Today I am going to talk about some of the challenges of motor home travel. The day to day logistics.

Most of the time we stay in parks that are set up with electricity, cable TV, water, etc. Bob hooks all of that up every time we enter a new park. It takes about 10 - 15 minutes and you have to double check as each situation is different. It is also necessary to level the coach so the refrigerator will work properly. We don't have a fancy leveling system so we have to look at our bubble level and place blocks accordingly.

We can function perfectly fine without any of the hookups. Bob has installed extra batteries and we have a generator. We can carry water. We don't usually travel with totally full tanks as that adds a lot of weight.

We cook with propane and that fuel is used for heat and the refrigerator when we are not connected to electricity. Every month or so we have to buy propane. When you buy propane, you have to have an attendant come and dispense it. They have all been competent and pleasant. We are not sure why, but they have also all had teeth missing! Bob and I can hardly look at each other during this process as it has become such a cliche. We are beginning to wonder if propane rots teeth.

The challenges of towing a vehicle are many. The proper hookup to the motor home is important. The car has to be in neutral, brake off, key on ACC, brake buddy (braking system for tow cars) installed, radio off and windows up. There is a checklist to remember each time. It really is the best solution to our kind of travel. We park the coach and use the car for day trips and running around. It helps with the cost factor, also. Gas prices have been a concern. When we were in Chicago we were saddened to hear that Chicago had the highest prices in the country at that time! Now, as we are heading home prices are rising daily. We are paying over $3.00 a gallon and actually saw $3.99 for regular - YIKES. We plan our gas stops around Costco, Wall Mart and a few others that have the best prices in an area. We check prices on the Internet. Backing up is not an option while towing so we are very careful when we enter parking lots or small areas. It has only been necessary to disconnect the car to maneuver twice on the whole trip!

Laundry is a concern. Not all of the motor home parks have had laundry facilities. Those that do require various amounts of quarters. The time of the cycles also varies so there is a learning curve for each location! It has been a special bonus when visiting friends to use their washers and dryers. We did not bring any clothes with us that did not wash easily and certainly nothing that required ironing or special care.

It has been interesting to go into so many grocery stores. There is really a difference in the produce and meat departments from store to store. We are usually not in the same store more than once so we never know where anything is! We have had to try many new brands and products.

Thats all for today, will be adding more thoughts later.

We have spent the last 2 days doing some pretty serious driving. Last night we stayed at a Forrest Service Campground near Mono Lake on the Cal/Nev border. Tonight we are in Alturas, Cal.

Since we are ending our year long adventure, we are talking about our conclusions from our travels. I am going to start reporting these things for the record. It will probably take several posting to get it all down.

Here goes:

favorite large city - Definitely Chicago. Beautiful architecture, great lake views, seems prosperous, very vital and has parks and open spaces. Surrounding areas are nice.

worst large city - Detroit. Some attempt to save historic area, but does not appear to be enough $ to do it. Part of downtown area is OK, but surrounding areas for several miles in each direction are awful (abandoned buildings, horrible housing, scary neighborhoods). There are some nice suburbs well outside the town.

favorite medium size town - Charleston, S. Carolina. Great historic area. Also great outside historic area. Surrounding areas are also nice. Seems very prosperous. Has had the same mayor for over 30 years. Stability seems to have been a plus.

most surprising small town - Quincy, Ill. Absolutely incredible architecture throughout the town. Even the small houses are beautiful and interesting.

Thats all for now!

We worked our way across desert terrain to the Karchner Caverns near Tombstone, Arizona. There is a motorhome park near there that we have enjoyed in the past and we stayed there. Friends, Kesters, came down and joined us on the tour. The caves were discovered in 1988 and were kept secret for 14 years while it was set up as a State Park to protect access. The caves were in pristine condition, unlike many caves that were damaged by early explorers. We enjoyed the tour and the many fascinating formations.

The 4 of us had a fun dinner in Tombstone, Arizona at the Longhorn Cafe and a drink later at Big Nose Nellies. The town is famous for the OK Corral, Boot Hill, and many western personalities.

We then moved to the Cave Creek Recreation Area near the Kesters in Scottsdale. It was in the 90s - quite hot. Got together with the Weimers and Moore's at the Kester home.

We are now heading across the desert and can see the smoke from the fires in the San Diego/Los Angeles area. We will head North and not go into the LA basin.

Albuquerque is definitely a Southwest town. The houses are mostly adobe which does seem appropriate here. We don't really like the look very much, but when we see a Colonial or NW Contemporary home they look out of place. We have had heavy winds and lots of dust blowing, but total sunshine.

When we were looking through some of the literature on New Mexico, we noticed that among things like the State flower and State bird was the State question, "Red or green?"

We have been driving a lot on historic Route 66. It was the original highway from Chicago to Los Angeles and some of the old motels and buildings remain.

This is a desert area with mountains in the distance. It is surprisingly green to us for this time of year. We have been driving along the Rio Grande where there are trees showing Fall colors. It has been cold at night and warm in the afternoons. There are lots of arroyos. They are dry now but suggest that there are huge amounts of water at times!

Our first day at Los Vegas, NM there was a wind storm all day - 35mph continuous with gusts to 55mph. We stayed in the motorhome most of the day and rocked back and forth! In Las Vegas we saw an original Carnegie Library that was still being used as a library. We also saw another original one still being used as a library Oklahoma! We have seen many of the original Carnegie Library buildings in small towns, but most towns have since built newer facilities. The buildings are all similar and beautiful. We had dinner in a historic "Plaza Hotel" built in 1882. This town was an early boomtown as it was on the Santa Fe trail and the Atcheson Topeka and the Santa Fe Railroad came in 1841. Coronado came through the area in 1541.

The next day we took a day drive through the Sangre Mountains with multiple scenic drives. Ate lunch in Taos and saw 2 ski areas and lots of beautiful vistas. Went over a 9,800 foot pass. Nice to see familiar mountain areas. There is a mountain, Wheeler Peak, almost as tall as Rainier. However, it rises from 6,000 feet not sea level!

We had some sad news as our longtime business associate and long term friend of my fathers, Jack Kendall, passed away. He will be greatly missed by his large family and many friends.

At home, Carlee and family are busy with school, pre school, and preparing for Halloween. Jean has been put on partial bed rest (precautionary) for the last 5 weeks of her pregnancy. She is feeling good and the baby is progressing well.

We have worked our way to Albuquerque, NM. Crossed the Pecos River and the Rio Grande River.

We remembered another interesting thing about St. Lewis. There was a farmers market that we toured as they were having an Oktoberfest. It was similar to the one in Pioneer Square, except it was in a beautiful brick building that was built as a market in 1879.

Back to our trip after Branson, MO. We headed south into Arkansas. Unfortunately we had a mechanical problem. Our V10 engine blew a spark plug - the second time this has happened. It is apparently a problem with this engine. We were towed to a Ford dealer in Frederick, Arkansas. Thank goodness for our Good Sam towing insurance! So we spent 2 days in the Frederick area, which is really a rather nice area. There are 3 towns there and a good economic base with Tyson, and Wall Mart having a big presence and a university.

With apologies to Foster Farms, we had some fabulous chicken before they got in that Plymouth Belvedere to drive to Washington. The Arkansas Quality Chicken House had some of the best fried chicken we have ever had.

We continue to travel scenic routs whenever possible and avoid the major interstates. Went through the northern Oklahoma area and the northern Texas panhandle. Not much there. Not even McDonalds or Wall Mart. Oklahoma had several almost dead towns. One had a 2 block downtown of old historic type buildings that were totally run down with not one business in operation. Very sad. The countryside was actually quite pretty with trees and some hills. It gave way to the Southern Great plains area in western Oklahoma and into Texas. Texas appears a little more prosperous. We have crossed the Chisholm Trail, followed the Santa Fe Trail and have been along the Red River. It really is red from the red rock sand and mud on the shores. We are seeing more livestock now and lots of antelope along with plenty of road kill (coons, possums, armadillos and turtles).

In Frederick, Oklahoma we spent an evening watching for tornadoes, again. This is the 4th time on this trip that we have been in a county with a major tornado watch. It is so hard to follow the warnings because we don't always know exactly where we are in relation to the warnings that are given. We pour over the map and try to watch the doppler on the weather site on the computer. Unfortunately that night we had very poor internet service and had to rely on a bad TV signal. We did end up driving about 30 miles out of our way. Saw several tornado watchers with trucks full of antennas. They would set up cameras along the highway and all of a sudden bolt to a new location. We went the opposite direction! As usual, we just ended up with some thunderstorms. We are nervous about these advisories since we are traveling in a TORNADO MAGNET.

Have arrived at Las Vegas, New Mexico (not Nevada) which is near the Sangre Mountains, Santa Fe, and Taos. We are on a lake at a State Park and at the elevation of 6,000 feet. It is nice to see some more mountain like terrain.

Gateway Arch, St. Lewis

We toured St. Lewis. Found it to be fine, but unremarkable. The Arch is quite impressive and larger than we had pictured. The levees and flood doors are interesting!

We have worked our way South into the Ozarks. It is a hilly region in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. There are lots of trees, few evergreens. Most are oaks and others that turn rather brown in the fall and not the bright reds and golds of the maples or others. This is hillbilly country and there are names such as "Moonshine Beach"! We have gone up and down through the same 400 feet of elevation countless times.

Spent 3 days in Branson, MO. It is quite the entertainment area with all kinds of shows that are largely country western. It is family entertainment with shows all day long, including many for breakfast. There are Elvis impersonators, 50s reviews, Roy Rogers, Jr., Andy Williams, Charo, Mickey Gilley, Mel Tillis, etc. Some of the entertainers have built their own venues so they can establish themselves in the area. The town is very hilly and is also along a lake. The theaters and hotels are spread out and up the valleys and sometimes the steep hillsides. We wanted to go on a "Showboat" lunch cruise, but unfortunately the boat had a mechanical problem and a part is being airlifted from Europe, but the show takes place at the dock for 3 days. We opted to skip it as the lake cruise on a sternwheeler was what we were looking forward to. (We have tried to ride an actual sternwheeler several times along the Mississippi, but seem to get thwarted at every turn.) Went instead to a Broadway review which was quite entertaining. The host was Merril Osmund, who was lots of fun. The singing was excellent and it was a great sampling of favorites with some fun dance numbers. Show, food and lodging prices are reasonable. We are in a very nice resort where a beautiful indoor pool is actually open - Linda is thrilled.

Coal barges on the Mississippi River

We have been touring around the quad cities on the Mississippi. (Moline, Rock Island, Bettendorft and Davenport - 2 in Iowa and 2 in Illinois)

Saw a really interesting passage through a 600 foot locks. 9 barges full of coal - 3 abreast filled the whole space. The push tug does not fit in so they wench the barges out the other end and fill the locks again for the tug. He then hooks up and is on his way. It took about 1 1/2 hours and also required several turnings of a draw bridge that has 2 tiers with train tracks on 1 level and cars on the other.

Visited the town of Quincy, Illinois. It has the most diverse and interesting architecture of any smaller city (about 40,000) we have visited. It was a historic city on the river, a county seat and had the first railroad bridge to cross the river. That made it an early trade center. At that time there must have been many talented architects designing homes in the area. Big and smaller homes are of varied styles, periods and have interesting and unusual features. It all seems to be done in good taste! It just amazed us that block after block had one fabulous unusual home after another. The windows, verandas, woodwork, details, wrote iron work, roof detail, stairways, fences, stone and brick work, etc. were unusual without being bizarre.

We have gone south into Missouri and passed through Hannibal of Mark Twain fame.

Weather has been nice (a bit unusual we are told). The only trouble we have had was last evening and 3 nights ago when there were thunderstorms with tornado warnings. It is a bit hard for us as the info on TV is by county and we don't always know what our county is or what its shape is. We get out the maps and fire up the dopler on the computer. Those pesky arrows indicating tornadoes always seem to be near us. Since we live in a "tornado magnet" we pay attention. We are thankful for the "alert radio" the Piners gave us as we can go to sleep knowing that we will buzzed if necessary. A neighbor told us that the tornadoes never get down by the river. We hope that is true. Glad there are no such problems in Redmond!