Farewell to 2014

Happy New Year 2014!

   We rang in 2014 with friends and fellow campers at Meridian RV Resort in Apache Junction, Arizona.  Although we took great pride in having bought our 'last RV first,' we found the RV with the floor plan of our dreams, a 2007 Monaco Camelot, at a nearby dealer.  We spent a good bit of time admiring it on the lot, but were unable to come to mutually agreeable terms.

Annual RV School Quartzsite gathering in the desert is always a great time!

   Late January took us to our annual Quartzsite, Arizona gathering on BLM land in the desert.  What a great time we had with many of the RV Driving School's instructors, former students and friends of the school!

Part of the Congress Boot Camp Team

   From Quartzsite, we took the familiar drive up to the annual Escapees' Boot Camp in Congress, Arizona in early February.  We always enjoy these events, sharing information with new RVers and spending time with the staff.

George with J.D. Jenkins, our Las Vegas instructor

   Our next stop was Las Vegas, where we spent two weeks just catching up on business and meeting up with  instructor, J.D. Jenkins, and some long time friends.   And we couldn't miss the opportunity to fly out to Michigan to celebrate George's brother and sister-in-law's 50th wedding anniversary.

Congratulations on 50 years together, Jack and Helene!

   The weather was still cool, but we took I-40 stopping in Winslow, Arizona with a quick sightseeing trip to the Meteor Crater, which we had driven past on numerous occasions.  We made an overnight stop at the Walmart in Edgewood, NM and then stopped for a couple of days in Amarillo, Texas to catch up laundry, followed by a brief stop in Oklahoma City, and two more Walmart overnights in Van Buren and Forest City, Arkansas.

Meteor Crater near Winslow, Arizona

   We stopped just east of Memphis in West Memphis, Arkansas and parked along the Mighty Mississippi River at Tom Sawyer's RV Park for several days, followed by more Walmart nights at Alexander City, Alabama and Jacksonville, Florida.  Early March we settled for a month to conduct business and visit family at the Water's Edge RV Park, In Okeechobee, Florida, with a trip to Orlando for the Winnie Gators' Rally.

Many hours spent relaxing under the Tiki Hut in Water's Edge RV Park, Okeechobee, Florida

Dog parade judging at the Winnie Gators Rally in Orlando, Florida

   Early April we headed north through Jacksonville to Ashland, Virginia and Cherry Hill RV Park, just outside Washington, D.C. in Maryland.  We did a good bit of sightseeing on our way to meet with Harrisburg, Pennsylvania instructor, Ray Casselberry, and his wife, Barb.

No better time to visit D.C. than when the cherry trees are in bloom

   While in Harrisburg, we took a day trip out to nearby Hershey and stopped in Shanksville, Pennsylvania to see the Flight 93 Memorial, before heading out to Goshen, Indiana for another Escapees Boot Camp and the yearly rally, Escapade, in early May.

The site where United Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania September 11, 2001

Dinner with several RV School instructors and spouses at Das Essenhaus in Middlebury, Indiana

   Our next stop was Kansas City to meet with instructor, Matt Genasci, and his wife, Dee.  We stayed at Lake Jacomo Campground for two weeks then moved to Worlds of Fun Village north of Kansas City to attend Valerie's family reunion in nearby Odessa.  In the meantime, George had re-established negotiations with Auto Boss RV in Phoenix, which accepted the offer we had extended in January.  George hopped on a plane and flew to Phoenix to finalize the deal, and we were soon on our way south in the heat of the summer.

Family reunion in Odessa Missouri 

   We left Monday, June 16, stopping at Walmart in Pratt, Kansas.  Tuesday we stopped in Tucumcari, New Mexico at Mountain View RV Park.   Wednesday we stopped in Flagstaff at the Twin Arrows Casino and made our way to Phoenix on Thursday afternoon to pick up our new-to-us coach.  We spent the first night in the Camelot at the dealership and moved the next day to nearby Viewpoint RV and Golf Resort where we parked the rigs side-by-side for several days.  It was HOT -- nearly 106 every day, and we, (especially the dogs), were quite anxious to get back on the road north.

Happy in our new home -- the Camelot

Troy and Betty Hanson

   Following stops in Camp Verde, Arizona, Ancoma, New Mexico, and Pueblo, Colorado, we arrived in Colorado Springs to meet with instructor Troy Hanson and his wife, Betty.  We then moved north to Boulder and Longmont with the hope to meet with instructor Asher Haun and his wife.  Valerie's daughter, Lindsay, lives and works in the area and was helpful in keeping us delightfully entertained.  

   Lindsay accompanied us to the Twin Cities, where she has a second office, from Longmont.  George has been recruiting an instructor in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area with the hope of offering lessons here.  He met with a couple of people while were at Mystic Lake Casino for visits with his son and two daughters.  

   It was about this time issues with the motor home began to snowball, and combined with family responsibilities and travels, Valerie fell behind on our blog.   It looks like now is the right time to let it go and resolve to do better in 2015.

George's family gathered in the Twin Cities

   August we headed south to Des Moines.  We enjoyed a day at the Iowa State Fair as well as some of the local tourist attractions -- Bridges of Madison County and John Wayne's birth place in nearby Marion.

Iowa State Fair

   We spent another two weeks in Kansas City, followed by a week in Columbia, Missouri and then headed for Ann Arbor, Michigan.  We met up with George's twin nephews, Jim and John, and caravanned down to the RV-Dreams Rally in Goshen, Indiana.  It was our first educational rally with Howard and Linda Payne, and we were impressed with the quality of the seminars and the social event planning behind the scenes.  We look forward to participating the their fall rally in Sevierville, Tennessee.

   After a return to Michigan to take care of some business, Anderson, Indiana seemed like a good stop-over so Valerie could fly back to Kansas City.  We stayed at Timberline Valley RV Park.  It was a bit of a challenge getting the Monaco parked there, but a nice park, nevertheless.  

   The time for our long awaited service appointment arrived, and we had a long list of items which needed to be addressed at Allied Recreation Group facility in Decatur, Indiana.  With the weekend and the wait for parts we spent a rainy week with early morning appointments getting repairs done on the Monaco.

Great times at the RV-Dreams Educational Rally in Goshen, Indiana

   We left Decatur mid-October and headed south as it began to get colder.  We spent two weeks back at Tom Sawyer's RV Park in West Memphis, with the hope to catch up on business between rallies.  We found time to do some sightseeing after we were joined by George's nephew, Jim and his wife, Terry.

The guys at Brewer's Auto Body Shop in Memphis re-attaching the door which broke off our engine compartment

  After a Walmart night at Sikeston, Missouri and Bryant, Arkansas, we stopped at M & G Engineering in Athens, Texas to get the air braking system connected onto the Subaru.  George really enjoyed learning more about the company and it's founder, Leon Meadows.

Dinner with instructors Greg Pyke and wife, Rosemary, and Glyn Carson and wife, Diane

   Livingston, Texas and Escapees' headquarters was our next stop for the annual Boot Camp, which again became two Boot Camps on consecutive weekends.   We especially enjoyed time with instructors Glyn Carson and his wife Diane, and Greg Pyke and his wife, Rosemary.  Boot Camp director, Mark Nemeth and former RV School owner, Dennis Hill and his wife Carol hosted delicious dinners for the staff.  Thanks, guys!

Thanksgiving dinner with Lynne and Carl Bynum

   From Livingston with stops in Kerrville, Fort Stockton, and Anthony, in Texas, and Benson, Arizona, we arrived in Mesa, returning to Viewpoint RV Park for a week for some doctor visits and other business.  We enjoyed a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner as guests of friends, Lynne and Carl Bynum in Tempe.  

   We had decided to try a different location this winter and moved south again to Yuma.  Valerie flew to Kansas City for a pre-Christmas visit with her son and his family and George flew to Minneapolis to spend Christmas with his family and for a doctor visit in preparation of cataract surgery.   We quietly rang in 2015 at The Palms RV Resort.

George and family in the Twin Cities

   It's hard to believe we've been on the road for so many years.  There is much we still hope to accomplish -- many more roads to travel and much more country to see.  We value our families, friends and acquaintances who cheer us along on our journey.  Safe travels and wishes for health, prosperity and happiness to all of you!

Enjoying gorgeous sunsets at The Palms in Yuma