbor area

Pike's Market

Asian flower market

Under the sidewalks of Seattle
Riding the ducks and seeing the bay side
Our Duck driver loved hats
$5.00 in the flower market
I-5 in downtown Seattle

We were literally 20 minutes to downtown Seattle and got to do all the tourist "things" plus I got in 2 rounds of golf and we took a side trip to Mt. Rainier.

Seattle is a fun city with lot's to do and even though it leans very "left" we enjoyed our time here. Pikes Market is a neat adventure and watching the fish mongers is an experience. The Asian community has a huge fresh flower market and the prices are not to be believed. A very active waterfront with some neat shops and major container activity defines much of the skyline with the space needle as a center point.

Seattle has a great arts museum and a neat "underground" tour. The city was originally built on mud flats and after several floods and a fire the rebuilt it: one story up. An enterprising entrepreneur has set up tours of the lower level and some neat history abounds below.

A "duck" tour of the city explained the highlights and it's an adventure going from land to water in the same vehicle ! A day trip to Mt. Rainier completed our tourist activities.

Mt. Rainier

With the mountain in the background

When we return from New Jersey we'll set about heading south after a days rest and laundry catch-up.

We need new tires on our towed vehicle (yep the 2008 Honda needs tires already) and since Oregon has no sales tax we ordered 4 new ones from Costco in Portland before going east. There's Elks Lodge near by and so we're headed south but will make a quick stop at Mt. St. Helen's to view what was left of a once huge mountain and active volcano.

Enjoy the pics, I'll get them uploaded when we get back to Seattle and will also write about the 2 weeks in Ocean City.

Gene & Laurie

Back in the Lower 48

2009-09-07T16:28:00.000-07:00

Hello and greetings from Washington State and the Lower 48 !

We crossed back on 8/27 and have been hanging out in northwest Washington. I should apologize for not getting an update out sooner but I got into a good book and my nights have been filled with reading.

We started out in a small town near the San Juan Islands. It's been a lazy time and we've caught up on some little chores, including giving the coach a good bath. We stayed at a local Elks Lodge and it was really convenient to stores, etc. We moved south a few miles, got the coach serviced at Cummins and we're now at the Burien Elks Lodge in the shadow of SEATAC airport and have been touring Seattle. More about that later.

When we last talked the rigs were in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory and we left there on 8/17 and headed south. Much of the road we traveled had been done already but we soon turned off to the Cassier Highway and returned to British Columbia. The Cassier is a narrow, 2 lane road that is 95% paved with only 2 bad sections of about 10-15 miles of dirt, mud, calcium chloride rocks and some extremely beautiful scenery. It's slow going but the mountain views and woodland are spectacular.

We stopped in Jade City which is nothing more that large store that sells local jade. No services, no electric, no phone, just free coffee and place to park overnite and an opportunity to buy some jade. Over 90% of the world's jade supply comes from this area and they have plenty. We made a small purchase.

We also met another couple, Roger & Mary Buss from Nappanee, Indiana. Yep, hometown to Newmar and they even know the owner. They drive "Big Rig", race tractors and are a fun couple. Big Rig is a full size Freightliner cab with a 35' Newmar coach mounted to the chassis. The coach was a front end gas model that was wrecked. They cut the nose off and mounted it on the cab. Great rig, but big.

Roger and Mary joined us and we traveled together down the Cassier headed for Stewart/Hyder. We found a great little Provincial park on Burns Lake, toured Stewart & Hyder, enjoyed a few happy hours and a pot-luck dinner. They were headed for Jasper & Banff and 2 days later we parted company. Someday we hope to share a road with them again.

The view from our coach at Burns Lake Provincial Park, on the Cassier Hwy. near Stewart / Hyder.

Taking Pics of the Glacier, enroute to Stewart

The Glacier

Entering Hyder, Alaska

A 'halibut" dinner at Burns Lake. Roger & Mary on the left.

We spent 4 fun-filled days in Vancouver and got to bike Stanley Park and the Lionsgate Bridge. Vancouver is a great city and we will return again someday. We enjoyed a superb meal at our favorite restaurant, Bishops and had a "See Ya" dinner with Gene & Lynn. We've shared the road with them for 88 days and 6,000 miles and enjoyed the experience but it was time to part ways and each of us had things to do and places to go that didn't match up.

Vancouver Harbor

The "view" under the Lionsgate Bridge

Point Atkinson Lighthouse in Vancouver.

We've had the opportunity to visit friends, Bill & Joanne Johnston at their lovely home on Orcas Island (just across the bay from Bill & Melinda) and we headed over to Victoria Island, BC for a few days.

Bil & Joanne Johnston on Orcas Island

Their home on the Island

Their "view" at sunset.

Some sights from our visit to Vancouver Island and the Provincial capital of Victoria. A side trip to the world famous Butchard Gardens as well.

Floral display at Butchard Gardens on Vancouver Island, BC enroute to Victoria.

More of the Gardens

Flower

Some more floral display & Laurie

Legislative Bldg at nite.

Fairmont Empress Hotel.

Inner Harbor, Victoria, BC
Our hotel for 2 nights in Victoria.

At the end of the month we'll fly back east for a little quality time with our daughters, son-in-law and grandchildren and friends in Ocean City, NJ.

Enjoy the pics.

We'll talk again soon,

Gene & Laurie

Anchorage, Valdez & Farewell to Alaska

2009-08-16T18:15:00.000-07:00

Hello Again and greetings from the Yukon Territory.

Well, we've made the loop from Whitehorse, YT around through Alaska and back to Whitehorse. It took 51 days and 2,675 miles (coach only) and boy did we see a lot. So now an update on our latest adventures.

We attempted to spend a few days in Anchorage after leaving the Kenai Peninsula but the campground we picked was noisy. Our site backed up to a railroad grade crossing and the trains ran 16 hours a day. Now, I know what you think, hell he retired from a railroad that shouldn't bother him, but try sleeping 25' from an active crossing ! Not fun. Also, the local power plant turbines produced a whistle that would keep even the devil himself awake and drive a sane person crazy. Plus, they wanted $38 a night. Sorry.

We headed north and found a small c/g in Palmer that charged $25 and was only about 40 minutes from downtown Anchorage. We've been in Anchorage before (2004) and there was not much we didn't see. So we got the Honda serviced, visited Costco and toured one downtown museum; enjoyed a few relaxing days and headed on for Valdez.

Valdez, the city that Joesph Hazelwood made famous is a small, non-descript town that was completely destroyed by the 1964 earthquake and rebuilt 4 miles from it's original location. There are more campgrounds than stores; the city buildings are all the same style and the harbor is the center of life. The USCG station in Valdez has the USCG Cutter "Long Island" berthed in the harbor.
USGC Cutter, Long Island

The view from our coach @ C/G in Valdez.

The marine ferry has a new terminal building and across the bay is the terminus for the Pipeline and the tankers load daily. The area is off limits to everyone except employees.
Looking across the bay to the pipeline terminus.

The city of Valdez

Valdez harbor

The site of "old" Valdez

The fish hatchery in Valdez and the salmon returning to spawn.

The route through Thompson Pass approaching Valdez and the mountains surrounding it are spectacular but the town is unimpressive. We saw the sites, watched the boats and the tankers and marvelled at the amount of salmon that had returned to spawn at the hatchery and moved on for the trek out of Alaska.
Thompson Pass

Wellington Glacier, enroute to Valdez

Wellington Glacier

We traveled north out of Valdez and turned east on the Tok Cut-off. Our last night in Alaska was spent at MP 72.5 on the highway and it really turned cold and in the morning we woke up to several inches of snow on the mountain tops. A sign that winter is not far away.
Fresh snow on the mountain tops, near Tok.

A beautiful sight.........but cold.

Our rest area campsite.

We crossed the border back into Canada on August 12th and headed for Whitehorse, YT. We're spending a weekend here while we celebrate our 40th anniversary and visit some places we skipped on the way up, then on Monday head south.

We're 1600 miles to Vancouver and there are some interesting sights along the way in British Columbia but I don't expect it to be as exciting as Alaska.

We'll talk again soon,

Gene & Laurie

Caribou Golf

2009-08-16T16:38:00.000-07:00

Hmmm, funny name for a title but we had a extremely interesting experience at the Kenai Golf Course.

The city of Kenai has a fabulous golf course located just outside of town and is a jewel. Besides being long, 6,194 yds from the white tee's and 5,894 yds from the senior or gold tees the course is in great shape and winds it way around the Kenai River and woods surrounding it. The fairways are wide, the greens in good shape and the rough manageable. The price was a bargain at $25 + $13 for cart.

The following pictures really tell the story, but as we were approaching 16 green on the back 9 we had a visitor come out of the woods...........a full grown, bull caribou that would probably tip the scales at over 350 lbs. and a rack that had to span 6 feet from tip to tip.

He wanted to play ! He scared the heck out of us, just by his shear size plus he got so close to us that it was amazing. He stayed with us for 17 and only after we tee'd off on 18 (and he held us up for that) did he finally wander off into the woods.

A unique experience. Enjoy the pics and the video.

Gene

Our visitor approaches from the woods at 16.

17 tee box

Keeping an "eye" on us !

Having a snack on 17 fairway

Coming back to see us on 18 t-box

Finally getting out of the way

But still keeping an "eye" on us.

The Kenai Peninsula

2009-08-06T16:25:00.000-07:00

Hello and greetings once again from Alaska.

Well we made it to the Kenai Peninsula and the port city of Homer and the rains came and the rains stayed ! The cold weather also rolled in and it was a tough week weather wise but we had fun and survived. Most days the high only got into the mid 50’s and the rain and or drizzle rarely stopped. This can happen in Alaska and we made the best of it.

Our campground was right on a bluff overlooking Cook Inlet and we watched the big tide changes; second largest in the world after the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. We were right in downtown Homer and only minutes to the infamous Homer Spit and all the fishing boats.

A view from our c/g in Homer

A visitor at low tide.

Low tide at 10.30 am in Homer.

Pretty imposing for a little one !

High tide at 5.30 pm....some change !

Homer is the halibut fishing capital of the world and there are literally hundreds of charter boats available and of course the locals launch their own boats so the harbor is crowded. Tour boats operate to the Glaciers, the nearby out islands, including Soldovia and the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry system runs from here out to the Aleutian Chain and Dutch Harbor. In short, there are a large number of people on the “spit” at any given time and parking is always at a premium. There is also a large lagoon or fishing hole that traps salmon and other fish at the tide changes and is packed with folks trying their luck.

We took a day ferry over to Soldovia, a cut little Russian founded town with neat shops and restaurants and a great little museum. The town was originally built with wooden walkways throughout because of the tide changes but the 1964 earthquake changed the land level and now many of the streets are use able for cars and ATVs’. There is still a 16’ tide change in the harbor and some of the old walkways remain.

Homes in the old section of town.

Boat / sea plane harbor in Soldovia

Sea otters on the boat ride to Soldovia.

Russian Orthodox church

Guess who caught a big fish !

Of course the biggest attraction is deep sea fishing and off I went with my buddy Gene and his girlfriend on a charter. Laurie opted to stay on land. Perhaps a good idea since we had 3+ foot seas with 20 knot winds at times and rain most of the day. We were in about 150’ water. Oh the temps were around 50 degrees. Just perfect fishing weather for a 25 mile ride in a 30’ boat.

Oh and yes, we caught halibut. There is a 2 fish limit per person and there were 6 of us + the skipper (no mate) and we each got our limit. I was fortunate and got the largest fish and it weighed in at 60 lbs (NOTE to Jack McGinn, that’s 350 lbs) and another about 30 lbs. It was cut up and frozen and we have some with us and some was sent to relatives.

Just for Jack McGinn: My 350 lb fish !

Our fishing group with our catch !

On the hook.

Getting on the scale

Our charter boat, the "Big Easy"

We tried our hand at salmon fishing in the lagoon but came up empty. We had fun and Laurie got in some sketch time on the shore, flew her kite and we actually had a break from the rain.

We moved on to the city of Kenai, up the peninsula where the Kenai River meets the Cook Inlet and guess what: the rain followed us. Yep, we had 4 more days of the liquid sunshine but we got to watch the local “circus” called dip netting. Only residents can use these big (maybe 5’ in diameter) nets that are attached to long metal poles and they wade out chest deep in cold , no frigid water and stand shoulder to shoulder and hope that the salmon swim into their net.

Dip-netting mid week, Kenai River

Our neighbors with a king salmon

And do they get them. They are allowed up to 35 fish per family member and it’s considered subsistence fishing. They net a silver salmon maybe 6-7 lbs each, drag it to the shore, kill it with a billy club, cut the head off and gut the fish on the shore and leave the carcass right there, throw the fish in the cooler and get back in the water. An amazing spectacle.

It’s almost impossible to find a spot to fish using a pole and hook and it is strongly discouraged; hooks and nets don’t mix well. But we made friends with the family camped next door and 2 very nice silvers ended up in our freezer !

We moved over to Seward and guess what: the sun found us ! Yea! We camped at Waterfront Park which overlooked Resurrection Bay and had a steady stream of boats, including cruise ships parade by us daily.

The view from our coach in Seward

Waterfront Park. Our coach is right behind the small car in the center of the picture.

Resurrection Bay

Downtown Seward.

Seward is a fun little port city which bustles with activity. Major cruise lines start and end their Inside Passage trips here; the Kenai Fjords National Park is here as is Exit Glacier and the Sea Life Rescue Center.

A stellar sea lion: Woody at the Sea Life Center

We took the Fjords trip and saw whales, sea lions, dolphins and lots of birds. Actually, several eagles would buzz the campground each evening as they searched for food in the Bay. The boat took us to within 100 yards of Aialik Glacier and we watched and marveled at the beauty and majesty of this wonder of ice and snow. We hiked out to Exit Glacier too. The weather cooperated and we had a great 3 days in Seward.

Stellar Sea Lions, a bull with his mates.

The longer they are out of the water, the more brown they get. Dark grey, just came out of the water.

A Beluga whale diving.

Standing in front of Exit Glacier.

On the Glacier cruise.

The Aialik Glacier: calving

Up close to the Glacier

Oh, and I met a retired engineer from the LIRR, Bill Cloonan who lives in East Northport and whose son is stationed in Homer with the Coast Guard and is getting married next week. Congrats Bill & family !

Were up in Palmer now and will see some Anchorage sites and then at the end of the week move onto Valdez.

Enjoy the pics.

Gene & Laurie

Fairbanks, Denali & the Mat-Su Valley

2009-07-25T22:20:00.000-07:00

Hello and greetings from Homer and the Kenai Peninsula.

We’re in Alaska’s “playground” where fishing is king and the sights are spectacular. We’ve had an exciting 2 weeks since our last update and I’ll talk more about the Kenai later, but for now let’s review Fairbanks and our trip moving south.

We arrived in Fairbanks in the middle of summer: high 80’s and excessive smoke from the wild land fires. The biggest is now over 200,000 acres and still burning. Started by lightning it has continually grown and while not threatening any inhabited areas some backwoods cabins have been destroyed but many saved.

They need rain, lower temperatures and reduced winds to get it under control; something that’s not happening soon in interior Alaska.

We were lucky. The winds shifted the day after we arrived in Fairbanks and we had great weather (warm for interior Alaska) and a very busy week. We spent our arrival day cleaning the dust and dirt from our coach and toad and recovering from the rough roads and isolation of the earlier week.

Welcome to Fairbanks

Fairbanks is the 2nd largest city and has lots to offer. Several large military bases, plenty of shopping and some interesting sights. It’s also right next to the North Pole. Well, geographically it’s not but the Alaskan city of North Pole is a suburb of Fairbanks and yes, Mr. Claus lives there. There are reindeer, Christmas trees and lot’s of elves at the workshop and we made sure our grand children our on the “good little boys and girls list” for this coming December !

A visit to the North Pole

A great Ice Sculpture Museum, a downtown city park and some great restaurants are surrounded by two rivers and lot’s to do. We took the riverboat ride; saw dog sled teams and did a tour of Pioneer Park and a great salmon bake and visited a tribal Pow Wow. Gene & I got in a round of golf at the northern most USGA rated golf course in the US. We visited a fabulous museum run by the University of Alaska and the highlight was a ride up the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Circle.

Ice Sculpture

On the 9th Tee....opps, looks who's here...

A visitor to the Tee Box !

Laurie & her "scottish" indian ! Dancin' at the Pow Wow !

A dancer in costume

Beating the Drum at the Tribal Pow Wow

Is something looking over our shoulder ?

Dog sled teams practice.

If you’ve ever watched the History channel’s series “Ice Road Truckers” you’ve seen the Dalton Highway. Over 600 miles of dirt and seal chip highway from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay. Miserable conditions in any season. We traveled in a charted van with a driver and 6 others some 150+ miles to the exact latitude of the Arctic Circle, had a picnic lunch and came back. Long day but great scenery and the road follows the Alaska Pipeline route. BTW, it was 75 degrees at the Arctic Circle !

Our Group at the Arctic Circle.

The Alaska Pipeline

The fireweed is spectacular along the Dalton Hwy.

So, the day we leave Fairbanks and head south the winds shift and the smoke returned. Whew ! A rough ride down the Parks highway toward Denali National Park. We stayed outside the Park in Healy and really had some bad smoke conditions. Our friends had never been there and took the long 12 hour bus tour of the Park.

We’d seen the Mountain in 2004 and with the smoke conditions there were not too many animals to be seen. Mount McKinley was totally obscured. We stayed only 2 nights and moved further south to escape the smoke and haze. Some rain helped but it was still pretty unhealthy.

We made an overnite stop to the Talkeetna area and reprised our 2004 visit there and a stop at an art gallery. The town’s the same but they did blacktop one of the dirt streets since ‘04 and there were lots more local folks. We toured the Mt. McKinley Climbers Cemetery. Since 1932 there have been 249 deaths of climbers on the mountain many of which were never had their bodies recovered. It’s a somewhat chilling experience.

The river in downtown Talkeetna

The list of lost climbers in the cemetary.

We moved onto Wasilla and the beautiful Mat-Su Valley. This is suburban Anchorage, home to Sarah Palin and some of the nicest views of mountains and glaciers in Alaska. We were able to get sites at the Palmer Elks Lodge overlooking Finger Lake and nestled in the valley. We took a ride up to Hatcher Pass and toured an old gold mine.

At the top of Hatcher Pass near Wasilla.

Hatcher Pass looking back to th Mat-Su Valley

View from our coach at the Palmer Elks Lodge

We have revised our itinerary somewhat and headed straight south from Wasilla to the Kenai Peninsula skipping Anchorage on the way down. We'll stop on the way back up.

We stopped at the Wildlife Conservation Center near Portage Glacier and got to visit with some of the residents.

A MuskOx giving his opinion of my actions !

Can you find the Caribou in this picture ?

I'm wet, I'm hungry & you look hmmmm !

We did an overnite at the Soldotna Elks Lodge and arrived in Homer, the halibut fishing capital of the world this past Monday.

Unfortunately the rain has arrived with us and it’s been raining the whole time. The views are spectacular, the fishing was great but it’s cold and wet. Most days it never gets out of the low 50’s. We’ll this Monday for Kenai, Seward and Anchorage.

We’ll talk more about the fun and excitement of Homer next time. Till then,

Best Regards,

Gene & Laurie

Dawson City - Top of the World Hwy. & Chicken, Ak !

2009-07-07T22:01:00.000-07:00

Hello & Greetings from Fairbanks !

Yep, we made it to Alaska and the coach is intact with no damage; the car is too but all had quite a bit of dust and yesterday was cleaning day. But more about that later.

So after Whitehorse we headed north to Dawson City, Yukon Territory and found warm weather, lot's of dust and some good times in town. We enjoyed Diamond Tooth Gertie's Casino and Can Can Show, a nice meal at the Jack London Grill and walked around the most authentic and rustic looking gold rush town still in existence. Wooden sidewalks, dirt streets and spectacular views all nestled alongside the Yukon River.

Dirt Streets and Wooden Sidewalks !

Can-Can girls at Gertie's

Downtown Dawson City

Gold Panning Championships !

Somebody we know ???

Dawson City & Yukon River behind me !

view of the gold mining areas from the Dome

Dawson City & Yukon River

We spent 4 nights and 3 days in DC and really got to see the town. A tour of the historic Gold Dredge # 4 and golf at the northernmost golf course in Canada.......Top of the World GC made the visit complete.

The GC is owned by a retired miner who wished to give back to the community that helped support him so he bought the land a number of years ago and although he doesn't play golf himself, he carved the course (9 holes) out of the landscape alongside the Yukon River and overlooking Dawson City. Now understand, this is a rough and tumble golf course and the greens are a little bouncy but they are grass and 2794 yards is respectable distance. My friend Gene shot a 39 with 1 birdie and I had a 44.

The clubhouse !

the 1st Tee

The greens are a little bumpy, but the views are great !

Nice wide fairways

Short but treacherous !

Beautiful views and elevation changes

So everyone warned us that the Top of the World Hwy (TOTW) was the worst road in North America and to expect damage and miserable road conditions. One person even sent me an e-mail saying "her prayers and thoughts will be with me as I travel the TOTW." Well yes, it was probably the worst road but we went slow, averaged only 20mph for the entire 107 miles and had no damage. Lot's of dirt and at times we could not even see the car for the cloud of dust and actually lost the use of the rear camera because of the dirt build-up but we made it and we had the experience.

Now to get from Dawson City to the TOTW you have to cross the Yukon River on the only ferry that operates. No bridges, just the ferry. It's small and the landings are dirt, no piers or pilings; just drop the bridge plate in the dirt and drive on ! They actually keep a front-end loader and extra dirt nearby to keep the landing from washing away. The river current is pretty strong.

Yukon River ferry.....dirt ramp

So, given the size of our rigs we knew only 1 coach was getting on at a time and it would be best not to have the toad hooked up, especially with the dirt ruts at the landing site. There was also quite a few campers who were scheduled to leave the downtown campground the same day as us. We set our clocks for 4am and were at the ferry dock at 5am. Across we went one at a time and we were hooked up and on the way by 5.40am. Smooth sailing.

Early morning - Top of the World Highway

An unplanned benefit of being on the road so early was the morning dew ! Yep the mountain road, you climb to an elevation of more than 4,000 feet, was moist with the dew and the dust was much less than expected for the first several hours.

Driving the TOTW Hwy

We arrived at the US border at about 8.40am and the border doesn't open till 9.00am. Well, actually the border opens at 8.00am Alaska time and we arrived at 7.40am Alaska time. The time change is AT the border station. Since it was July 4th we wished the agent Happy Birthday and we were back in the USA !

US Border Crossing-Welcome Back !

Border Crossing

A view to Top of the World

Well, for the next 40 miles it was all dirt and dust and really ugly road conditions but the key again is slow speed and we arrived in Chicken, Alaska in time for lunch.

Chicken, Alaska is a very small town in some of the most rugged, mountainous terrain I've seen. There's not more than half a dozen buildings and lots' of RV's. They also are the only place for fuel and food on the entire 200+ mile journey from Dawson City to Tok, Alaska back on the Alaska Highway and Chicken has one heck of a good 4th of July party.

Downtown Chicken

Gold Miners Assn 4th of July Picnic

The Post Office

No fowl on the menu just steak and hosted by the Gold Prospectors Assn. For $12.00 a great deal. Close to 200 people at the party and gold panning contests, door prizes and some great conversation. Chicken has a population of 15 in the winter and no phone service, electric service or public water. It's dry camping and the shops have their own generators, sat phones and wells. They have 1 small fire truck and an ambulance but in a real emergency, they'll fly you out from the small dirt air strip.

Too much day light for fireworks so Chicken has a cannon they shoot off and a band concert that rocked the town till late. Oh, the price for diesel was $4.36 US a gallon ! Ouch ! and yes, we needed fuel. Sure did help the local economy.

So off we went the next day and drove down the mountain to Tok (pronounced toke) and rejoined the Alaska Highway northbound to Delta Junction and it's official end. We dry camped at a small state park and took the obligatory end of the highway pictures and moved onto Fairbanks and summer !

We've had pretty cool weather for most of the trip since leaving Montana and we've hit the interior of Alaska and it's soring summer heat. We've also hit fire season and there are currently 62 active wildland fires in the state. Two of the biggest are southeast of Fairbanks and northwest of Fairbanks. No matter the winds, we're smelling smoke and lot's of dense haze. With temps in the mid 80's it makes the outdoors a bit uncomfortable.

We've got a week planned here and they expect to have a few days respite beginning tomorrow. The a/c units are working hard. Oh, BTW one of the biggest fires is over 17k acres and in Denali Park. Hmmm, may need to change our schedule again.

Stay tuned, we'll talk again soon.

Gene & Laurie

The Yukon Territory

2009-06-29T22:46:00.000-07:00

Hello & Greetings from the Capital of the Yukon Territory: Whitehorse !

Well, we’re 880 miles deep into the Alaska Highway and have stopped in Whitehorse for several days. It’s time to restock the pantry, clean off some of the dirt and rest a bit. Also, a round of golf is a sorely needed diversion from driving the highways of BC and the Yukon.

I mean, they’re not really bad roads, hey I’ve driven RV’s over the BQE and the Cross Bronx expressways but it does take a bit of concentration and dodging critters always makes you pay attention.

We’ve moved along quite well and made stops in Watson Lake, Laird Hot Springs and now Whitehorse. We’ve posted our sign at the Signpost Village, took a dip in the 108 degree natural spring at Laird and watched as the countryside got more and more remote. Truckers and tourists are the predominant vehicles on the road now, and most of the tourists are RV’ers. Everything from 45’ Marathon’s to pop-ups and homemade truck campers fill the road.

A new calf with the herd alongside the road.

Liard Hot Springs

Crossing Nisutlin Bay Bridge near Teslin, Yukon

Some of the more than 65,000 signs at Sign Post Village in Watson Lake, Yukon.

Searching the signs for someone we might know !

Putting up our signs....a part of history.

Our signs are posted !

It’s also surprising how many folks have already made the trek to Alaska and are on their way back ! We’ve met several of t hem who have taken caravans of 28 & 35 days through here and Alaska and are already enroute back to the lower 48.
As you may know, there is only one highway to drive and we too will have to come back through Whitehorse later this summer. Some said they didn’t want to deal with the mosquito's; some didn’t want the crowds; others had plans for the summer. Yet, I met one fellow here whose son-in-law is the pilot on the next Space Shuttle and he needs to be back in Florida by July. He’s still heading north but will have to hustle to get back to Cocoa by July !

Whitehorse is a city with lots to do and plenty of stores for restock. We took a cruise up the Yukon River yesterday and tomorrow night we’ll attend the Follies: an old-time vaudeville style show. The campground has great wifi and we plan to save the museums for our return in August.Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and our tee time was rained out this morning (Monday).

A boat ride up the Yukon River from Whitehorse.

Still chilly up here.

We’ll talk again soon,

Gene & Laurie

Dawson Creek & The Alaska Highway

2009-06-20T22:30:00.000-07:00

Hello and greetings from Dawson Creek, British Columbia.

We're at Mile Post 0 and the start of the famous Alaska or ALCAN Highway. From here it is about 1500 miles to Fairbanks on what is called the most adventurous drive of a lifetime.

Laurie @ Commemorative Plaque

Downtown Marker

The Famous Sign !

We got here yesterday, Friday after a long and somewhat boring ride from Edmonton. We spent 4 days and 5 nites there and it is a big industrial city with lots' of rough edges. Being the capital city of Alberta and close to the oilsands (2nd largest petroleum reserve in the world) it brings all sorts of folks from roughnecks to tourists; college kids to retiree's and bustles all the time.

A view inside Fort Edmonton.

A local resident just outside of Edmonton

Ukrainian Church at their restored village

A working farm at the restoration.

As I mentioned it has a large Ukrainian population and lots' of historical significance for the development of western Canada. It also boasts the 2nd largest Mall in the world with an indoor wave pool and full amusement park. We actually watched a sea lion show inside the mall !

Gene & I did get in a round of golf and we made a Costco run for supplies before heading north.

I've had a lot of problems with Verizon and have not been able to use my "aircard" for Internet access. They've bounced me around, outright lied and tried to charge me outrageous fee's for roaming in Canada. Anyway, it's unplugged and won't come back on till early July in Alaska.

So, I've had to rely on campground wifi and it is somewhat sketchy at best. Not sure how I'll do as we get further north. No pics tonite of Dawson Creek. The new laptop will not connect to the c/g hotspot; the old laptop will but the camera chip won't d/l into this laptop. Go figure !

Some pics from the Highway:

Lakes and mountains all close by !

The Alaska highway...road construction !

Mom & her cub......up close.

A meeting on the road...licking the salt !

He was by himself and quite imposing up close.

Winding through the mountains...this curve had guardrails....some don't.

We'll talk again soon,

Gene & Laurie

Rockie Mountain High.............Banff to Jasper...Wow

2009-06-18T08:38:00.001-07:00

Hello and Greetings from Edmonton:

With apologies to the late John Denver, we've been on a "Rockie Mountain high" for the past 10 days or so after traveling through the spectacular Canadian Rockie Mountains. The vistas are breathtaking and each day we approach "sensory overload" as the roads and views seem to be more beautiful with each turn. We've been fortunate to finally have some really nice weather and the snow topped mountains with clear blue skies have made for picture perfect conditions.

To recap: We left Calgary in snow. Yep, had to brush 3" of the white "stuff" off the slide toppers so we could get under way on Saturday morning (6/6) and the campground looked picture post card perfect............for February ! Our drive over to Banff was filled with magnificent views and blowing snow (strong flurries) that really kept me focused on my driving duties.

The c/g on Saturday morning June 6th !

Our picnic table.

On the Drive from Calgary to Banff.

We camped inside the Banff National Park and our site was nestled in the trees amongst the snow capped mountains and the wandering herds of deer and elk. Yep, they wandered through the campground and have no fear of people. Quite a sight.

A visitor to our campsite in Banff.

Tunnel Mtn. c/g in Banff.

Banff is an "alpine" village surrounded by mountains and full of tourists shopping. Seems the main activity in town is to shop and the stores are full of all the latest trinkets to get our Dollars, Euro's, Yuan and Yen. Lot's of Asian visitors. We visited the Hot Springs; the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel; walked the shops and enjoyed some of the restaurants. But most of our time was spent wandering the paths, trails and mountain roads savoring the views and the splendor of the scenery. A side trip up the Bow Parkway to Lake Louise added more awe inspiring vista's to our already overloaded senses. Lunch at the Chateau Lac Louise overlooking the lake made for a wonderful repast. All along the roads are deer, elk, wolves and bear.

Waterfall behind Banff Springs Hotel

Downtown Banff

Downtown Banff (looking the other way)

Lake Moraine

Chateau Lake Louise & me.

Lake Louise

We moved along on Wednesday to the Icefields Parkway which runs through the middle of the Canadian Rockies and connects Bannf to Jasper; two separate but huge National Parks. Route 93 is described as the "most scenic drive in the world" and I'm quite sure they are right. Huge mountain's, snow capped summits, deep gorges, rushing rivers and spectacular falls are everywhere; and then you get to the glaciers ! Wow, icefields and glaciers line the central part of the highway about halfway between the two towns. No other towns or villages, just some park warden homes and maintenance buildings hidden in the trees.

A view along the Icefield Pkwy.

More fantastic vistas on the Parkway.

We 'boondocked" ovenite at the Icefield Centre. The driving is slow, averaging about 40 mph and with numerous photo ops it takes quite some time to travel the highways. The center offers excursion buses out to the Athabasca Glacier. These "ice buses" actually get to drive out onto the Glacier and are geared so low that with the gas pedal all the way to floor the top speed is only 18 KPH (kilometers) . Quite a view and experience.

Icefield buses

Standing on the Glacier

Athabasca Glacier

A slowly receding Glacier

Another spectacular ride along the upperhalf of the Parkway the next day and we camped in Whistler's at the Jasper National Park. Large and crowded campground but big sites and full hook-ups. Jasper is not as "artsy" as Banff and has the CN train yard and station in the middle of downtown. Lot's of young folk and hikers here. Some good restaurants and small shops but more geared to hiking and biking then shopping.

A view of the Parkway heading to Jasper

A drive up to Magline Lake in the mountain range gave us the opportunity for more wildlife viewing: bears, deer, moose and a bald eagle plus more sensory overload with lakes, streams and waterfalls.

The Three bears of Lake Magline

Look closely for the bald eagle

Lake Magline

Moma bear & her cubs

Picture postcard perfect !

During one of our stops we met a young couple from Edmonton. They had just gotten engaged (he proposed on the little beach near Lake Annette) and they were so excited and bursting with joy to share their good news. Good luck Kelly & Athena ! (see their pic below).Lake Annette

Kelly & Athena

We've been in Edmonton for a few days and had to leave the beauty of the mountains behind. The city is industrial, busy and crowded. As the capital of Alberta it is bustling with folks and oilsands workers. It is also home to the largest concentration of Ukrainian people outside of Eastern Europe and we toured a heritage village. There was a large migration in the late 1800's and early 1900's with free land grants and a promise of a better life.

We'll move onto Dawson Creek on Friday (6/19) and the our first look at the Alcan Highway.

Enjoy the photo's. We'll talk again soon.

Gene & Laurie

Olympic Experience

2009-06-03T20:09:00.001-07:00

Hello & Greetings from Calgary.

We've had some really nice weather here and a fabulous experience at Canada Olympic Park. The campground is right next door to the 1988 site of the Winter Olympics and they have turned the place into a very active winter and summer activity venue. Miles and miles of dirt bike paths; zip lines from the 90 meter ski jump tower and a hamster ball (my term) ride that straps you into a clear plastic over sized beach ball and let's you roll down a ski slope, insane but the kids like it. You also have unfettered access to all the areas including several ski jump towers; bobsled and luge tracks and a really neat museum and Hall of Fame.

Getting ready to jump - 60 meter tower

They athletes practice year round and they use the 60 and 90 meter towers to jump. Yes, no snow just plastic mats, looks a lot like grass that they keep wet with sprinklers and these folks come down the ramps on skis and land and slow down in soft dirt. Absolutely amazing.

We were at the top and saw and heard these young folks jumping. We were able to walk over to where they were and I passed a comment about how much "courage" it took to do something like that. The coaches overheard me and they invited us to come closer and we had an unbelievable experience. We actually stood underneath where the slope ends and they jumped over our heads ! We got to stand alongside the landing areas (during snow and competition the officials would be standing here) and the views were incredible. You could actually hear the wind as the skier passed by you, maybe 6 feet away !

We stood right below this jumper.

He's past us and heading down

I've always been fascinated with the winter games and this was a lifetime experience. Some of these kids (girls and boys in their 20's) will compete in the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

On the way down, track has water on it

We were standing on the steps to the left.

The pictures show some of the action, but I'm not sure you can get the full feeling.

Our viewing platform on the right

We also toured a historic fort in downtown Calgary where the first contingent of the Northwest Mounted Police began guarding the territory in the mid 1800's.

Downtown Calgary

Gene & I got in 18 at Fox Hollow Golf Course today and we're off to Banff and the Canadian Rockies on Saturday.

Fox Hollow Golf

BTW, it's 9.24pm and the sun is still shining. Days are getting longer !

We"ll talk again soon.

Gene & Laurie

Montana Heat Wave - Calgary Cool !

2009-06-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

Hello & Greetings from Calgary:

We've arrived in Canada on this past Sunday a day ahead of schedule. The US government now requires a passport to enter or leave the country and the new rules took effect on June 1st. We've had passports for years but we thought there may be a back-up or long delays on Monday and opted to move up our crossing to Sunday. No problems, no hassles and took about 20 minutes to get through, but most of that was due to only one booth being open for all cars and RV's and one for trucks only.

We had a great time visiting with friends and family back east over the Memorial Day weekend. A whirlwind visit but it was good to see our daughters, son-in-law and grand children. The wedding was spectacular, the fire department dinner predictable, but good and the flights on-time but boring.

GrandMa & Grand kids: Craft Time !

The "Bride & Groom"
Can you spot the "fa-gow-eee" indian ???

We headed north on last Wednesday and stopped overnight in Kaycee, Wyoming and then up to Billings, Montana. Eastern Wyoming is a vast open area of prairies and low rolling hills. The state is ranked 50th in population and we probably saw more antelope than people. Eastern Montana has more folks but huge wheat fields and still plenty of cattle and antelope.

We stayed at the Billings Elks Lodge for 2 nights and toured the area with a day trip down to Red Lodge and the entrance to Beartooth Pass. This connects Montana to Wyoming and Yellowstone Park and is closed all winter due to heavy snow accumulation. The US Forest Service opens it in mid-May and they have a big celebration and follow the plows through the Pass on opening weekend. Red Lodge is an eclectic little village nestled below the mountains and ski slopes. We ventured into the Pass area about 20 miles ( the whole Pass is 68 miles of switchbacks and mountain vistas) and found this neat, little lake nestled in the woods around some forest service campgrounds. Great place to relax, fish and hike someday.

Entrance to Beartooth Pass, MT.

Greenough Lake

Montana was HOT ! The temps were running in the high 80's and low 90's and our a/c units were crankin' ! This was most unusual for late May. We had dinner at the Billings Elks Lodge both nights and there was country music for dancing on Saturday.

Great Falls was a bit smaller than Billings but still a good sized city and just as hot and we only stayed the one night.

Calgary is cool. Monday the high never got above 58 and the nights are in the low 40's. The sun is out and that helps, but we're using heat pumps instead of a/c. and it's staying light out till almost 10 pm !

Our travelling companions, Gene & Lynn arrived yesterday and will help us explore Canada & Alaska. They're in a 43' Country Coach and have Max, a cute little schnauzer to help them.

We'll be in Calgary for the week and then head for Banff, Lake Louise and the Canadian Rockies.

We'll talk again soon.

Gene & Laurie

Colorado Springs - Denver & Great Weather

2009-05-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

Hello & Greetings from Denver:

We've spent the last 2 weeks in Colorado Springs and Denver and have enjoyed some wonderful weather, good golf and great sights.

The Springs is chocked full of things to do. We visited the Air Force Academy, a cave dwelling museum and walked around some really neat, eclectic small towns with interesting shops. Saw Pikes Peak and the US Ice Skating Hall of Fame.

Air Force Academy Chapel.

Pike's Peak.

Cliff Dwelling Museum.

There's a park here called Garden of the Gods and is much like Sedona with red rocks and beautiful vistas.

The area is only 60 miles south of Denver and the sprawl is beginning to work it's way together. The weather has been fantastic with low humidity, warm days and cool nights. After a week in the Springs we moved onto Denver.

Denver is a sprawling metropolis with spectacular views of the Rocky mountains and an active and vibrant population. Denver and the surrounding 'burbs are honeycombed with bike and jogging paths as well as open space parks in the shadow of the great mountains, still snow covered this early in the season.

We'll actually be in Denver for just over 2 weeks, but will fly back east for a visit with family over the Memorial Day weekend.

Downtown Boulder pedestrian Mall

The tulips in full bloom.

At the summit above Boulder.

Denver has a world renowned Art Museum and we enjoyed a fun afternoon exploring the exhibits. Of course, Denver is home to Mile High Stadium and Coors Field. A side trip to Boulder (only 30 miles away) brings you to the home of Coors beer. Boulder is the home of Colorado University and a young college town with a great pedestrian mall in the middle of downtown.

The Denver Art Museum

Nearby in the foothills of the Rockies is a small town called Black Hawk and home to a dozen casino's amid the abandoned gold and silver mines. Quite neat and none are owned by Native Americans.

I was fortunate to get in two rounds of golf and the front nine last Friday earned me a personal best 38.

We leave in the morning for Philly. We'll stop at our daughter Kristin's place in Allentown and then onto LI for a visit with Katie and Kenny and the grandkids. A wedding and fire department dinner will round out the weekend. We'll be back on Monday and head north to Calgary on Wednesday.

We'll talk again soon.

Gene & Laurie

Santa Fe - Taos - Enchanted Circle

2009-05-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

Hello:

Well we arrived in Santa Fe on April 21st and it was an exciting time. First off, some "dirtbag" accessed our identity and got into some of our accounts, including our credit card accounts. We've had to reinvent ourselves financially. Change bank account numbers, passwords, user ID's, etc. etc. It's been a real pain and the stress level was off the charts.

In between, we did get in some sightseeing and we took a 3 day road trip by car up to Taos and the Enchanted Circle and the Taos Pueblo. The drive up to Taos takes you through a long winding mountain road up to 10,000 ft. The fields are still snow covered and it looks more like Vermont in the winter then springtime in New Mexico.
Mountain range, enroute to Taos.

Rio Grande Gorge outside of Taos.

Old church and grave site at Taos Pueblo

Most have been converted to shops..

....but some are still living quarters.

Taos is a liberal artist's community with many of the 60's hippie culture now turned into shop and hotel owners. Some really fine galleries and some amazing sights. The Taos Pueblo is over 1,000 years old and is still home to many residents although most of the units have been converted into shops where the Indians sell their artistic creations. The Enchanted Circle takes you through several towns, including the major ski resort of Angel Fire and the first Vietnam Veteran's Memorial.

Vietnam Vets' Memorial in Angel Fire.

We stopped at some historic churches who claim to posses healing powers as well as a painting of Christ which displays different properties when the lights are turned off.

Can't take photo's of actual painting, but these are in the church hall. Notice the cross in the pic on the left. Only visible when the room is in complete darkness. Artist denies putting it in painting.

Lot's of photo's of some really fabulous countryside.

Off to Colorado Springs and Denver next.

We'll talk again soon.

Gene & Laurie

Albuquerque - Balloons and More Wild Weather !

2009-04-27T20:03:00.000-07:00

Hello Again and Greetings from the 10th Annual RV Rally.

So spring time in the southwest brings some really different weather. Cold temps, snow, winds, sunshine and warm breezes. I guess we experienced all them in a weeks time here in Albuquerque.

We joined about 3000 other RV’ers and camped at the Balloon Fiesta Park on the outskirts of the Duke City. The event is hosted by the Good Sam organization and is held in a different part of the country each year. The drawback to this year’s location was that all the exhibits and commercial vendors were located some 12 miles away from the camping area at the state fairgrounds. The organizers did a poor job of planning for the crowds and only had 8 buses to move the folks back and forth. By Friday nite the wait for a bus ride was over 3 hours. By Saturday, there was plenty of room on the buses, since everybody drove their own cars and trucks !

Some of 3000 rigs !

A view from out the front of our coach.

Up & Away !

They did have some pretty good entertainment (and that tent was near the campsite) and on Friday Neil Sedaka performed. It's amazing how many top hits that man had ! Rita Coolidge stopped by on Saturday and the Osmond Brothers took the stage Sunday nite. We skipped the DooWop band on Monday nite.

Neil Sedaka on stage.

While we didn’t go for an expensive balloon ride, we did get to see them sailing over the grounds and took an interesting tour of the Museum and learned some facts about World War II and Japan’s launching of 10,000 balloon fire bombs toward the Pacific northwest. Hundreds made it across the Pacific and one actually made it to Michigan, but it was done during the winter and not a conducive time for brush fires. Scarily, the balloons could have carried biological agents but the Japanese opted for fire first !

Japanese "fire bomb" balloons.

We had fun visiting the area and seeing the sights. Had to buy a new tow bar for the coach and donated some monies to the Sandia Casino.

Off to Santa Fe and some really high altitude.

We’ll talk again soon.

Gene & Laurie

Winds in Phoenix - Snow in Sedona

2009-04-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

Hello Again:

After leaving our winter home in Tucson we headed north for a week in the Phoenix area and a visit with retired railroad conductor Howie Weiss and his wife Pat. Oh boy, did we find some wind. The drive up on I-10 (and yes, I-10 heads north from Tucson) was only about 100 miles but the wind storm coming across from California generated dust which found every little crevice and crack in the coach. 40’ long and 12’ high was perfect for 50+ mph gusts to try and push us of the road. But we made it and enjoyed a good week with Pat & Howie; some golf, some good dinners and an overall a good visit..

Dinner in the Coach with Pat & Howie.

We headed north over Easter weekend for a visit in Sedona with retired RR Superintendent Ray Anderson & wife Becky. We’ve been friends for years and camped together back on LI. They’ve been in “Red Rock” country for 16 years now and have a fabulous home at the base of the Rocks. What a view !

Snow on the Red Rocks !

"Boondocking" in the Elks parking lot !

We stayed at the Elks Lodge and enjoyed a couple of meals there and did some sight-seeing in Flagstaff and Prescott. Unfortunately, the weather brought some snow to the area and the high altitude let it stay around on the mountain tops. Sedona is in the process of building a new “traffic calming” roadway into the place. It’s only one lane wide + a bike lane and sidewalk. All the intersections are “round-a-bouts” and the curbs are 8” and everything is designed to prevent folks from passing and driving only 25 mph. Of course it’s not done and the construction is a nightmare and certainly not motor coach friendly.

Becky, Ray & Laurie @ the Lava Flow in Flagstaff

Overall, a good visit and some great fun and wonderful views of a beautiful area in Arizona. Onto New Mexico and the RV Rally in Albuquerque.

We’ll talk again soon.

Gene & Laurie

New Update

2009-04-26T15:56:00.000-07:00

Hello Folks:

Sorry for the length of time since our last post but we’ve had some problems and I been very busy. We’re both OK but we are victims of identity theft ! Earlier this month, someone gained access to my E-bay & PayPal accounts. Shortly thereafter they got access to our credit card account on-line. We’ve been fortunate in that the monies never got past PayPal and I discovered the credit card before anything was charged.

We’ve had to reinvent ourselves with all our financial accounts (although a lot is still in the process) and I had to wipe the hard drive on the laptop and completely rebuild it from day 1. Not an easy set of tasks.

Needless to say most of my spare time has been absorbed in getting all the new accounts set up and still trying to see some of the various sights along the way. We’re in Santa Fe, New Mexico and I promise to get a new post up later this weekend.

We’ll talk more…

Gene & Laurie

It's Spring & We're On The Move Again !

2009-04-05T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hello and greetings from Phoenix.

We left Tucson this past Friday and are starting to travel again after an exciting and wonderful winter at Voyager Resort in southeast Tucson. We were there a total of 81 days and really had a fun-filled time. We were joined by our good friends Bob & Betty Sobeck from Vero Beach, Florida . Golf, sightseeing, visits with Laurie’s cousin Dee and her husband Pete, board games, and outstanding weather made for a great time. Walt & Pat Whirshup, retired LIRR engineer and fellow RV’er also stopped to visit.

Friday’s trip north began somewhat slowly with detour to Beaudry RV for a generator service and a check of the rear A/C unit that had quit working. They’ve ordered a new unit and hopefully that will get installed in Phoenix later this week.

Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate as we headed north. A huge low pressure center was heading for the mountains and the mid-west and brought high winds through the southwest desert. Most of the trip gave us a great "tailwind" as long as we were headed north, but at times our coach's trek along I-10 was buffeted by 50+ mph winds and blowing dust that completely obscured the mountains and sometimes parts of the roadway. Further north, I-40 east of Flagstaff was closed due to dust storms. At times I had the steering wheel at a 15 degree angle just to keep the coach straight. Thankfully, we only had 110 miles on the trip and we got into Chandler (suburban Phoenix) in good shape. Of course the newly washed coach was now covered in dust ! Oh well !

We’ll be here a week seeing the area and getting in some golf with good friend and retired RR conductor Howie Weiss and his wife Pat who live here. From here it’s on to Sedona and another railroad retiree Ray & Becky Anderson, then over to Albuquerque for the big Good Sam Rally in mid April.

We’re well, the winter was great and it’s good to be back on the road again.

We’ll talk again soon,

Gene & Laurie

Our winter home in Voyager.

A nice restaurant, bar and market on the grounds.

Dinner with friends !

Golf Holes of The Tucson Area

2009-03-03T20:16:00.001-08:00

Hello Again:

I've been fortunate to join a group of folks here at the Voyager Resort who play golf twice weekly a different course nearby Tucson. The views are fantastic; the company is great and I'm playing some pretty good golf. So I thought I would post a few pics from some of the courses.

Enjoy the views.

Gene

Saddlebrook Golf Club, Oro Valley, AZ.

A true desert course, yet surrounded by homes.

A Roadrunner visiting the green area.

Mt. Lemmon, at 9,500+ feet gets plenty of snow and provides an awesome background while we still wear shorts !

The Pines Golf Club, Tucson, AZ

Built in an old sand quarry, the elevation changes are staggering.

A 181 yard Par 3 with a 40' drop to the green !

A 362 yard, par 4, yet with an elevation change of over 20 yards !

Long Time between Posts............

2009-02-14T12:43:00.000-08:00

Hi Folks and welcome to busy world of a retiree ! I am utterly amazed at how fast the hours and days go by and that it has been 40 days since my last Post. I sincerely apologize. We are "wintering" in Tucson, Arizona in a resort RV park and are parked next to good friends, Bob & Betty who also have a coach. We've been sightseeing, playing golf, having dinners out, playing golf, enjoying some board games, oh did I mention playing golf and just plain enjoying life.

Bob & I have hooked up with a group of men from the Park and also a community in Green Valley (just south of Tucson) and we play at different courses around the area on Monday's and on Wednesday's we play in Tubac at a resort course with three 9's and just fabulously maintained. Tubac is an "artsy" community half way between Tucson and Nogales, Mexico surrounded by mountains and beautiful vistas. I'll get some pics this Wednesday and post them.

Now to update you on our past travels since January.

We left the Houston area in early January and headed west towards Arizona. Our first stop was San Antonio, Texas. We've been there several times. I started my Air Force tour in basic training in 1970 in San Antonio. A "rough around the edges city" that hosted a World's Fair but then seriously declined. We came back in 1991 while on our x-country MH trip with our daughters and surprise, the city had been reborn & gentrified. A new "river walk" complex running through the downtown with shops, restaurants and safe vistas. We were anxious to see the sights again. Unfortunately, once a year the city fathers divert the water in the San Antonio River away from the downtown and send in the workers for a clean-up.

They retrieve the cell phones, cameras, i-pods, restaurant silverware and assorted beverage bottles during a 4 days shut down in January. So, we got to see the river without the river, just the mud. It was actually pretty fascinating. The city is still friendly and most of the restaurants are open along with the shops. The Cotton Growers of America was there with a big convention.

We moved onto New Mexico and much higher elevations and real cold temperatures. One night in Deming it got to 15 degrees at night. Way too cold for us. We moved on quickly. But we did stop at a neat little Ghost Town called Shakespeare. The place was only open 1 weekend in January, and we were lucky. But we were the only tourists there. However, a local newspaper was doing a travel section piece on the town and they sent the editor and travel writer and we had a extra special tour and got interviewed for there article.

The Old Town.

A wagon from Days Gone By

The town's land has been owned by the same family for years since it was purchased back in the early 1900's after falling into disrepair. Billy the Kid once worked at the old hotel in town and the place is really a neat walk back in time.

(from Left) the Editor: Cheryl Fallstead; Travel Writer Bud Russo and land owner: Mr. Hill.

Laurie listens in as Mr. Hill explains the town.

On January 12th we moved on to Tucson and the Voyager RV Resort. A full service "campground" with over 1500 sites + 2 housing developments. Voyager boasts it's own 9 hole golf course, restaurant, market and small hotel. 3 pools, hot-tub, tennis, and pickle ball courts + boccie, horseshoes and every craft imaginable from glass fusion to wood working and lapidary. There are several full time activity directors and a staffed clinic, full gym and enough to keep you busy every day.

Laurie has joined the "fun band" and is practicing each Monday night and they have their first concert later this month. Like I said, I've been playing golf and we've been sightseeing.

Tucson is nestled in the southwest valley of Arizona between several mountain ranges. The Catalina's, the Rincon's and the Tucson mountains all compete for your eye. Mt. Lemmon in the north at 8,250 feet boasts a great ski resort. The snows can be seen from the valley floor while I'm in shorts. For me, that's the ONLY way to see snow. The Saguaro National Park is close by and Noagales, Mexico is an hour away.

Saguaro National Park

Laurie's cousin lives here with her husband and we've had time to visit with them. Long ago neighbors from East Northport also live here and are on our list of folks to see.

We plan on being here till mid-March before moving north to Phoenix and Sedona then over to New Mexico and a big RV rally in late April.

Happy Valentines Day to all and I'll post more (I promise) in a few days.

Til then,

Gene & Laurie

Family Wedding Pics

2009-01-04T18:36:00.000-08:00

The "Groom" Cuts the Cake !

Crossed Swords for the Happy couple.

Big brother Bill with his daughter.

Vanessa & Christian.

Holiday Memories

2009-01-04T18:11:00.000-08:00

GrandMa & Jesse Rae with the sing-a-long guitar.

Kane & Hogan "building" with a new toy.

GrandMa with Kane and her new Tea Mug !

We had a whirlwind trip back east for Christmas. A quick flight from Houston to Long Island via Baltimore on Christmas Eve and then dinner with my sister & husband. Christmas Day we spent with our grandchildren and a wonderful dinner by Katie & Ken. We capped off the busy day with a visit to good friends John & Sheila Schmidt in East Northport.

The next morning we headed south by car to Virginia and my niece's wedding on Saturday (pics to follow) and then we flew back to Texas on Sunday. We were able to spend some of the time with our daughter Kristin as well.

We've been back a week now and the weather has warmed a bit. Tomorrow we head west and will stop in San Antonio for a few days. We plan to be in Tucson, AZ by 1/12/2009 and the Voyager Resort for a month with good friends Bob & Betty Sobek. We stayed at Voyager several years ago and it is a high end resort with all the amenities, including it's own USGA rated Par 3 golf course. I had my first hole-in-one at Voyager that year.

Till Next Time

Seasons Greetings

2008-12-23T08:02:00.001-08:00

The Christmas tree at Stone Mountain Village in Atlanta. Beautifully decorated on a cold night.

Our "little" Christmas tree on the dashboard. We were parked in the Pointes West Army Recreation Facility on Lake Thurmond outside of Augusta.

Our best wishes to everyone for a wonderful holiday season and a safe and prosperous 2009.

We're driving down to Houston today and fly back to Long Island on Christmas Eve. We'll be back in Texas on Sunday.

Till Then,

Gene & Laurie

Stone Mt. & Atlanta

2008-12-21T14:33:00.000-08:00

The Fountain at Olympic Park.

The Coca-Cola Polar Bear.

Our new friend at Coke !

We climbed to the top, 1,683 feet. A cold and windy trip up ! But the view was worth it.

A View of Atlanta from the top of Stone Mountain.

The "carvings" on Stone Mountain, Ga just outside of Atlanta. The Confederacy is well represented !

More later.............

Recent Travel Pic's & Updates

2008-12-21T13:01:00.000-08:00

The "Club House" at Rainbow's End.

Our site # 14 in the "trees" section.

Rainbow's End RV Park layout in East Texas, about 70 miles north of Houston.

We're in Livingston, Texas at the Escapee's RV Park. Founded in 1978, the Escapee's RV Club is a advocacy and support group for full time travelers. They have grown over the years and have RV parks in Florida, Alabama, Missouri,Tennessee, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington. The Parks offer reduced price parking, activities and other amenities in a "no-frills or rustic" atmosphere. The organization also operates the largest mail forwarding service in the US.

We're here for several reasons: First off, last July I needed to select a location from where we would fly back to Long Island at Christmas to see the Grandkids. Airline prices were going up and I wanted to try and get the best price. After much thought we selected Houston as a probable location and I booked tickets to LI on Southwest. Secondly, my brother's daughter is getting married on December 27th in Fairfax, Virginia. After Christmas we'll drive down to the wedding and fly back to Houston from Dulles airport in Washington, DC.

Right after the New Year, we'll head west. Not sure where, but hopefully someplace warmer than here. Temps today, BTW is 45 degrees.

More to come..............

A View From The Panhandle

2008-12-13T20:41:00.000-08:00

Hello again. We've been in the Florida Panhandle for the past 2 weeks after a wonderful Thanksgiving repast in Augusta with family.

Our journey from Augusta took us down through Tallahassee and we stopped in a small fishing village called Carrabelle. Sadly not too many boats are left and the little town is starting to show signs of closed business and for sale homes. Perhaps in the warmer weather, things are busier but the area is somewhat depressed.

Our friends from Zephyrhills, Gene & Lynn drove up with their coach and we spent 5 days together. We plan on heading into Alaska next spring and the 4 of us spent many hours pouring over maps and books and the Internet looking at routes and places to visit.

We moved on to Pensacola and a visit with my nephew, Bryan & his wife Katy and her daughter Alexis. Bryan is a Chief in the Navy and we were treated to a wonderful campsite on the water with FHU's. A round of golf at NAS Pensacola, a tour of the Navel Aviation Museum and a few good dinners rounded out a 5 good days. Unfortunately, the weather here is not very warm and highs in the 40's and 50's with a good deal of rain surrounded our adventures.

Somehow, the warm sun and great weather of the southern USA have yet to be found on this trip and we are looking forward to Texas and the west for better weather. We'll be in Livingston, Tx on Monday nite and will stay at the Escapees' Rainbow's End Park till after the new year.

I'll get some photo's up on the site this week.

Till next time,

Gene & Laurie

Frost on the Peach

2008-11-27T17:30:00.000-08:00

Hello & Happy Thanksgiving !

As the title suggests it’s been cold here in the “Peach State” and we’re not used to temps in the 20’s and 30’s. Yep, we’ve had a low temperature of 22 degrees in Atlanta. Fortunately, it didn’t last long. Average daytime temps went to the 40’s & 50’s.

Anyway, we are in Augusta at the Pointes West Army Recreation Center campground compliments of my niece Christine & Army husband Mike. Great location, right on Lake Thurmond (remember the senator?) and enjoying fabulous views and fun times with family. My nephew Brian who just returned from Afghanistan and his new wife will also be joining us at his sister’s for dinner. We’ll get in some golf, watch some football and on Friday, Laurie will host a dinner for 9 in the Coach !

Atlanta was fun and we got to see some neat sights. A tour of the CNN studios, the Coke museum and Olympic Park filled one date. We also had tickets to see the King Tut exhibit which was not as thrilling as anticipated; nice but not awe inspiring. A trip out to Stone Mountain and their Christmas shows was cold but kicked off the early holiday season. We climbed the 1,683’ to the top and since it was too windy for the cable car to run, we hiked back down too !

We’ll leave Augusta on Tuesday and head south to Apalachicola on the Florida Panhandle where will meet up with friends. We’ll start the planning process for our Alaska adventure next spring. Then off to Houston.

We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a truly blessed holiday season.

Till next time,

Gene & Laurie

Meandering Through the South

2008-11-16T19:30:00.000-08:00

Hello and Greetings from "chilly" Atlanta, GA. The temps are in the low 30's at nite but do warm up during the day. We've been here since last Tuesday and plan on staying for 2 weeks.

As the title says, we are meandering through the south-land and taking our time to see the many sights and attractions. Our visit to Chattanooga was quite nice and it is a great little city with much to do. They have a pretty nice art museum, located on a bluff overlooking the Tennessee River. They've converted an old river bridge to a pedestrian overpass ( see pic) and surrounded it with parkland and fantastic views of the river. They developed their waterfront into a pedestrian and bike friendly "river-walk" and offer lots of opportunities to enjoy the scenic beauty while being close to the downtown hub. Ruby Falls, a 160' waterfall located 1100 feet inside Lookout Mountain is an incredible sight. If your intimidated by small confined spaces, I don't recommend it. Rock City over looking the Tennessee Valley is acres of beauty and the fall foliage was at it's peak (see pic). Being able to see 7 states from one vantage point is a unique experience. Of course we got to visit the Chattanooga Choo Choo !

After 10 days (we extended our original planned stay of a week) we headed south toward Huntsville, Alabama and got to marvel at the fall foliage throughout the Valley and were rewarded with majestic views. We spent 5 days in Rocket City, aka Huntsville and learned much about America's space program from the early days of Werner Von Braun through the current Space Shuttle Program. We stayed at an Alabama State Park at the top of a mountain range overlooking Huntsville and the surrounding area (see pic).

We're actually in Norcross, GA just east of Atlanta but at a reasonably priced park and just off I-85. We spent yesterday at Stone Mountain Park and climbed the 1,683 foot granite mountain. Tough walk both ways but the views of Atlanta were worth it. The Park is all decked out for Christmas and offered some good entertainment and some fun.

We'll be here till the 25th and then move east to Augusta and spend the holiday with my niece and her family.

Till next time,

Gene & Laurie

A Window on the Past

2008-10-27T17:50:00.001-07:00

As promised, I've attached a few pics from our trip overseas. The first pic is the four of us in north west Ireland on the "Giant's Causeway". Dee & Allen are old time friends. Dee grew up with Laurie and Allen & I lived across the street from each other in Jamaica, Queens. The "Giant's Causeway" is a section on the northern coast of Ireland that legend says was created by giants. The rocks are mostly hexagonical and are stacked perfectly in line. Steps for the Giants ??

The second photo has yours truly standing in the fairway of # 18 on the "Old Course" at St. Andrews, Scotland with the Royal & Ancient Golf Club building the background. I had played the "New Course" earlier that day. Great memories.

We're in Chattanooga, Tennessee and it's cold. We'll ride the Choo-Choo and see the Ruby Falls.

More about that, later this week.

Gene & Laurie

Country Time !

2008-10-21T18:44:00.000-07:00

Hello and Greetings from Nashville. We are in the heart of country music land and already have tickets for the 'Opry this coming weekend. Believe it or not, this is the first "campground" we've been in since we left Long Island earlier this month. We've been able get free camping so far. Of course, we spent a week at the Newmar factory in Nappanee, Indiana get a long list of warranty repairs completed. Nothing really major but lot's of minor annoyances.

The RV industry is really in a downturn and Newmar is not exempt. They used build 16+ units a day, now they are down to 4 units (must be ordered, no spec's) and only a 4 day work week. The Monaco factory shut down in July and laid off 1400 folks in Elkhart alone. Tough times.

They start early in Indiana. We had to be up, dressed, slides closed up and ready to turn over the rig at 6 am each day. The tech knocked on the door by 6.10 am and off the unit went. They bought it back around 2.15 pm and most folks were "napping" by 3 pm. Most of the workers are Amish and the community is filled with horse and buggy's.

While there we also had a nice visit with Steve & Linda Sanders. Steve & I worked on the LIRR and he's retired to the family farm nearby.

We took a quick trip up north to Charlotte, Michigan and had the chassis and engine serviced at the Spartan factory. Also had the coach weighed............whew ! we were under the gross figures !

Last weekend found us at the FMCA headquarters and their campground in Cincinnati, Ohio. Nice facility with full hook-ups and complimentary camping. While there we spent time seeing the Cincinnati Art Museum and some of the city sites and were able to visit with long time friends Dennis and Karen Conroy. Dennis and I grew up together in Jamaica, Queens and Karen lived on the next block. Two great dinners and some fun laughing and enjoying the memories !

I hope to get another post later this week with the promised Ireland memories.

Keep in touch, thanks for the comments.

Gene & Laurie

We're back ! Did you miss us ?

2008-09-29T17:42:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone. Well we're back from our wet travels around Ireland and Scotland. We left JFK on September 4th along with our long time friends, Dee & Allen and landed in Shannon in the rain. Of course it rained off and on (but mostly on) for the next 7 days and on the 13th the sun shone in Dublin ! Of course Dee and Al left for home and we left for Scotland. We landed in Glasgow in the rain and it continued to rain for the next 6 days !

At times we felt like we might need Noah's Ark during this trip but we persevered and did everything on our lists and more. I'll not bore you with all the details except to say that I had the opportunity to see the sun rise over the Royal & Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews and then stepped up to the 1st Tee on the New Course for a wonderful round of golf ! An unforgettable experience.

We're down in Ocean City, NJ with the grand kids at a rental house enjoying some good family fun and Kristin has joined us for the week. We plan on leaving on Sunday October 5th and our appointment at the Newmar factory in northern Indiana.

Over the course of the next few weeks I'll add some pics and drawings from Laurie's sketches in Ireland and Scotland.

Keep in touch and comments are always welcome.

Gene & Laurie

A "Downeast" Respite

2008-08-24T16:41:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks:

Well we had an exciting time on LI and moved over to the northern Pocono's and a visit with good friends Bob & Betty Sobek at their lake house on Harvey's Lake. This is an isolated mountain lake with fabulous vistas. Laurie got in some jet-ski time and I had a a couple of mountain golf experiences........I really enjoy flat surfaces better. But the company was good and we boon-docked for 3 days.

We moved onto Salisbury, Mass and a visit with friends from our Florida RV resort. We stayed at nice MA state park and explored the area with Shae & Marie who live just over the border in Seabrook, NH. The beaches were crowded but the weather fantastic.

We're up in Freeport, Maine and have been relaxing and enjoying some real peace and solitude. We've made the obligatory trip to LL Bean and the Maine Mall but the coach has all we need. We do enjoy looking though ! The weather has been cool but sunny and we had a great boat trip on Casco Bay today and a bike ride around Long Island ! Yep. LI, Maine is a great little vacation spot in the middle of the bay. About 3 miles long by 1/2 mile wide and 1200 year round residents that swell to 2000 in the summer. A picnic lunch and visit tot he local art gallery made for a great day.

This Wednesday we move on to Boston and a visit with Laurie's brother and then we'll spend Labor day helping our daughter Kristin move into her new apartment in Allentown, PA.

We'll be back on LI (NY) by 9/3 and fly off to Ireland and Scotland on September 4th for 3 weeks.

Stay well, we'll talk again soon.

Gene & Laurie

Long Island Visit

2008-08-11T20:29:00.000-07:00

We finish up a six day stop on Long Island at our daughter & son-in-laws home and some great fun time with our 3 grand children and leave tomorrow morning. Having GrandMa & GrandPa "next door" in the driveway was fun for the little ones and they enjoyed playing in the camper and being with us. Getting to see the football and cheerleading practice was fun.

I spent 4 nites working the fire department carnival and got in some golf with old friends and fire house buddies ! We visited with some folks and overall enjoyed our time here. Probably ate way too much food !

We're off to the Pocono's and more socializing and then up to New Hampshire and Maine.

The adventure continues.

Gene & Laurie

2008-07-31T19:58:00.000-07:00

The Move Is Complete !

Well it took 2 long days but we've finally moved out of the townhouse and into the coach. Wednesday was devoted to getting the final items into the coach; moving the food from one fridge to another, the final few clothing items and computer, etc. We also had lots' of visitors and conducted a bunch of "tours" of our new home. Many of the guys from the fire department stopped off to say goodbye and get a look at our new toy ! It was a nice touch and I appreciated their efforts and time spent visiting.

We moved the rig over to it's temporary home: a spot in the campground where we have stored the rig(s) during the years we've been in PA.

This morning was an early wake-up and we went back to the town home and finished packing the last of our stuff for storage. The movers showed up on time about 10.30 and it took till 2.30 to fill a 26' truck to the brim ! It then took another 3.5 hours to unload it and stuff it in a 10 x 15 x 12 storage unit. It was on the 3rd floor of a climate controlled building but thankfully the elevator was huge and they had lot's of carts.

We'll go back over the weekend and clean up the town home and move Kristin's stuff out on Saturday. We've got some other housekeeping chores in town and closing is scheduled for Monday. We'll leave for Long Island and the grand kids on Tuesday.

We're tired; we're excited; we're having fun; It's the adventure. We'll keep you posted.

Gene & Laurie

2008-07-26T18:39:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to our World. This is the start of our new adventure: to see as much of this wonderful country and the world as possible in the next few (could be more) years. We'll be leaving notes of interest and thoughts on our travels. We'll tell you some things about ourselves and we'll look forward to reading your thoughts and comments as well.

To begin, it is the end of July, 2008 and we have been on a hectic whirlwind of activity for the past 90 days. It is winding down and we leave here on Tuesday, August 5th. A brief synopsis of how all this came to be.

As many of you know we have been "campers" or RV'ers for the past 35 years. Our first truck camper came around 1974 and we've had many since. In November of last year we purchased a new 2007 Newmar Ventana coach. It's 40' and has 4 slideouts. It also has all the "bells & whistles" that anybody could ask for, including 3 flat screen tv's, full washer & dryer, sat tv, etc. etc.

After buying this we thought long and hard about our current lifestyle and realized that we now had the perfect opportunity to fulfill a longtime dream and travel full time. The coach comes with a 5 year, 100k bumper-to-bumper warranty package and it seemed foolish to leave the unit parked for long periods of time and watch it depreciate.

So by late December, 2007 we agreed to put our town home up for rent and travel. We have owned a fabulous (those of you who have been here will agree) 3 story townhouse on a golf course in suburban Philadelphia. The community is called PineCrest and has a championship par 70, 7300 yd golf course and about 325 homes. Montgomeryville is an eclectic community with major shopping, an abundance of restaurants and just about every convenience a person could want including access to the wonderful city of Philadelphia. We were also only 135 miles to our eldest daughter and 3 grandchildren on Long Island. Our youngest daughter also had moved close by and we had an idyllic place to live and we traveled. I joined a brand new volunteer (combination) fire department; Laurie joined the Arts Alliance and Red Hatters. We made friends; retired life was good.

But we're still young and there is so much more to see and do and we said it was time. When we returned from Florida in the spring of this year we put the place up for rent. Well, that was not what we expected. It became a bidding war of folks looking to get this place. It also quickly became obvious that we couldn't limit the size of the family that might rent and what the eventual wear and tear was going to be on the home and its' facilities. We'd be "absentee" landlords and it would be costing big dollars to keep the maintenance up. Our profits would be used up in costs. Plus the worry and legal hassle's all added up to a NO.

So, we scheduled an open house for June 1st, put as few signs up and a couple of ad's in the paper and Wow ! the house sold in an hour ! We've been packing ever since and it's getting close. We've had 2 garage sales, the last one today and we've unloaded lots ! The new owners have bought quite a bit of furniture and we've given our daughters more.

We'll still have have a storage unit in Bensalem and maybe someday we'll have another "brick & mortar" home but for now, we're off on this new chapter in our lives.

We'll move into the coach this Wednesday and the movers come on Thursday.

More to Follow:

Gene & Laurie