tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39027236614112386842012-02-09T09:58:57.261-06:00Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.comBlogger6521100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-74678349739909584152011-12-04T17:56:00.001-06:002011-12-04T17:56:23.421-06:00

…in 950 displays….that is the Bellingrath Gardens Magic Christmas in Lights show.  Located Southwest of Mobile, Alabama, the home and gardens of the late Mr. and Mrs. Walter Bellingrath are open to the public year round.  But at Christmas, they really put on a show. Here are pictures of a few thousand of the 3 million lights: Many of the displays were set either on or around a lake, so we

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-4432245826727690402011-11-18T19:45:00.001-06:002011-11-18T19:45:11.819-06:00

I don’t know about all full-timers, but we tend to wait until we know we’re going to be stable for a month or more before we make a bunch of appointments like dentist, eye, exams, dogs’ teeth cleaning, etc.  This was especially true for us this year as we were busy and traveling more than usual over the summer and early fall. As a result, I’ve been getting things scheduled left and right, and

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-89122553208053410502011-11-11T16:07:00.001-06:002011-11-11T16:07:01.981-06:00

“Whatever happened to your blog?”….  “Where are you?”…..  “Our friends used to write a blog”…. “sure miss your blog”….  “This would make a good blog picture, if you still had a blog” – those are actual quotes I’ve heard recently and repeatedly, so I guess it’s about time to climb back up on that blogging wagon I slap fell off of, and update my good friends and faithful readers! We’ve recovered (

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-69030338051638552472011-09-03T10:10:00.002-05:002011-09-03T10:13:48.262-05:00

Jim’s daughter, Robin Meacham, and Paul Crabb joined their lives and families in a beautiful ceremony at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Colorado Springs at 3:00 on a warm Saturday afternoon. When they were both in elementary school, Paul was my son Josh’s best friend. Robin spent every other weekend with us and that’s when she got to know Paul. They’ve been friends for a long time! We are proud

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-49602006306071455872011-08-05T15:26:00.001-05:002011-08-05T15:26:28.301-05:00

Doug Dubrouillet is no longer in pain.  I’m pretty sure on his way to wherever our spirits go when we leave this earthly plane, he flew around and touched some of his friends on the shoulder to say, “See ya later, I’m out of here.  Catch you on the other side.” At least that’s what I believe, since this morning I had both Doug and JoAnn strongly on my mind and couldn’t shake the feeling I

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-26879086249684921932011-07-19T14:21:00.001-05:002011-07-19T14:21:29.742-05:00

On our way across Wyoming, we saw lots of: And: There wasn’t much to do but take pictures!             There were several of these signs: Followed by these signs: And in case you missed your signs, there are gates that close when the weather is bad enough to close the interstate!             But after 2 days across Wyoming, we crossed the state line: Uh-oh, this

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-24229126640493297912011-07-16T20:16:00.001-05:002011-07-16T20:16:49.578-05:00

After our brief but fun time in Utah, it was necessary to move along.  I had a call from my Amarillo doctor’s office requesting a follow-up on one of my medical tests.  We decided to extend our planned visit to my nephew Bill and wife Rhonda in Idaho Falls, Idaho and get the follow-up done there.  We made it a 2-day journey with an overnight stop in Springville, Utah, south of Salt Lake City.

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-78867165601282434172011-06-21T18:58:00.001-05:002011-06-21T18:58:06.955-05:00

Happy Summer! We celebrated this solstice by once again visiting Zion National Park.  We left home about 8:30 this morning and actually found a good parking spot in the visitor center lot.  We rode the free shuttle up the canyon: There are about 9 stops along the route.  You can get off at any of the stops and catch another shuttle later one, they come along about every 7 to 10 minutes. We got

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-31186406814949882322011-06-20T20:51:00.001-05:002011-06-20T20:51:46.916-05:00

Our hearts go out to our friends Marilyn and Ed Dray, The Happy Wanderers.  We read on Facebook yesterday about their tragic fire while they were traveling from Missouri to their favorite summer haunt, Colorado Springs.  Thankfully they are ok and were able to save their truck, but they lost their beautiful Mobile Suites 5th wheel home and all the contents when a wheel locked up and caught fire.

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-8237292464532702412011-06-14T23:29:00.001-05:002011-06-14T23:29:40.871-05:00

We did it again – after spending about 6 weeks in Amarillo, we decided at the last minute to go West instead of up to South Dakota as we’d talked about earlier.  I’ve been nagging Jim for awhile that our travels have mostly settled into revisiting places we’ve already been.  Oh, we love those places and the people we’ve met there, but there are still a lot of nooks and crannies of this country

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-76328307152005087402011-05-05T16:27:00.001-05:002011-05-05T16:27:14.966-05:00

The windy city…whoever said Chicago should be called the windy city has obviously never been to the Texas Panhandle in Spring.  The wind blows in the morning.  The wind blows in the afternoon.  Then, just as if you’re not tired of rockin’ and rollin’, the wind blows through the night.  Gotta love Amarillo!  We blew into town nearly a week ago and set up shop in the “back 40” of our friends Don

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-74754913640163143322011-03-15T21:39:00.002-05:002011-03-15T22:21:54.390-05:00

After almost 7 weeks of uninterrupted boondocking (except for the quick trips to town to dump our tanks), we finally tore ourselves away from our desert paradise and returned to civilization. But not before we experienced more fun and adventure! We did manage to hike up to Palm Canyon, although the day we picked was windy and quite chilly. We saw the palms in the sunshine this year! Along

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-25086874403694482722011-03-02T20:18:00.001-06:002011-03-02T20:18:58.859-06:00

Well, guess what – in addition to getting that “geezer card” just after my recent birthday, I am really official now – I just received my first Social Security check!  Wow… Now, of course, with that advancing age comes a certain, uhmmmm….shall we say, “mild forgetfulness”…ok, let’s be honest, I have senior moments now and then.  When I posted last night, I forgot some important stuff!  In

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-7413013918701691942011-03-01T21:01:00.001-06:002011-03-01T21:01:22.096-06:00

Last year, we spent 40 days out here in the desert.  This year, if all goes according to plan, it will be just a smidge longer, about 43 days.  Last year, we ran our generator about 175 hours.  This year, with solar panels (four 100-watt panels) we’ve run the generator less than 60 hours.  We know that we will never get our money out of the solar panels, but not having to depend on the generator

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-79190868682969929652011-02-05T21:27:00.001-06:002011-02-05T21:27:30.828-06:00

Today has been busy!  We were up early – in time to see the sunrise: We heard the racers in the Parker 425 and saw the clouds of dust they raised most of the day, thankfully they were distant and really didn’t bother us much. Jim gathered everyone’s trash to go to the dump, and while he was out he got more fresh water for us. Rollie and Mike had the same idea about water and filled Rollie’s

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-3040184479763439352011-02-04T21:21:00.001-06:002011-02-04T21:21:36.234-06:00

It was still very chilly this morning.  Jim was making a grocery run, he went to get Rod around 9 this morning and together they gathered everyone’s grocery lists and headed off to Parker.  I have to admire them – this is the weekend of the big “Parker 425” off-road races and the place is mobbed. While they were gone, I practiced some line dancing inside until it warmed up to a little over 30

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-41792231644858675952011-02-03T20:20:00.001-06:002011-02-03T20:20:08.778-06:00

Our little community has decreased from 7 rigs down to 4.  I know Brenda and John had already planned to go visit some friends in the Phoenix area.  But I think the impending cold weather might have accelerated the plans for Pat & Mike and Sylvia & Glenn a bit, because they also packed up and left Tuesday morning. We decided to go into town to fill up on propane and dump our tanks Tuesday.  We

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-87625276253309502652011-01-29T21:15:00.001-06:002011-01-29T21:15:01.707-06:00

Oh, my…. do I ever feel like a princess.  Well, maybe not quite a princess,  but today has certainly been an extra-special birthday for me.  No, not because I am now eligible for Social Security AND the “America the Beautiful” Senior Pass to National Parks, but because of all of the wonderful, special friends and family who have sent me greetings through Facebook, phone, E-mail, text, and in

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-82481214210184755622011-01-26T07:37:00.001-06:002011-01-26T07:37:20.399-06:00

The football games got played and watched, our laundry got done, and finally, Monday came and we paid our bill at Dreamcatcher RV Park in Deming and began the final legs of our odyssey to Arizona and our desert camping spot. We got our sites at Pima County Fairgrounds just outside of Tucson, did minimal set up and drove back to Benson to meet JoAnn and Doug for a quick “Dinch” at the local

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-3208688507628058712011-01-22T15:38:00.001-06:002011-01-22T15:38:14.459-06:00

Whew! We made it out of Texas… On Thursday morning, in spite of high wind warnings, we left San Antonio at 10 a.m.  Of course, all day, Jim and Rod both fought high crosswinds and/or headwinds as we made our way to the stop for the night at Ozona, TX: I had a pork tenderloin cooking in the crockpot during the day, so we had a nice dinner that night.  It was our coldest night though, with

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-19229849049578287722011-01-19T18:26:00.001-06:002011-01-19T18:26:29.064-06:00

We are once again in travel mode, after a brief stopover in Rockport, Texas.  Jim got his dental check-up taken care of, the dogs got groomed, and we lived to tell of our hail/lightning/wind/rain experiences at The Last Resort. It was about 4 a.m. on Sunday morning, January 9.  My first thought was, “Hey! No flash photography allowed in here”, and then I realized I wasn’t dreaming, and those

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-77410269757257207622011-01-04T22:54:00.001-06:002011-01-04T22:54:00.560-06:00

We’ve had a week of some busy days and some lazy days - just the way we like it.  The weather has been just like that – warm, sunny days mixed in with cloudy and cool days, with a little rain thrown in for good measure. Last Tuesday, we enjoyed a day trip with Deb and Rod back up towards Fredericksburg and some Texas Wine Country.  That evening, Dortha and Mark arrived for a couple of nights as

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-71116413809142337922010-12-26T10:07:00.002-06:002010-12-26T10:46:07.852-06:00

Ok, so by typical Northerner standards, 29 degrees is not really cold. But for us Snowbirds who like to dress in shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops year round, that’s cold! And that’s what we woke up to on this sunny Boxing Day. Since we Americans don’t officially celebrate this day, I had to do a little research to find out exactly what it’s about. Celebrated primarily in Canada and Great

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-20889498283270364412010-12-21T19:53:00.001-06:002010-12-21T19:53:18.855-06:00

Finally, we’ve reached that magic day, the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of sunlight and the longest night of darkness.  Now we can begin the process of watching the days grow longer, minute by minute. We’ve been enjoying very nice days here in San Antonio, this morning when we got up it was 63.  It was cloudy, almost foggy, but by noon it had cleared up and the sun was shining brightly.

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-90583153022815257552010-12-17T10:47:00.001-06:002010-12-17T10:47:30.735-06:00

I knew it was time to get busy and write a new entry when Jim made a comment the other day, “this would be a good picture for the blog, if you still had one.”  Hmmm….has it been that long? What have we been up to, where are we now and what are we doing? The last time I wrote, we were in Livingston.  Much of our time there we were visiting with our friends, Mike and Rhonda and their family.  We

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-39800535881640712772010-11-23T17:37:00.001-06:002010-11-23T17:37:04.880-06:00

I don’t remember the exact circumstances, but I was having a conversation with someone – at a check stand or in line at Wal-Mart, perhaps - and I was asked, “Where are you from?”  To which I answered, “Livingston, Texas”.  The person with whom I was conversing mentioned a specific location near here, asking me how I like it – I had to answer honestly, “Well, I don’t know, I’ve never been there.”

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-16740326346874098142010-11-20T20:09:00.001-06:002010-11-20T20:09:05.432-06:00

How in the world do I characterize this visit?  My friends ask me how New Orleans is now, “after Katrina”?  We’re tourists here, yet we’re not.  Every place we visit is actually our home, if only for a few days, or a few weeks.  We like to experience a place with that in mind.  Yes, of course, many times we do the “touristy” things, but more often we’re visiting someone who lives there, and we

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-9440798740997532402010-11-16T19:12:00.002-06:002010-11-16T19:18:00.226-06:00

Those last few days of our time in Summerdale at Rainbow Plantation sure seemed to fly by. All of a sudden we realized we still had a lot on our list and not much time to get it all done. So, we’ve spent the past few days catching up on some jobs, like washing the Castle, grooming the dogs, finishing up some organizing, and of course, visiting with friends! Bright and early this morning, we

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-23402366443500831142010-11-10T19:33:00.001-06:002010-11-10T19:33:13.380-06:00

Instead, we enjoyed a blue sky decorated with wispy clouds, with sugar-white sand beaches and the Gulf waters gently lapping the shore. I got up early and made it to line dancing, where the class continues to grow.  When I got home, Jim informed me he had prepared a picnic lunch and had the car loaded and ready to go.  Wow – what a guy!  He earned himself about a million “hubby-points” for

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-80015653821533038362010-11-09T19:36:00.001-06:002010-11-09T19:36:58.508-06:00

The rain left us with some cold air, and that’s finally moved on and left us with sunny skies and warm temperatures, at least during the day.  Nightfall, which is coming along entirely too early now, brings a chill along with it. I’ve mentioned before that we are very blessed with generally good health, so we don’t have to deal much with medical stuff.  The main exception is my blood test that I

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-13139542748498565752010-11-04T20:19:00.001-05:002010-11-04T20:19:32.932-05:00

Today’s picture is another one we took of the sunset at Gulf Shores a couple of days ago – we haven’t been taking many pictures since it’s been raining!  The last 2 days have been mostly “at home” days, catching up on a couple of projects. A lot of you already know that Jim is a spice nut.  I have to watch him pretty carefully, or our whole kitchen area could be overrun with spices.  Yesterday

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-31774373095626035292010-11-01T22:14:00.001-05:002010-11-01T22:14:58.800-05:00

Often, people ask us where we plan to “settle down” when we’re done traveling.  Sort of reminds me of the question asked of me as a child, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” How the heck was I supposed to know the answer to that!?  This is the same feeling – we’re not done traveling, so how can we know where (or if) we want to settle?  With that said, IF we HAD to make a choice right now,

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-67068623667340134642010-10-28T21:12:00.001-05:002010-10-28T21:12:55.262-05:00

It sure doesn’t seem that long ago I struggled over my sewing machine to make you a ruffled, long, feminine “prairie” dress you hated….but I guess it was about 25 years ago!  A lot has happened in those years, hasn’t it?  But the bottom line remains, your Dad and I love you very much, and wish you all the happiness you  most certainly deserve!  Happy Birthday, Dear Robin!  May you have many,

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-46323456782801815252010-10-27T18:18:00.001-05:002010-10-27T18:18:03.162-05:00

Yesterday was Weight Watcher’s meeting day.  I found the meeting room after one false start – tried to go in the back door.  That’s probably why it looked so deserted!  The meeting had already started, it was listed at the wrong time on the internet. Even after what Dortha calls a “summer free-for-all” my weight has pretty much stabilized these days.  I’m a few pounds up from my lowest weight,

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-8536282692330185012010-10-25T22:25:00.002-05:002010-10-26T18:15:26.066-05:00

Yesterday was Sunday. I know that because it was the second football day in a row. Usually the first football day is Saturday, so the second football day would be Sunday. I remember one time after my Dad retired, he complained because he no longer got weekends and holidays. I laughed then. I guess I’m still laughing, because now it’s us. Saturdays and Sundays are a little different in our

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-86101450151287720292010-10-23T14:38:00.001-05:002010-10-23T14:38:18.959-05:00

This is our site at Rainbow Plantation, it’s number 35.  Yes, it is the same site we occupied two years ago when we were here with Dortha and Mark.  At that time, there was also a resident magpie living in one or both of the trees you can see on either side of the Castle.  The bird did not like our Castle, and showed us how much he disliked us being in his space by pecking at our roof every day –

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-3147251348591534822010-10-20T16:56:00.001-05:002010-10-20T16:56:49.717-05:00

We left our group of friends at Defeated Creek last Friday and drove back to Birmingham South Campground in Pelham, Alabama.  On Saturday evening, a good friend’s mom was being surprised with a 75th birthday party, and we’d been invited.  It was a great party with their family and friends, we were glad to be invited to share the happy evening. This is real concentration – I didn’t even know Jim

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-47548121216209824562010-10-19T22:31:00.001-05:002010-10-19T22:31:24.094-05:00

Our RV Community/Family has been hit hard.  Many of us have not met each other, yet we share many things, and through the wonder of technology via the internet, we feel like we know each other.  Such is the case with Margie and Bruce, a couple who were killed in a freak accident a few days ago in California.  Margie had two blogs, one about her dedication to maintaining her healthy lifestyle

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-22446307973024705062010-10-13T12:20:00.001-05:002010-10-13T12:20:28.163-05:00

Happy Fall!  Our last few days in the Birmingham area were filled with friends and activities.  Carol, our good friend who lives in the area, joined us for several outings.  One of them was to her hometown, Sylacauga.  There we visited an Amish gift shop owned by a good friend of hers, Debe.  We picked up several things that we managed to get out of Indiana without, some homemade Amish noodles

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-70096105310214698262010-10-03T19:48:00.001-05:002010-10-03T19:48:27.517-05:00

      Well, the Fall Camp Taz is already over, and today is Jim’s birthday, so I guess it must be time to bid farewell to yet another summer.  Where do they go so quickly?  It seems like we just got started with our fun summer activities and already I’m looking for jeans and sweaters.  The blanket is back on the bed, and I know soon we’ll actually have to plug it in. My week at Camp Taz was a

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-20965865411642437772010-09-21T17:58:00.001-05:002010-09-21T17:58:33.369-05:00

Once again, it is time for me to make my semi-annual trek to Mississippi to join my Weight Watchers friends for a week of exercise, eating right, and having a great time.  This time, we are based at Birmingham South Campground which is actually in Pelham, Alabama.  Jim will be able to get around while I’m gone, thank goodness he has his own Droid with the navigation feature! We traveled

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-91939922208744925772010-09-19T14:06:00.001-05:002010-09-19T14:06:39.813-05:00

Not exactly, but it was pretty early in the day when we completed our visit to the Jim Beam distillery and stopped in at the tasting room for our 1 ounce samples.  At  this distillery, there isn’t an actual tour, just a film and a short talk about their history. In the history room, they have this life-like distillery model on display.  We were told that it can produce 1 gallon of bourbon per

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-53344362401398061502010-09-17T19:41:00.001-05:002010-09-17T19:41:19.318-05:00

The 50th Escapade is History!  It was a great experience, and we’re both very glad we did it, but we’re also glad to be viewing our world through the windshield once again! True to form, neither of us slept through the night.  I kept waking up, wondering if it was time to get up and get ready to travel.  We somehow did manage to delay getting up until after 6:30, a luxury after the past few

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-9623124826933630712010-09-15T13:16:00.001-05:002010-09-15T13:16:47.193-05:00

How’s this for a twist:  Jim and I are taking an average of 500 to 600 pictures between us every day, and I don’t have anything ready to post for the blog!  Every morning, I get up way too early to be ready to turn in my flash drive to the Escapees Director so she can go through them and prepare a slide show for that afternoon.  So, later on down the road, after we catch our breath, I will catch

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-72848522223692516112010-09-11T21:14:00.001-05:002010-09-11T21:14:41.926-05:00

                Did I mention that Jim loves his new recliner?  He tried it out again some today, and this evening Jazz decided she likes it too, after she jumped up and curled up in Jim’s lap while he was watching a football game. We woke up to clouds, and before long, it was raining.  Most of the day the rain stayed in the drizzle stage, but we did have a few hard showers,

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-62159107924789108332010-09-10T20:21:00.001-05:002010-09-10T20:21:56.485-05:00

When we last left you, we were getting ready to go to dinner at an Amish home.  I had no idea what to expect, but we have read and heard that the Amish people do not like to have their pictures taken, so I didn’t take my camera.  Luckily, a few others in our group did take theirs, so I’ve “borrowed” a couple from them to share.  No one took pictures of the hosts, but there were pictures taken of

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-25645784388733824842010-09-08T12:47:00.001-05:002010-09-08T12:47:06.533-05:00

Our first Gypsy Journal Rally has become a fond memory!  We both learned some new things, met some new friends and enjoyed our experience.  Our group of friends is still here at the Elkhart Campground, and we’re still having a great time this week as we wait for the Escapees big 50th Escapade, which begins on Sunday. Sunday morning we got up bright (well, maybe it wasn’t so bright that early),

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-47342820294011229592010-09-01T08:41:00.001-05:002010-09-01T08:41:36.821-05:00

The rally is underway and already into the third day.  Time is flying, and we are not still for long!  Before I get into activities and pictures, I want to answer a question from a reader about the “lime cure” for Jasmine’s barking.  When she barks, I just squirt a few drops of lime juice from the plastic lime directly into her mouth.  Most of her barking, especially when we’re out walking, has

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-8059899529639869492010-08-28T21:46:00.001-05:002010-08-28T21:46:38.477-05:00

Early mornings, busy days, fun evenings, great weather, wonderful friends, how could it get better – we are enjoying and treasuring every day.  As I reported on Thursday, there was a definite chill in the air when we got up.  That didn’t last long, the sun soon warmed  us and we ended up with a beautiful day. After line dancing class, a bunch of us (I think our count was around 14 or 16 people)

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-46490311217631981832010-08-26T08:45:00.001-05:002010-08-26T08:45:41.133-05:00

We’ve established somewhat of a routine with our group, which has continued to grow and now consists of 7 couples: Kathy & Chuck, Karen & Donnie, Arlene & Kevin, Donna & Keith, Lynette & Greg (Mac), Dortha & Mark, and Jim & myself.   We don’t do everything together, but we’ve been gathering in the evening for happy hour and some sort of dinner.  One evening everyone brought their own choice of

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-28985662091530277882010-08-22T20:44:00.001-05:002010-08-22T20:44:36.350-05:00

I can already tell that keeping up with reporting our daily activities here is going to be a huge challenge.  There is always someone around to visit with, something going on or somewhere to go.  If none of that applies, there is cooking and cleaning, walking the dogs and all the other regular, routine stuff that we do.   Challenge or not, I’ll try to keep up! Before I get into a recount of the

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-6051516039147083742010-08-21T05:33:00.002-05:002010-08-21T05:42:15.956-05:00

Even in our 4th year of full-timing, we still get excited about travel days and usually don’t sleep all that well the night before. I guess after our time in Red Bay and the anticipation of getting to see many friends, we were doubly excited. Both of us were wide awake sometime around 4 a.m. Thursday morning. As a result, we were on the road by 6:30 (yes, that was a.m.).We decided to take

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-42863253645404336332010-08-18T18:39:00.001-05:002010-08-18T18:39:34.406-05:00

Finally, after almost three weeks, our number came up.  We got the word on Monday evening to report to Bay 6 at 7:00 Tues. morning.  The long, hot days we’ve experienced waiting, waiting, waiting suddenly seemed insignificant.  We happily went to bed early and got up a smidge before dark-thirty Tuesday morning, made our final packing preparations, including digging out an overnight bag in case we

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-3877202339778843952010-08-12T20:04:00.001-05:002010-08-12T20:04:12.298-05:00

I wanted to be warm this summer…..yes, I am warm.  Please understand, I am not complaining about the heat!  I wanted to be in a climate where I could get up in the morning, throw on a pair of flip flops,  shorts and a T-shirt and take the dogs for a walk without worrying about socks, shoes, sweaters, jackets, etc.  I have my wish.  I was looking at pictures from last summer at this time and I

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-83269220748397170612010-08-09T19:56:00.001-05:002010-08-09T19:56:45.143-05:00

Not always, but many times, we really don’t notice the days of the week.  However, here at “Camp Red Bay”, it’s impossible to miss the end of a week, the week-end, and the beginning of the next week. Fridays are happy days – the bank next door is busy with people depositing their weekly pay checks.  Folks are in a good mood.  And starting at 3:00 in the afternoon (when all work here at Tiffin is

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-25335472889461044942010-08-06T17:41:00.001-05:002010-08-06T17:41:46.268-05:00

Yesterday marked the end of our first week here at “Camp Red Bay”.  So far we’ve had our toilet replaced, bedroom TV sound fixed, front TV mounting screws checked,  jacks calibrated, a cabinet installed in the bedroom under the TV and a shelf installed in the cupboards above the passenger side slide out.  We’ve also emptied all the cupboards on the driver-side slide out and packed all the

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-66418333702972200032010-08-03T19:28:00.001-05:002010-08-03T19:28:28.773-05:00

Today’s picture was taken just about 1 year ago in Grand Teton National Park, I thought it might help some of us feel a little cooler!  Our heat index here today got pretty close to 110*.  A thunderstorm late this afternoon brought the humidity up while decreasing the temperature a bit, pretty much of a trade-off. Several of our friends have commented to us that  they’re not sure they would

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-52323895296245404002010-07-29T20:02:00.001-05:002010-07-29T20:02:35.677-05:00

Yesterday we decided to take a quick run to Tunica and have lunch at Paula Deen’s Buffet in Harrah’s Casino.  We left a little after 10, stopped by Bridget & John’s to tell them “See Ya Down the Road”, then drove to Tunica.  We got to Harrah’s before we were really hungry so we decided to play a few penny slots before going up to the buffet.  We each won a little, so we paid for our lunches! 

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-45220607748683039532010-07-28T09:21:00.001-05:002010-07-28T09:21:22.702-05:00

That’s how it started.  Monday evening, not long after the latest edition of “Justravelin” hit the internet, there was a knock on our door.  There, right outside, stood John and Bridget (Travels  of John and Bridget)!  The last time we’d seen them was at the 2008 RV Dreams Rally in Branson, so we had some catching up to do.  It was a fun evening, with the end result being they decided to stay an

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-9583842458495285082010-07-26T17:03:00.001-05:002010-07-26T17:03:53.615-05:00

Yesterday turned out to be a good day to laze around and not do much.  We’d talked about taking a day trip to Hot Springs National Park, but after neither of us slept all that well Saturday night, we decided to not drive the 140 mile round trip after all.  Instead, we opted to have breakfast at the local Cracker Barrel and pick up a few groceries at Walmart.  When we got home, we basically just

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-34070282698223967342010-07-24T18:10:00.001-05:002010-07-24T18:10:06.080-05:00

We decided the best way to stay cool today was to pile everyone in the car and turn the air conditioner on high.  Since we were sitting in the car with the engine running to keep the air conditioner cool, we thought we might as well drive around some and see what we could see. We had a couple of questions and comments from folks familiar with this area, so had some ideas what to see.  First up

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-86678409071443608272010-07-23T16:44:00.001-05:002010-07-23T16:44:50.100-05:00

Let me just say this first, to all of our friends who were aghast at our decision to “stay South” this summer because we were cold most of last summer:  “It’s HOT here!”  Yes, I’m finally warm.  But like I’ve always said, I can get cooled off a lot easier than I can warm up, so as far as I’m concerned, I’m just fine.  Jim and the dogs might have a slightly different opinion, though. Our decision

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-88448619661638167282010-07-22T14:38:00.001-05:002010-07-22T14:38:04.944-05:00

“…Turn out the lights, the party’s over…”  Well, that one is, but there will be more down the road, that’s for sure.  The picture above is east of Amarillo as we made our way along I-40 early this morning.  What a GREAT time we had!  We’ll miss the gang there, but already have plans in the making for the next time through. Tuesday night we had dinner at Shirley & Mike’s house (Jim’s cousins).

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-24490226033670455542010-07-18T14:43:00.001-05:002010-07-18T14:43:08.295-05:00

Just about everything we’ve been doing the last few weeks led up to yesterday – Saturday, July 17th.  Caprock High School’s 40th reunion dinner dance was held at River Breaks Ranch located just outside Amarillo.  We’ve been to “planning” meetings that doubled as parties, helped the committee by donating funds and items for the silent auction, helped decorate, set up, clean up, and just had a

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-68510562403661157632010-07-15T16:07:00.002-05:002010-07-15T16:09:48.789-05:00

Since we moved to the Amarillo Ranch RV Park on the East side of Amarillo, it seems like life has been a continuous party (even more so than it usually is!).  Karon and I got back into our habit of walking the Schnauzer Brigade each morning, getting in our 30 minutes.  We even got some time in the swimming pool one afternoon, that was wonderful! Our evening hours have been mainly filled with

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-86046068308993544782010-07-05T20:01:00.001-05:002010-07-05T20:01:09.008-05:00

That’s us, in the windy Texas Panhandle City of Amarillo – taking it one day at a time, laying low.  Well, mostly, anyway.  We’re here to see family and take care of some business.  Jim’s 40th high school reunion is here this month too, so he’s been reconnecting with friends he hasn’t seen since graduation and introducing me to them. Unfortunately, about a week ago, I really took today’s title

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-62368367145199342662010-06-23T20:28:00.001-05:002010-06-23T20:28:23.834-05:00

Monday morning after the family reunion,  we were rolling the Castle down the road by 8:30 for our travel day of about 140 miles, from Kingston, Oklahoma to Keene, Texas which is just outside of Cleburne, Texas.  If you’re still lost, Cleburne is a few miles south of Forth Worth, just off I35W.  Our travel day was about 3 hours.  We pulled in to the RV Ranch of Keene and got set up, then called

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-31452020980954966912010-06-20T22:25:00.001-05:002010-06-20T22:25:41.303-05:00

I’m not sure why they keep calling it the “Jones Family Reunion” – no one with the current last name of Jones comes to them anymore, there aren’t many left alive now, and the few that are alive live far away and can’t make the trip.  But, whatever, it is still the Jones Family Reunion and it is an annual event in Jim’s family. This year we met in Oklahoma where Jim’s Aunt Ruth and Uncle Wayne

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-52176669247950942072010-06-16T18:14:00.001-05:002010-06-16T18:14:11.829-05:00

Yesterday morning we were at Fenton Ford in Dumas before 8:00, hoping to get our overdue (just a year) inspection on the motor home done and get on the road towards Oklahoma. We got right in, I think we interrupted their morning coffee routine, but the guys in service didn’t seem to mind.  The plan had been to go east from Dumas on Texas 152 and get on I-40 at Pampa, but after hearing about

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-70985845865133797502010-06-15T05:52:00.001-05:002010-06-15T05:55:33.845-05:00

Yes, back “On The Road Again.” We missed the family before we lost sight of their cars leaving the campground on Sunday evening, so it was a sweet/sad morning for us both as we finalized the wrap-up and got ready to roll yesterday morning. We were up early, and as soon as I made the bed, I piled all the stuff that rides there on it. Steering wheel table, my Wii Fit board and Guitar Hero guitar

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-14926633160572125732010-06-13T21:36:00.001-05:002010-06-13T21:36:58.492-05:00

The past few days have gone by quickly!  More visits with friends and family, getting prescriptions handled, Weight Watcher meeting, cleaning and organizing, and a visit to drop off some things to the local Goodwill with a trip to the local laundromat thrown in for good measure. We’re in our final countdown mode, with departure  only about 12 – 14 hours from the time I’m starting to write this.

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-92138566565673334792010-06-10T10:38:00.001-05:002010-06-10T11:50:59.244-05:00

We are getting things checked off the “must do” list before we leave the Pikes Peak Region this coming Monday. The solar panels are installed and have passed their first test. Our medical, dental and vision needs have been taken care of. The Castle has been polished and we’ve cleaned out and organized much of our “stuff”. Our phones have been updated and we can (usually!) manage to answer and

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-10118896835836092162010-06-06T18:34:00.001-05:002010-06-06T18:34:59.807-05:00

One of my activity goals while here was to participate in the Weight Watchers “Walk-it Challenge” which was basically an informal challenge to walk 5K (3.1 miles).  Today was the day my friend and former walking partner, Karen, and I had decided we would do our walk.  This morning I left at 7:00 to be at her house by 7:30 so we could do our walk before it got hot.  Does it count if we stopped

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-6118511693318140022010-06-04T20:13:00.001-05:002010-06-04T20:13:49.182-05:00

Did you think we’d completely sold out to the 50 amp power pole?  Not entirely…Even though we’ve been tethered for a while now, the discussion of boondocking (also called dry camping) has not stopped.  We needed to gather our resources, do some research, then find the time and assistance to get ourselves more prepared.  When we lived and worked here in Colorado Springs, we got to know Eric

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-47084168397223060472010-06-01T20:12:00.001-05:002010-06-01T20:12:08.756-05:00

Back in April when I was at Camp Taz, we attended “Tales of The Crypt”, which is part of the Columbus, MS celebration of Pilgrimage, an annual Southern celebration.  To prepare for “Tales”, juniors at the Math and Science School in Columbus pick someone who is buried in Friendship Cemetery and do a research project about that person, including a costumed presentation which is acted in that

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-8409763537896794052010-05-30T21:40:00.001-05:002010-05-30T21:40:19.449-05:00

About as soon as I pressed the “publish” button for yesterday’s blog entry, the weather took a nasty turn!  I’ve complained about the wind, and yesterday evening that ugly wind brought some pretty chilly temperatures back into our lives.  No rain, but today was much cooler, still windy! We had a great time with Pat and John last night at dinner, thanks again for treating us, Pat.  They are

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-73382584289324284882010-05-29T16:46:00.001-05:002010-05-29T16:46:26.117-05:00

The days zoom along and we are now only 2 weeks away from rolling the Castle on down the road.  This past week has been a little difficult for me, but also very gratifying.  We had the opportunity on Wednesday to make a trip to Denver for another ceremony, this time to send twin grandsons, Calib and Cameron, from middle school to high school.  Cameron received 2 awards, a Citizenship Award and a

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-48055193474181436642010-05-21T15:50:00.001-05:002010-05-21T15:50:49.429-05:00

Like many of our friends who spend weeks to months in one spot, I feel it’s hard to write a daily blog when our days are not filled with exciting adventures.  That is, unless you find dental and doctor visits exciting and entertaining!  So, I’ll just recap the past week for you. Jim’s been to the doctor and the dentist, and all reports are positive.  He is getting excited to have his dental work

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-27788764296970472862010-05-13T18:32:00.001-05:002010-05-13T18:32:15.206-05:00

It always seems to happen this way.  Usually, we live life in the slow lane.  But almost as soon as we hit the Colorado state line, it begins.  Much of what we do here is the “necessary” stuff, like the doctor and dentist appointments.  More of what we do here is fun – reconnecting with our family members and friends who live here.  Then there is the usual “stuff” we do, housekeeping, shopping,

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-12995068211467409702010-05-12T18:57:00.001-05:002010-05-12T18:57:13.940-05:00

Several months ago, I think we were in Lincoln City, Oregon at the time, I heard about an exercise/dance class called “Zumba”.  The woman described it as a very fast paced dance/aerobic class.  I again heard about it recently when one of my friends here in Colorado Springs talked about going to Zumba class.  So,  yesterday afternoon, I went with her.  Oh my… as if I wasn’t suffering enough from

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-61434300649291790892010-05-10T20:01:00.001-05:002010-05-10T20:01:13.718-05:00

Early this morning, I was watching a local Colorado Springs TV station, and the weatherman said something about this being the time of year when we get a lot of variety in the weather.  Yesterday went from very chilly in the morning to hot and windy in the afternoon.  Today has been so-so, with moderate temperature and – wind.  Tomorrow and the next day, well, we just need to make sure our winter

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-15287581627743264722010-05-08T18:05:00.001-05:002010-05-08T18:05:37.475-05:00

We already miss our desert and the blooming cactus plants…especially since the last two mornings we’ve awakened to temperatures in the low 30’s.  Ok, I hear you, Janna, I know you’ve had 18 degrees up in Montana!  I shouldn’t complain, I know! This morning we had the alarm set (yes we do have clocks, although I often forget to look at them) for dark-thirty (translation: 4:50 A.M), so we could

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-545398422618239792010-05-07T21:21:00.001-05:002010-05-07T21:30:23.442-05:00

I was gently reminded today that people can’t keep up with our travels and adventures if I neglect the blog writing. So, I will catch you all up on the last week or so and what’s happening now.First, one of the reasons I haven’t posted is because I was hoping to get a response from a reader who e-mailed me after my last post, regarding my mini-rant about the park employees at Tuzigoot National

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-12523027209668385592010-04-26T15:08:00.001-05:002010-04-26T15:08:23.413-05:00

We are getting better at balance – the art of relaxing vs. being on the go, or working on the Castle every day.  There is always something that needs to get done around the homestead, places to go, things to see.   Yesterday was declared to be one of our balance days – in other words – we took the day off.  In the morning, we gathered our cameras and took off around the park to do some leisurely

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-2943432845348370432010-04-24T22:43:00.001-05:002010-04-24T22:43:35.030-05:00

When we first started traveling “for real” back in May of 2006, our first trip was to Williams, Arizona, where we explored the Grand Canyon, among other destinations.  On one of our day trips then, we traveled to Sedona for the day.  Actually it was more like a couple of hours, just about the amount of time we spent there yesterday.  The weather was still cloudy, windy, and chilly here yesterday.

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-65211424184252369102010-04-22T15:38:00.001-05:002010-04-22T15:38:47.786-05:00

You’d think, after more than 3 years on the road that travel days would not elicit that sleepless night syndrome, the one where we each wake up several times wondering if it’s time to go yet.  But, no, we both had it last night.  Do you think we were just ready to get outa Phoenix? Bright and early this morning we were up, drinking our coffee and were pulling out of Desert Shadows RV Resort by 8

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-85611426490403261482010-04-21T19:48:00.001-05:002010-04-21T19:48:45.727-05:00

Late yesterday afternoon I returned from getting together with my Weight Watchers online group of friends who gather a couple of times a year near Columbus, Mississippi to compare notes and reenergize our Weight Watchers commitment.  This time there were 8 of us, and we had a great time eating healthy, exercising and generally having fun.  We kayaked almost every morning, took many walks, and

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-56025374569811735802010-04-08T22:50:00.001-05:002010-04-08T22:50:17.394-05:00

If you’ve spent time in Phoenix, you know that it’s big and spread out.  To get anywhere, you travel for miles on highways or major roads to get anywhere.   If you’ve not yet visited this jewel of the Southwest, get ready to do a lot of driving to reach your destination around town.  Luckily, the highways and major streets are fairly easy to navigate (except at rush hour of course!) and traveling

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-49880268967567820812010-04-05T18:08:00.001-05:002010-04-05T18:26:23.181-05:00

Our days continue to be a mix of routine and adventure. Some days, just driving in Phoenix is an adventure, especially during those famous rush hours. We’ve made the rounds to Trader Joe’s, Penzey’s Spices, Total Wine and More. We found a Dillards store in a mall that only carries close-out specials, everything is at least 70% off. There were some good bargains!Yesterday, we had a family

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-47642224074112854972010-03-30T18:00:00.001-05:002010-03-30T18:00:19.893-05:00

If you’re one of our regular readers, you have most likely figured out by now that we’re not doing a lot of exciting things these days!  It’s hard to write a blog every day that consists of our lives in the very slow lane. I’ll hit the highlights of our past week, yes there were a few moments! The first event that was really a lot of fun was getting a call from Gina last Tuesday with a plea

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-22860750435555129472010-03-23T10:22:00.001-05:002010-03-23T10:22:24.577-05:00

After our exciting and fun times jeeping and shopping, our pace has slowed just a little, and the activity agenda has shifted to more mundane matters – the ever popular washing, polishing, waxing and otherwise spiffing up the Castle. Yesterday we pulled in the slides and washed the entire outside, from the roof down.  It was a little tricky, considering how close our neighbors are. However, the

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-78377622949507529052010-03-20T21:23:00.001-05:002010-03-20T21:23:25.254-05:00

My niece, Tammy and her husband, Alan, are 4-wheel drive Jeep enthusiasts, to put it mildly.  Their wedding took place on one of their favorite jeep trails around Saguaro Lake, and that’s where we went today to go on a ride with them.  Since it was our first time to go 4-wheeling, they promised to take it easy on us. Ok, Whatever. We were to meet them at 10:30 this morning at a gas station

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-55594813227563820942010-03-19T20:41:00.001-05:002010-03-19T20:41:30.533-05:00

Life is settling into some sort of routine.  Yes, it’s very, very different from our desert routine!  One of the wonderful aspects about this gypsy lifestyle of ours is that we have the opportunity to experience so many different things in this great country of ours.  Luckily for us, we enjoy a lot of different types of experiences. I’ve attended a Weight Watchers meeting near us.  That’s

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-85818493800539163282010-03-18T09:58:00.001-05:002010-03-18T09:58:39.429-05:00

If you know Jim, you aren’t surprised that, once he saw Rollie’s Dutch oven in action, it wouldn’t be long before he’d be shopping for one of his own.  What we got is a Lodge Logic, seasoned, 5 qt., 10” diameter “Camp Oven”.   At Sportman’s Warehouse, we paid about $50 for it.  Yesterday was the trial run, using a very slightly altered version of a cake recipe from the little owner’s manual that

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-78148490637723766312010-03-16T21:33:00.001-05:002010-03-16T21:33:07.573-05:00

I always enjoy getting comments from friends/readers.  Yesterday’s entry brought some especially interesting and heartwarming sentiments.  Jo Wishnie thinks the pavement princess isn’t really back, just that “Desert Ellie” is only missing for a short while.  KareninTheWoods suggests closing all the blinds and pretending to be out in nature.  The Bayfield Bunch sent their “thoughts and desert

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-6920635051564402662010-03-15T18:35:00.001-05:002010-03-15T18:35:17.535-05:00

On Saturday, Rollie put a big turkey in his smoker (yes, he has space in his truck storage area to carry it!) and smoked that turkey for about 10 hours.  They provided sides of home-grown corn, beans, cornbread and more for the six of us.  Since Janna and Mike had planned to head out early Sunday morning, this was our last get-together.  What a great time we had!  The food was incredible, the

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-30356774066284907822010-03-13T10:01:00.001-06:002010-03-13T10:01:55.475-06:00

I’ll get to that shortly.  But I’ve received some questions from readers recently and will try to answer those first.  Fred wanted to know about the noise.  In my last blog I mentioned Janna and Mike moved a little to see if they could avoid hearing the noise at night.  Yes, we are close enough to a train track and highway to hear the noise at night. I think we’re about a mile away. With our

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-77325715756457954532010-03-10T22:03:00.001-06:002010-03-10T22:03:14.845-06:00

I spent some time on the Geocaching website this morning, trying to determine if there are any Geocaches within walking/hiking distance of us.  I found one with a title that included the word Arrastra. It seemed like it was a do-able hike or walk of about 2 miles from here, so I made the rounds this morning to see if anyone was up for the distance.  Janna and Mike had already taken off in a

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-27281715645398660082010-03-09T18:33:00.001-06:002010-03-09T18:33:05.072-06:00

We don’t have many frustrations in this lifestyle.  However, sometimes getting good customer service in the medical arena, whether that be for people or dogs, can be a challenge.  Jasmine takes one medication, and we were nearly out of it.  It’s also time for their annual vaccinations, so I’ve been looking for a good veterinarian nearby.  Last week, when I took them to the groomer, I was given

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902723661411238684.post-70114092928598553842010-03-08T21:24:00.001-06:002010-03-08T21:24:52.352-06:00

Yesterday was an inside day, with wind and rain the main events outside.  Jim made a pot of chili and the gang came over around 4 with their contributions of cornbread from Janna, Fritos and cheese from Gina and wine from everyone.  We had a feast while it rained and even hailed a little bit!  Gina and I both made brownies, so we had chocolate galore for dessert. But this morning, it was

Ellie and Jimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134142348673200133noreply@blogger.com8