Hemet, CA

We're here!!! We are so excited to be where it's warm and sunny. We were fortunate that it stayed very nice in Ukiah until the last 12 days. Then it got rainy and colder - but not unbearable. We had a wonderful Christmas with Julia, Beth and Jim and were sad to leave them. As we drew closer to Hemet, we looked forward to it more and know that we'll see the family again before long. We've already met our neighbors who all seem very nice. It took quite a while to get set up since we're staying for 3 months, but we're in pretty good shape now. We'll keep you posted about our antics!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Our little Christmas tree in Journey!

Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends. We wish you the happiest of holiday seasons. Forget about the economy, the price of fuel, the bad weather and rejoice in the love of your family and friends. We are celebrating our good fortune in Donna's restoration to health, being with our beautiful granddaughter, daughter and son-in-law, and the fact that we are still able to be travelers full time. We are looking forward to getting to warmer weather and will miss our little family here very much. It's been a blast to spend time with them. Our best to everyone!!!!!

Meeting new friends

Recent pic of Julia, the hippie! She loves to play dress up!

Yesterday, we went to Williams, CA, and met a couple, Bruce and Jenna, who Tom has been in contact with on the RV forum. We had lunch with them and a nice long visit. They are very nice and we look forward to seeing them again. They brought along their new puppy, Clancy, and he's a doll! He does love to pick up all sorts of things and eat them though.
We have been having a wonderful time with our granddaughter, Julia. She keeps us hopping for sure. Of course, we're enjoying our daughter and son-in-law also. We haven't been doing too much other than spending time with them. We are getting excited about Christmas with them and also about heading south to the warm weather for the rest of the winter.

Winter Plans

We're having a wonderful time here in Ukiah, CA, with our 4 year old granddaughter, Julia, (and her parents, of course). She is full of energy, funny, smart and entertains us daily with her antics. She can climb a tree , dance, play "Go Fish" and generally just keep us hopping. We'll be here until after Christmas which we're really looking forward to with her.

After the holidays, we're heading south to Hemet, CA, which is near Palm Springs. We're going to Golden Village Palm RV Resort (http://www.goldenvillagepalms.com) for 3 months. It's an over 55 park, beautiful, with lots of great activities to keep us busy and healthy. After our experience this fall we're ready for that "senior summer camp fun" of an RV resort. We're both gearing up for all the activities. We'll be further away from our granddaughter and daughters than we'd like, but it won't be for long and then we'll head back north in the spring and on to Portland for the summer. The west coast is our home for this year anyway.

We are also loving the great weather we've been having here in Ukiah and are getting out and enjoying it as much as possible. Hope this finds all of our family and friends healthy and happy.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

We had to take a moment from this special Thanksgiving Day to send our thanks to all of our family and friends for the wonderful support, prayers and good wishes over the last two months while we were going through a tough time. We appreciate you all very much and thank God we have such a great bunch of people in our lives. We are so lucky. We are spending this special day with our granddaughter, daughter and son-in-law and are very happy to be with them. We hope all of you are having a wonderful day and celebrating with someone special.

Ukiah, CA

Yes, we're back to our travels, folks. We're in Ukiah, about 100 miles north of San Francisco, to spend the holidays with our granddaughter and family. We are happy to be back on the road and Donna is feeling great. Spending time with our family during the holidays is the best present we can think of ever having. A four year old brings prospective to life - play, laugh, eat when you're hungry and sleep when you're tired. What else could anyone want? After the holidays we plan to go only as far south in California that we have to in order to have decent weather. We want to be close to family to visit more often. Julia will be in school next year and not have nearly the time for us. Tom is still doing projects on the rig and Donna is just enjoying the family and being happy for such good fortune. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Even Better News

I (Donna) went to the surgeon today for a last post op visit. She said I was doing great and she didn't see a need for me to do physical therapy since my range of motion was very good. Also, she gave me my RX for my new prostheses and bras - went to get them and they are quite nice, if I do say so myself. The best thing is that we are planning on heading south a week from tomorrow (21st) and will spend some time in Ukiah, CA, before we head even further south to warmer weather. Yay!!!! I've been doing the happy dance so much the last 24 hours, I'm exhausted!!! So we'll be "on the road again" very soon.

All Good News

Today, I went to the oncologist and he told me that the only thing he was going to recommend for me was to take the Aromatose Inhibitor for five years which reduces my chances for getting any cancer from 14% to 8%. No chemo - best news yet. He said it looked like I was healing well and all signs are favorable for me. To say I'm relieved is putting it very mildly. I'm definitely doing the happy dance for sure now! Tomorrow I have my last visit with the surgeon and if she releases me, we'll be on our way south as soon as possible. Thanks again for all your prayers and support - they really worked!!!! Donna

17 days and counting

Surgery for Donna was 17 days ago and I'm happy to report, I'm feeling quite well. I was supposed to go to the doctor today for a post-op visit, but it was changed to next week. I will see her after I see the oncololgist on Wednesday. I don't know what the next steps will be at this point, but I believe everything will be positive toward recovery. The weather in Portland this last week has begun to be what we've heard about all this time and we're beginning to miss our warm days. I hope it won't be long before we can head south to warmer climate for the winter, but we're just taking it day by day. I've heard from so many of you and I'm so grateful to you all for remembering to email or call and even send some "snail mail". It makes each day brighter and always brings a smile to my face. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness. I'm sure we'll see some of you in person in our travels. God Bless.

Donna gets her tubes out! Yay!!!

Okay, I know it seems like a small thing, but I went to the doctor today and was able to have my drainage tubes taken out. It is so freeing not to be worrying about keeping them from catching on things and all that stuff. It was a big deal for me. I'm feeling good and have an appointment with the surgeon on Friday for my last post op checkup and then on the 12th I see the oncologist, hopefully just for my five year pill for prevention of recurrence. The surgeon says she doesn't see why I would need chemo, but I'm only going to be cautiously optimistic until I actually hear it from the oncologist. After that, I may be doing some physical therapy to get everything working well again. We still don't have a "release" date, but I'm being very patient about that. The weather is turning cooler and it's been raining on and off the last few days, but I don't mind it. Hope you are all having a great fall and I love hearing from all of you too. Donna

First Post Op Visit

Donna with her gingerbread medical staff cookie bouquet given to her from our great RVing friends Ralph and Cheryl. Thanks guys....they are great !

It's Donna. Yesterday, I went for my first post op visit to the doctor. The good news is I got the bandages off and I'm healing well. Unfortunately, there is still too much drainage so I couldn't get my drain tubes out, but that's a very minor thing. I'll get them out in a few more days. The really good news is there won't be a need for chemo as all my reports are very good, so it will be just the healing, possibly physical therapy, and starting to take the preventive pill for the next five years. All of those are such small things in the grand scheme of things. I'm so grateful that this was found early and that I'm on the mend. Thank you again for all your support.

This is from Donna

Hello folks! It's me. I am doing great. I haven't had any pain medication since yesterday morning except for Tylenol and nothing for pain today. That would be because I am having no pain! I can't believe it. I don' t know if it's because I'm so happy to be cancer free or what, but I'm enjoying it to the max. I want to do a little bragging here. My daughter, Sarah, has been with me a lot and has done all of my personal care. She's amazing at it - patient (unless I misbehave), knowledgeable, and caring. What else could anyone ask for? Then there's Tom. He would like to be my personal caretaker, but his assignment has been all the other stuff (which he's very good at). He is the cook, dishwasher, housekeeper, laundry man, shopper and any other tasks that he's asked to do. It's working out pretty well. I don't have a crown or a whip to keep them in line, but I guess love works even better.

Thank all of you family and friends who have been sending me prayers, best wishes, cards, letters and love. I could feel all of it for the whole 37 days that I knew I had cancer and I still feel it post-cancer. I'm so happy and proud to be able to say I'm a cancer survivor and no matter what else happens in my life, I feel like I can handle it. I feel so blessed to have so many people who care about me. I will definitely pay it forward in every way possible that I can.

Listen Up To This!

The Dr. called this afternoon and gave us the fabulous news! The final pathology report came back negative! No more cancer! Some of the other high tech test they ran showed it is very unlikely that she'll get cancer again. Praise the Lord in the Highest! See, your prayers are very powerful!

Donna is feeling great and bossing Sarah (daughter) and me around! Ha. That's great. Sarah has been doing all of the personal care with Donna and has been a big help. She is such a natural.

Tomorrow AM Donna is getting her 2 big honkin' pain pumps off and resorting back to the old fashion oral pain medication which is Vicodin! Wish I could do some of them! Ha. We go to the Dr. next Tuesday to get the drain tubes out. Then probably to physical therapy for a little while.

Things are looking up, thanks to our very supportive love ones. Thanks guys! We love you all. Enough for now. Tom

Listen to this!

The Dr. called this afternoon and gave us the great news....the final report on the pathology came back negative! Praise the Lord! See we knew your prayers helped us out! Also, some of the other test they ran showed that she is very unlike to develop other cancers in her body! More great news!



Donna is doing very good! Her spirits are running exceptionally high. She said if she could she jump up and dance the jig, if she could! Meanwhile, she is being a super good patient and doing just as she's told. Donna's daughter has been helping out alot, doing most of the nursing duties, which she is very good at.



Tomorrow we remove the 2 big honkin' pain medicine pumps and resort back to the old style pain medication which is Vicodine. Kinda wish I had some for myself! Ha.

Another Donna Update

You aren 't gonna believe this, but Donna is home in Journey! She is doing very well, but I'm trying to keep her under control a bit. Right now it's only been 24 hrs. since her surgery and she thinks she ready to run a race (not really!). I know the next 2 or 3 days are gonna be challenging with pain management, but it is all expected. Again, we can't believe all pouring out of support from our friends and family. Can't tell you what a difference that makes.

P.S. I've been helping Donna with the chocolates!!!

Tom

Donna' Surgery Update

I just came in this AM and Donna is doing very good. She is cheerful and in little pain. The Dr. has not been in yet this AM but is expected any minute. We are hoping to go home possibly this afternoon. They have 2 pumps that feed pain medicine directly into her chest area. Also 2 drains in the same area, that require servicing every couple of hours. Donna has got up and gone to the bathroom three times since her surgery and had a nice breakfast this AM. All is very good at this time.

The preliminary test came back NEGATIVE for cancer in her lymph nodes, but final testing will not be read until tomorrow. We are very optimistic, though.

Thanks to all of you for all your support!

Tom

Donna's Surgery

Donna giving a smile in Journey a couple of weeks ago!

It's 8:00 PM here in Portland and the Dr. just came out to tell us that Donna's surgery well and she would be in the recovery room for about an hour and half, then into her room. We are so excited to hear the great news! The surgery was a bi-lateral (double mastectomy) as anticipated. Thanks for all the support, thoughts and prayers as they have helped us a lot the past few weeks! I can't even explain how much that helps when going through this situation. We'll still need them in the weeks ahead.

I will try to update here frequently to keep everyone up to date. Thanks again!

Tom

Update from Portland

This is a message from Donna. It's been a couple of weeks and a lot has gone on here with tests, doctor visits, reading, discussing, praying, thinking and even a little crying. I won't go into the whole long decision process I've gone through, but I have decided to go ahead and do a double (bilateral) mastectomy. Although my tumor is small, it is invasive and I just don't like the odds of either a recurrence in that breast or of getting another cancer in the other breast. It was not an easy decision. Not because it bothers me to lose a breast or both, but because of all the options open to me. I decided I would have a much more difficult time living with the fear of recurrence or a new cancer in my other breast than learning to live without breasts. I'm not choosing reconstruction at this time. I'll see how I do and I can always have it done later if I want. I feel good about my decision. My surgery is scheduled for 3:00 pm on October 21. If you pray, we would really appreciate you keeping us in your prayers as we go through this time. Even if you don't pray, we appreciate any positive thoughts you can send our way. Thank you all so much for your kind words and friendship. Donna

Visit to the Surgeon's office

We went to the surgeon's office today and had some good news. The cancer is Stage 1 and there are numerous options to choose from for treatment. We will be seeing a radiation oncologist and plastic surgeon in the next week and surgery will be in 2 or 3 weeks. Hopefully, after seeing the other doctors, the decision will be easier to make. We still plan to get a second opinion and it's encouraged by the surgeon. Although it's still a scary time for us we are much relieved at the positive news today and feel even more positive about a good outcome. Now it's time to study all the materials we've received. We'll keep you posted.

Doctor visit

Today Donna went to the primary care doctor because she had a physical already scheduled. The good news is that other than having cancer, she's in good health! She got some more surgeons' names and is in the process of getting appointments set up. She's going for two opinions before making a decision about what type of surgery she'll have. The lab report said it's "carcinoma with ductal and lobular involvement". Not sure exactly what that means but we'll keep learning more as we go along. Thanks so much for the emails, phone calls and especially prayers from all of you.

Still in Portland, OR

As we've said, we're in Portland, OR, for a while. Today we found out we'd be here longer than we had planned. Donna has been diagnosed with breast cancer and we've decided to stay here for her treatment. That's the bad news. The good news is that it's very small (8 millimeters) and was found on a regular yearly checkup. We don't know the next step yet, but will be finding out more next week. We'll keep you all informed on the blog and in personal emails/phone calls. Please keep us in your prayers and thoughts. Thanks so much.

Portland, OR

We've been in Portland for a week and are both working on catching up on all the "lists" of things we've saved until we were stopped for a while. Tom has washed both the truck and rig, cleaned the water heater, made a new holder for his extra sewer hose, got new shoes on Tug (tires) and other things I can't remember. Donna has done the "pink" jobs - laundry, defrosting the freezer, cleaning cabinets, etc. Fun, fun, fun!

We have also been able to see our friends, Ralph and Cheryl Schey. We have spent time with them on several different occasions around the country. They have just returned from two months in Alaska. Our other frequent and very welcome visitor is our daughter, Sarah. She and Donna have an on-going Phase 10 tournament - Sarah's ahead this year! She is one of the big reasons we come to Portland. Doctor visits are also on the "lists".

It's not as exciting as all of our travels, but it's great to have some time to kick back in one place for a month or so. By the way - the weather is fantastic here this time of year!!

Glacier National Park

Beautiful mountain relection near Many Glaciers

We loved the Glacier National Park! It's very different from Yellowstone. It's very grand, with large mountains, lots of green trees and winding roads. We took the free shuttle on the Going-To-The-Sun Road both over and back. It's a great way to take that road and be able to relax and take pictures. It stops several places so a person can explore as much as he wants. We also went to Many Glaciers which was a long but very beautiful drive. We would recommend Glacier to everyone. It's a hikers' paradise. Although we are not hikers, there were some very nice walks we took . The weather was just about perfect, too.

Now it's on to Portland, OR, where we'll be settling down for at least a month. We'll keep you posted about our time there too.

Yellowstone National Park

Grizzly....oh my!

Thermal basins.....oh the smell of sulfur....phew!

Yes, Tom saw a grizzly and managed to get a picture of it. Yellowstone is as beautiful as everyone who has been there says it is. We traveled around the loop for two days, saw Old Faithful, the thermal basins, moose, waterfalls, cascades, and mountains. We stayed at Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park and would highly recommend it. It's fairly expensive, but a great park and only four blocks from Yellowstone. It was a great experience for us to be in that area.

Now, we're on our way to Glacier National Park and we're looking forward to seeing it. We've heard great things about it. Some say it's even more beautiful than Yellowstone. We'll see. We love being back in the west again.

Soon we'll be seeing both of our daughters and our granddaughter. Julia will be four in September and she's just an amazing child. Of course, we're not at all prejudiced!

Medora, ND

Doe checking us out

Bison making their way across the road

This has been a fun week of exploring, enjoying and relaxing. We have driven both the north and south loops of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park seeing bison, deer, prairie dogs, prong antelope and wild horses (Donna's favorite). We saw the Medora Musical - very good. It's been going for 50 years! The entertainment was great. We went to the 4-M Revue - two very funny and talented guys and we just enjoyed the area. North Dakota has been a pleasant experience for us (other than our two "incidents" earlier in the week) and we're glad we took the time to see it. We'd both recommend a visit to Medora and the National Park here. Just make sure you have your groceries before you get here. There are NO grocery stores! Twenty-three miles is the closest one. Tom had withdrawal from Wal-Mart!

Monday we start our trek across Montana to Yellowstone. We're excited to see Old Faithful and the rest of the park.

Adventure Week!!!

Devil's Lake Sunset.....beautiful

So much has happend this last week in our travels I haven't even had a chance to write it down!

When we left Duluth, MN, we went to Devil's Lake, ND. We had no idea what a gorgeous place it was! The lake is very large and beautiful. The land around it is connected by long bridges that seem more like dams. Tom took some great sunset pictures while we were there.

International Peace Garden. Left side the U.S. Flag and right Canadian Flag

From there we headed to the International Peace Garden which is in very northern ND and part of Canada. It is literally half in the US and half in Canada. It is over 2,000 acres and in it are a formal garden, a campground, an athletic camp and a music camp. On Saturday we went to the music camp and listened to performances for about 3 hours. Those kids are amazing. They come from all over the world and have a week of intense lessons and practice and at the end of the week, they put on several performances. Loved it!! Click on the video below to see 21 seconds of the recital! Wonderful!

Sunday as we were leaving camp, we had a little "incident" and managed to put another dent in our truck and knock a little fiberglass off the end cap of the 5th wheel by going through a small ditch that neither of us saw. Tom seemed to take it pretty much in stride, however, Donna was not quite as calm about it. Enough said - what is is.

Grader Pulling Tug and Journey back to safety!

Monday as we were heading west on Hwy 200, we got into a construction zone and it was raining. As we were following the pilot truck through, the road went from kind of a loose gravel to mud. As we started to ascend a hill, Tom moved over a little to the right to let cars pass us as he didn't think we would make it. As he moved over the truck and 5th wheel started sliding toward a ditch. The mud was like being on ice. Luckily, he got it stopped before we went in the ditch. The construction crew were kind enough to send a large grader to get us out. He just hooked on and backed up the hill pulling us with him. It was quite an experience and not one we want to repeat! Although both the truck and 5th wheel are muddy, all ended well.

As we continued our travels, we went down Enchanted Hwy and saw some very beautiful metal sculptures along the way. Tom said a retired school teacher had done them. What an interesting sight to see as we drove along. Now we're here and we are taking some time to just kick back and relax before we go exploring in the park.

Duluth, MN

The lighthouse in Two Harbors, MN. Northshore scenic drive.

We liked Duluth so much we stayed for 10 days! Tom fished almost every day and loved it. I think he has the fishing bug for sure now. He caught a lot of fish but threw most of them back. While in the area, we went to Canal Park where they have the aerial bridge that is raised 25 to 30 times a day to let boats go under. It's an awesome sight. We took a beautiful scenic drive up Highway 61 along the coast of Lake Superior. We drove the Skyline Parkway that soars above Duluth, but we couldn't see below because it was too foggy. The drive itself was beautiful though. We met a new friend, Ann, who had dinner with us on Sunday. She made us feel so welcome in the park and was fun to visit with.

There were several pretty good thunderstorms while we were there, but never anything dangerous to us. Everything is so green and beautiful. We would recommend both the Duluth area and the park (Ogston's RV Park) to everyone - only in the summer, of course.

Now it's on to new sights in North Dakota. We are stopping for a few days at Devil's Lake - it's a beautiful area off Highway 2. Then we're heading north to the International Peace Garden, down to the Bismarck area and on to Medora in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We plan to be in Yellowstone for a week in the second week in August. It's great heading back to the western states. We love something about everywhere we go. What a great life we have.

Cornucopia, WI

Tom with his wide mouth bass (Two big mouths together)

Way at the tip of Wisconsin, we went to visit some old friends. They summer in Cornucopia on Siskiwit Lake (near Lake Superior). It's beautiful country, but no great shakes on RV parks. We only stayed two nights and spent our time with Ida and Jan, or friends. We had a great time visiting, playing cards and enjoying the scenery. This is where the Apostle Islands are and we plan to go back some day and explore them.

After leaving Cornucopia, we headed west to Duluth, MN, to stay for a week. We are actually in Saginaw, MN, in a very nice park with 3 ponds for fishing. Tom decided he wanted to try doing a little fishing, so he bought an inexpensive pole and he spent the last weekend at the pond. He caught about 15 fish and threw most of them back. He found a guy here who knows how to identify the fish and clean them but he hasn't brought any home to cook yet. It's great that he's enjoying this new hobby so much. Donna is really enjoying having some quiet time while he's out angling.

Today we are going to Duluth to see what's going on there. We've heard a lot about Canal Park, so we'll update the blog after we check it out.

Wisconsin Dells, WI

Lake Delton after the levy broke out!

A Wisconsin Army Duckie

Yes, we're still in the Wisconsin Dells. The other day we went out to Delton Lake which is quite close to where we're staying. It's empty!!! We only saw one end of it, but it's so strange to see the houses along the beach and there's no water - just beach. Our friends said they had seen a sign that advertised renting a pontoon boat for four hours for 95 cents! Crazy. I feel sorry for all the people who make their living from the lake. Here's a 2 minute clip of the devestation that took place. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0bVsSWXG-I

The rest of the Dells seem to be doing fine. They have a water park here called Mt. Olympus. It is huge! We drove by yesterday and it was wall to wall people. They have four roller coasters there and our friends who went said they waited and hour and a half to go on the largest one. Wow. They had a great time though.

The weather has been great and the best thing about being here is meeting some new friends - Tim and Rose along with their granddaughter, Anna. Tom has been communicating with them through his Excel forum and we all happened to be here at the same time. We enjoyed a happy hour with them and then had dinner together on the 4th of July. We had a great time. Friends make all the difference in our travels.

Tuesday we're off again for places unknown!

Wisconsin Dells, WI

Our old buddy, the Pink Flamingo.

Here we are in Wisconsin. We're going to check out the Wisconsin Dells and see what's here. So far, it looks a lot like Pigeon Forge with many water parks, miniature golf and other entertainment.

While in Shelbyville, MI, Tom went to the Gilmore Museum and had a great time seeing all kinds of cars and also a tractor display. He says it's the best car museum he's ever seen and he's seen a lot of them.

Donna had her weekend with the girls and came home exhausted from lack of sleep. They played many card games, ate too much and didn't sleep much but a great time was had by all.

We'll be here in the Dells for at least a week. Happy 4th of July to everyone.

Shelbyville, MI

Windmill in Holland, MI

Clubhouse of Hidden Ridge RV Resort in Shelbyville, MI

We've been in Michigan now for 10 days at Hidden Ridge RV Park, about halfway between Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids. This is a beautiful park and we have so enjoyed our stay here. Tom is thrilled with the hot tub because we haven't had much luck finding parks with hot tubs this spring. He misses having his "old man soak" in the evenings. We've spent a quiet time here doing more "at home" things.

Today, Donna is leaving for a four day weekend with her sister, cousin and good friend - an all girl, no husband, no kids, and no pets weekend!!!! While she's gone, Tom is going to be the carefree bachelor of yesteryear and has all kinds of plans - waxing the truck, cleaning the house, cooking, and packing up to leave this area. He's going to try and spare some time to go to a car museum or two and do some sightseeing on his own.

Next week we'll be in the Wisconsin Dells for a week and then on to the west. As always, we're seeking the cooler weather.

Nashville, TN

Riverboat inside Opryland Hotel and Conference Center
Flower with "bird's head" like center

The best part of our time at Nashville was going to the Opryland Hotel and Convention Center. "Wow" is the best word to describe it. We spent several hours there walking around and looking at the beautiful landscaping which is all under a glass roof so it's climate controlled! That was great as it was pretty hot and humid while we were there. Note to anyone planning to go there: they charge $16 to park, however you can park at the Opry Mall and walk a short path over to the hotel for free. We always like free.

No, we didn't go to the Grand Old Opry while we were there but it's always good to save something for another day. We did go to Music Row and check it out and drove around downtown Nashville. It's a neat downtown area.

Now we're in Indiana on our way to Michigan where we'll be spending about 12 days near Kalamazoo. We're looking forward to cooler weather and Donna is going to get to spend some time with her sister, Sally. Tom is going to take some time to explore even more car and air museums! While we're there he's also going to go to Lansing to an Oldsmobile retirees lunch. He's looking forward to seeing some of his old work buddies.

It's all north west travel from here on out. We'll keep you posted on our adventures as we head toward our next big destination of Yellowstone Park.

Pigeon Forge, TN

Cades Coves, Smoky Mountains, TN

We spent a week in Pigeon Forge and it was an interesting busy place. We went to the Comedy Barn one night and it was a family fun show. The actors involve the whole audience so two hours flew by. We spent two days in the mountains exploring Cade's Cove and another cove outside of Gatlinburg. There were wild turkeys, some deer and two small bears. Tom couldn't get a picture of the bears but did of the deer and the turkeys. It was the wrong time of the day to see any other animals. We still like seeing the beautiful scenery and wild life the best. It's fun to have the convenience of the town and the beauty of the wilderness so close together.

While we were there, we met more of our Excel friends. It's always fun and interesting to meet the people face to face that we've met on the Excel forum. We had a nice happy hour with them and shared traveling stories.

Now we're in Nashville and from here we'll head north. It's time to get out the heat! The weather has been in the 90's for the last few days and we like it a little cooler than that. Michigan is our next stop for about 10 days before we head west. We're going to spend the 4th of July in the Wisconsin Dells if it hasn't all washed away in the flooding!

Mount Airy, NC

Barney's Cafe

Pic of Andy, Thelma Lou and Aunt Bea

The REAL Floyd, the barber, eating a "moon pie"!

While we were in Mt. Airy, NC, we did some sightseeing but most of the week Tom waxed the Journey. It's looking very nice and shiny now! So is he! He got a little too much sun, I think, but he'll recover.

During our stay, we invited one of Tom's old work pals up for dinner. He and his wife live in Clemmons which is near Wintson-Salem. Chris and Sandy came to Mt. Airy on Sunday and we had a great afternoon and evening catching up on old friends and learning more about our current situations. I think seeing us old retirees made them more anxious to retire and hit the road. We'd love to see them in our travels.

We spent a day driving some of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Unfortunately, it rained, but we still had a good time. What a beautiful area that is. Tom really got a kick out of going to downtown Mt. Airy and immersing himself in the past. For those of you who don't know, Mt. Airy is where Andy Griffith was raised and his show, Mayberry, was patterned after the town. There are all kinds of places that commemorate the show. Tom even paid a visit to Floyd's Barbershop.

Donna spent the week doing a few household chores and just enjoying having some down time. As much fun as it is to see all the sights and travel around the country, even the best traveler needs some time to regroup.

Julia (our granddaughter) is on her first camping/canoeing trip this week with her parents, Beth and Jim. I'm sure she's very excited and they will have a lot of fun in northern California. We are really looking forward to seeing her in the not too distant future. She's growing up so fast.

Tomorrow we're off to check out the lay of the land and see what mischief we can get in to. More news soon!

Williamsburg, VA

Glass violin - one of two made

Close up of glass violin - check out the engraving

We had a great week of sight seeing in Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown, VA. It's hard to believe that it's been over 400 years since the ships landed at Jamestown. The artifacts that are still there (over one million of them have been found) help to make one see what life was like back then. They had a hard life and many people perished.

The highlight of Williamsburg for us was seeing Dean Shostak play his beautiful crystal instruments. Pictured above is his glass violin. There are only two in the world. It took over a year to make and 100 tries before they were successful. The sound from it was wonderful. The hour went way too fast and was by far the best value for the money we've spent in a long time. It was only $7.00 for his concert.

We would love to go back one day and spend more time there. We would have liked to stay longer this trip, but everything was booked for Memorial Day weekend. We came on to Mt. Airy, NC, home of Andy Griffith. Remember "Mayberry"? We haven't done the tour yet, but we will this coming week. We're going to stay at least a week and maybe longer. It's a great area.

Camp Hatteras, NC (Outer Banks)

Rockintom trying to walk his pink flamingo!

Eat, laugh, eat more, laugh more, eat and finally, sleep! That has been our schedule for the last 4 days! We have been at the Excel Mid-Atlantic Group rally since Wednesday afternoon. What a blast. Tom finally was able to meet many of his Excel Owners Forum friends and they talked Excel for hours on end. They surely taught each other some things. There was more food, friends and fun packed into that 4 days than a person can imagine! What a great group of people and a great place for us to have the rally. The Atlantic Ocean on one side of the park and Pamlico Sound on the other side. The weather didn't always cooperate, but it didn't slow this group down. There were twenty-six couples, some of their kids and friends so it was a large group. We hated to leave them as it will be a while before we will see many of them again. Thanks so much gang!

We're in Williamsburg, VA, now and plan to stay until the 22nd when we'll head toward Mt. Airy, NC. We'll be spending Memorial Day weekend at Mt. Airy. We are going to do some sightseeing and learn even more about this part of the country. We'll be going to Jamestown, Yorktown and of course, seeing Williamsburg. It will be great fun. The countryside around us is beautiful and we like this park - American Heritage RV Park.

Shiloh, NC

Small lake at North River Campground

My guess is no one knows where Shiloh, NC is. It's in the north east corner of North Carolina. We've been here for four days before we head down to the Outer Banks for our Excel rally. If a person wants peace, quiet and pretty scenery, this is a good campground to stay. It's out in the country, by a small lake, surrounded by woods.

While we were still in Myrtle Beach, we went on a "Sun Cruise". It's a gambling ship and it's a day cruise. We went with our friends, Ralph and Cheryl. The boat is not great but the day was beautiful and we managed to leave some of our retirement funds on it. Maybe they'll put it to good use and do some improvements!

Mother's Day was very quiet and pleasant. Unfortunately, there is no phone connectivity here for us, so Donna's girls weren't able to call and personally talk to her, but Beth sent emails from her and Julia and Sarah called and left messages. Tom was very sweet all day - as he always is, of course! Since we stayed home all day (at Donna's request) on Monday Tom took me to Elizabeth City to Cypress Grill for a special lunch. We spent the afternoon "in town" and stocked up on groceries for our trip to the Outer Banks.

Sunday evening was a little exciting as we had a tornado warning. We decided to take the safe route and went to the clubhouse until the worst was over. All we had was rain and wind, but we were glad we took the precaution.

This morning we're headed for the Outer Banks until either Sunday or Monday. There will be about 20 rigs there and it should be fun to meet other Excel owners and reconnect with the friends we've already made. Off to new adventures!

Myrtle Beach, SC

Us at Sunset Beach, NC

Wow! This is a beautiful area! We have been here a week already - doesn't seem possible - and are staying until May 9th. Then it's biker week, so we're out of here! I recommend this area to anyone who loves great scenery, beaches and golf. Oh yes, and there are so many restaurants, it's unbelievable! We were lucky to connect with an old work friend of Tom's and her husband, Sharon and Tom Robinson. We spent last Saturday with them and they showed us some of the sights. The best sight was from their balcony at their condo on the beach. We spent the afternoon sitting and enjoying the ocean, the breeze and the great conversation. What a fun couple they are.

We also have seen other friends here who happen to be visiting - Ralph and Cheryl Schey. We met them last fall in Smith Center, KS, when we were all getting our rigs worked on. They are nice friends and we'll be seeing them again here and also when we go to the Outer Banks in mid-May for the mid-Atlantic Excel club outing.

Yesterday we went to Sunset Beach and it was so nice. It's wide and flat and the sand is clean. We had a nice walk on the hard packed sand. It was great. By taking a couple of weeks here, we're able to do a little more relaxing and not quite so much running around. From here we're heading to Shawboro, NC, until we go to the Outer Banks on the 14th.

Charleston, South Carolina

Serving Table at the Blue Willow Inn, Social Circle, GA

Saturday when we left Stone Mountain, we went to a little town called Social Circle. We had been told there was a restaurant there that was a must go to. It's called the Blue Willow Inn. YUM!!! Southern fried cooking at it's best. They had fried chicken, fried chicken livers, ham, roast beef, parmesan chicken, macaroni and cheese, sweet potato soufle' to die for! I could go on and on but I know your mouth is already watering! The desserts were fantastic too. It was a first for Donna - had sweet tea for the first time. It's so addicting!

We arrived in Charleston on Sunday afternoon. We are staying on James Island at the county rv park. It's very nice. Monday we took a boat harbor tour of the Charleston harbor and it was informative. Tuesday morning when Tom started checking our accounts, he found that someone had hacked into our credit card and was charging things. We spent most of Tuesday getting all that taken care of, so no sightseeing that day!

Yesterday, we went on a carriage tour of historical Charleston and we had a wonderful experience. Our carriage drive, Robert, is a licensed tour guide and a carriage driver, so he was very informative and a lot of fun. He told us stories and knew more dates and names that I can believe! He really made it a great exerience for us. After the carriage ride, we went to the city market. It is VERY old and was fun to walk through. We bought a little, but not too much.

We are leaving tomorrow for Myrtle Beach, SC, and will be there until May 2.

Stone Mountain, GA

Robert E. Lee carvered on Stone Mountain

No, I haven't forgotten to write but I didn't realize how long it had been. I don't want to write too often because I don't want our friends and family to get bored!

We are at Stone Mountain Park in Georgia (outside of Atlanta). What a great place to spend some time. The campground is beautiful. We are a stone's throw from the lake and are surrounded by woods. The campground itself is very well kept. We've driven around the rest of the park also. We saw the old covered bridge, the Grist Mill and other sights. There are a number of attractions which will be opening in the next few days. We will be leaving Saturday morning so will not see all of them this time, but we'll come back one day.

Tom's cousin, Susan and her husband, Tom live in Decatur and we spent the evening with them on Wednesday. They are great fun and told us lots of Atlanta stories. We had such a good time, we're having them come out for dinner tonight.

We also had a leisurely lunch at the Mountain View Inn where we watched the gondolas going up and down the mountain as we ate. There's a carving of Robert E. Lee in the side of the mountain. After lunch we went to the "Your Dekalb World Market" to shop. There were so many different kinds of fruits, vegetables, meats (including fresh chicken feet) that we spent about two hours looking around and buying. No, we didn't buy any chicken feet!!

Tomorrow we head to Charleston, SC, for about 5 days. We've been told the carriage ride is the way to tour Charleston, so we're going to give it a try. I'm sure there will be lots of restaurants there for us to sample too.

Tybee Island and Savannah

Wednesday we went to Savannah again and took our time exploring the historic area. We went to City Market, St. John The Baptist Catholic Church and Colonial Cemetery. We also went to the Shrimp Factory for lunch at the river's edge. St. John's was the highlight of the day for us. It's an absolutely beautiful church. We also really enjoyed watching the horse drawn carriages with all the tourists.

Today we went to Tybee Island to check it out. It's an okay place, but we were a little disappointed in it. The really neat thing was when we went to the River's End RV Park and saw the classic trailers there. A picture is attached. The group is called Sisters on the Fly and it was all women with their little classic trailers. They usually meet without husbands, kids or pets. It sounds like they have a lot of fun. We ate at Sting Ray's fish place and it was good. We sat outside and watched all the people going by.

Tomorrow we're heading out to Hilton Head Island. We've never been and are excited about yet another adventure.

Heading north

The last week was very busy for us. We spent 3 days visiting with Donna's sister and family in Orlando, FL. It was great seeing everyone again, especially in the warm weather. Donna's sister lives in Michigan and they've had a hard winter. They really enjoyed being able to get some sun.

Thursday we headed to Ocala where Tom went to the Don Garlits Drag Racing Museum. He was thrilled to see all the old race cars, especially the ones from the 60s when he started attending drag racing events! I think he took about 140 pictures!

Saturday we were fortunate to meet one of Tom's Excel forum friends and his wife, Virgil and Jo. We had a great time with them over the weekend and feel like we've made long time friends. We hope to see them again soon on the road.

Now we're near Savannah, GA. What an interesting place to visit. We took a trolley tour today and will go and explore in more detail tomorrow. The flowers and trees are all in bloom and everything looks beautiful. We can't wait to see more. We plan to be here until at least the 14th of April.

Fun in St. Augustine and Orange Park

Henry Flagler Hotel

Friday we went to St. Augustine for the day and had a good time. It's an old city - oldest in the U.S. - and there are many wonderful sights to see. It's on the water and there was a great ocean breeze al day. Mr. Flagler certainly spent his money well on that city. We rode the trolley around and had a good overview of the whole place. We even spent some time in jail!

Saturday we were fortunate to meet in person one of Tom's Excel Forum friends and his wife, Chris and Debra. We had a fun afternoon and were treated to a grand tour of their Excel. For fellow Excel owners, you know that was special. Their rig is very nice and Chris has added several unique features to it. They were gracious hosts and the afternoon sped by! We look forward to meeting on the road for more adventures in the future.

Jacksonville, FL

More beautiful weather today on our trip to Jacksonville. Now we're in a park that surrounds a lake - Flamingo Lake RV Park. We haven't seen any flamingoes yet though. Here's just one picture from the beautiful MaClay State Park Gardens where we spent a few hours yesterday. What a peaceful, lovely place! It had the same feel for us as the Grotto in Portland, OR, does. Tomorrow we'll be off to explore the area around here. St. Augstine is one of our destinations.

Tallahasse Auto Museum

'69 Don Yenko Prepared Camaro

We've made it to Florida! We're in Tallahassee for a couple of days. Tom is going to the antique auto museum today. Here's our schedule as far as we have it:
March 24 to March 27 - Tallahassee
March 27 to March 31 - Jacksonville
March 31 to April 3 - Kissimmee

We haven't decided where we'll go after the 3rd, but will probably head north into Georgia. It's gorgeous here.

First Post

Well, we've been on the road almost 3 years now and guess it's about time we start a blog! Nothing too fancy or complicated, just something so our friends and loved ones can follow along, that way when we talk, you won't have to ask "where are you now?" Ha!

Donna will do most of the entry as she is so good at it, and expresses herself so much better than I do. Listed below, Donna will give you a quick overview of the past 3 years in a nut shell to catch you up. It is chronicled by year and is short and sweet. Enjoy!

2007

Jack, Wilma, Donna and Tom going for a hot air balloon ride!

We started the year in Casa Grande, AZ, at the Palm Creek RV Park. We loved it there and stayed until April 1. We had friends we'd met the previous winter in Texas who came and stayed for seveal weeks at the park. We had plenty of happy hours and fun activities together.

In February, we took our very first hot air balloon ride. What a thrill. I (Donna) thought I'd be very afraid but I wasn't at all. It was so exciting - especially the landing. We can't wait to do it again!

In April we started traveling east and, unfortunately, toward the end of April, we had an accident just west of Nashville, TN. It did quite a bit of cosmetic damage to the 5th wheel, but we traveled to Elkhart, IN, and had it repaired. It looks great. While we were there we had disk brakes put on the 5th wheel. We feel much safer in the mountains now. We also did a lot of sight seeing in the Elkhart area. We saw a few RV factories (none as good as Excel, of course) and explored the countryside around there. It was very enlightening. We learned a lot about the Amish community.

In May we spent a couple of weeks with Donna's sister in Michigan and then went on to the northeastern states in June. What a beautiful area that is. Seeing Gettysburg, PA, was moving. When we saw that area, it was hard to believe that so many Americans died there during the Civil War. It was so peaceful when we saw it.

In early July, we went to Ontario, Canada, and visited our friends there. They showed us a wonderful time and we hated to leave them, but Donna's oldest daughter, Beth, and family were moving from Maui to California and asked us to come out and help them get settled. We gladly went. It was a long trip but well worth it to spend 5 weeks with our little granddaughter, Julia.

After Labor Day we headed to Portland, OR, and spent 5 weeks with Donna's youngest daughter, Sarah, before heading east again. In October, we had an appointment in Smith Center, KS, to have some work done on the rig before we headed south for the winter.

We spent November and December in San Antonio, TX and Tom was thrilled being in his home town again. We were able to see his brother and sister and he spent time with several of his old friends. The time flew by. Speaking of flying, Donna flew out to California for two weeks with Julia between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was a very eventful year for us and made us love our lifestyle even more.

2006

Alcatraz, San Fransciso, CA

Our first winter in the 5th wheel, we spent from December, 2005, to April 1 , 2006, in Donna, TX, at Victoria Palms RV Resort. What a great place to be! We did water aerobics, took Spanish classes, met many new friends, toured parts of Mexico and just had fun.

April 1, we left Donna, TX, and headed to Port Aransus for 10 days. We always thought it would be fun to stay by the ocean, but we decided it is too hard on the rig. Everything was covered with salt spray by the time we left. We stayed for as long as we did because they had the sand sculpture contest over one of the weekends. It was really awesome to see the talent of those artists. I don't know if I could creat something that great only to have the ocean wash it away in a few days.

We headed to Houston, TX, with the plan of being there for a few days to visit friends and family, but we ended up being there for 3 1/2 weeks. Tom developed cellulitis in his left elbow and had to have pretty intensive IV drug treatments. Donna didn't know she was going to be a nurse in this deal! We were grateful to be in a place where there was excellent medical care and Tom was all taken care of by the end of May.

After leaving Houston, we headed over to San Antonio and then Austin to visit Tom's brother and sister. Then we headed north to Kansas City. Donna had a reunion in Normal, IL, and Tom was going to stay in Kansas City while she went to her reunion. We still have many friends there, so we stayed a couple of weeks and visited as many as we could. It was great spending time with them.

We left Kansas City and headed for Smith Center, KS, for the Excel family reunion. It was unbelievable seeing over 800 Excels all in one place. We saw old friends and made many new friends while we were there. Excel sure knows how to show their customers a good time.

In June, we were in southern Colorado to spend 10 days with Donna's daughter and family. Her ex-husband and his family joined us and the 10 of us had a great 10 days together visiting Mesa Verde National Park, The Great Sand Dunes National Park and the Royal Gorge. Spending time with our little granddaughter was the best!

After leaving Colorado and the family, we started working our way to Portland, OR, where Donna's youngest daughter lives. We planned to stay a month but decided to stay for 3 months! We had a great time and saw many beautiful sights. If you haven't spent time in Oregon, please consider it as a place to go. It's just such a great place to be. While we were there, we took a "vacation from our vacation" and went on an Alaskan cruise the first part of September. We left out of Seattle, WA, so we were able to just drive up there. We had a great time and Alaska is definitely a place to see. It was all so incredible it's hard to describe. If you have a chance to go, do it. You'll never regret it.

October arrived and we started heading for our winter destination in Palm Creek, AZ. We decided to drive down the coast of Oregon and California after taking a detour to Crater Lake near Prospect, OR. That was a trip worth taking. The lake was formed from a huge volcanic eruption many hundreds of years ago. It's so clear and very deep (about 1,000 feet). There are no rivers going in our out of it and no one can boat, swim or otherwise do anything to contaminate the lake.

Traveling down the coast of California through the redwoods was just an experience worth having. I love the west coast and any time I can be there is a thrill for me. A person feels pretty small standing under those redwoods. We spent some time in the San Francisco area visiting friends. One of the highlights of all time for Donna was going to Alcatraz Island. After working in corrections for a number of years, it was a thrill to see such a historical place. We took our time traveling and sightseeing as much as possible on the way.

We arrived in Palm Creek RV Park, Casa Grande, AZ, on December 1 and ended 2006 there. We stayed until April 1 of 2007, but that's another story.

2005 - The beginning of our journey!

Crazy Horse Monument - Rapid City, SD

June 1, 2005 - we left Kansas City to start our new life on the road. We had lived in our 5th wheel for a month so we felt like we were at home in it by the time we hit the road. The first day, Donna got very nauseated from the bouncing of the rig. After a few days, she got used to it though.

We headed west and south. We were going to go to San Antonio, TX, to get our Texas licenses and register our truck and 5th wheel as we were new Escapee members and needed to get all legal. We also wanted to take a few things to Tom's brother and get our "official things" taken care of. It was very hot in San Antonio, so Donna spent most of the time in the air conditioning in the rig. It was a good test to see if it worked well. It did.

After leaving Texas, we worked our way up to Michigan. It was quite an eye opener traveling along seeing that RV parks were not what we expected. We thought we needed a pool and hot tub whenever we stopped and found there were a lot of places who didn't have them.

We arrived in Michigan and stayed for two weeks visiting Donna's family. Right after the 4th of July, we left and went to Traverse City, MI, and stayed at the nicest park we'd been in yet. It was called Traverse Bay RV Resort. Great place!

We continued north to go across the straits to the Upper Pennisula of Michigan. It was pretty primitive, but beautiful country there. We headed west along the coast down into Wisconsin then across to Minnesota. We landed in Rapid City, SD, and stayed there for a couple of weeks. We loved traveling through the Black Hills, going to Mount Rushmore, and seeing many of the attractions in the area. We had to leave after two weeks because the Sturgis motorcycle rally was starting and everything was totally booked.

We talked it over and decided it was time to try and stay someplace for a month to see what it would be like. We chose Ft. Collins, CO. We had a great time there going to the Rocky Mountain National Park, meeting some great friends (more Excel friends) and exploring the area around Ft. Collins.

The day after Labor Day, we headed out to slowly work our way to Texas. We had decided it was time to fly to Maui for a couple of weeks to visit Beth and her family. We couldn't wait any longer to see our granddaughter, Julia. She was going to be a year old and we wanted to be there. We drove down through New Mexico, and into west Texas. We took our time and did some visiting with friends and sightseeing on the way.

When we were in Dallas, we left the rig at an RV park and flew out to Maui. We had a wonderful time with the kids. The weather was great, Julia was so much fun and the time went too fast.

After arriving back in Dallas, we stayed a few days before heading south to San Antonio to spend a month. Before we arrived, Donna's mother became seriously ill so Donna flew to Michigan for three weeks to help her out. While she was gone, Tom took the rig from Austin to San Antonio by himself. He learned that it's a much bigger job making that move alone so it made him appreciate his traveling partner much more.

In the middle of November, Donna returned from Michigan and after a couple more weeks in San Antonio, we headed to Donna, TX, for our winter destination, Victoria Palms RV Resort. What a great park. We really enjoyed ourselves there. We covered a lot of territory in the six months we'd been on the road and we were glad to stop for a little while and make even more friends and have even more fun!