Mississippi River in our front Yard

Well, we finally did reach the Great Mississippi River, although much farther south than we had intended. Our original plan, although cast in jello, was to reach the very upper end of the river in Minnesota and travel down th length of it, but since winter is upon us, we elected to head south as quickly as reasonably possible. We were also going to travel through Kentucky and Tennessee, but these are higher elevation states, where most of the RV Parks are shut down for the winter, we just took the shortest route to warmer weather.

The land all the way from Little Rock, Arkansas to Natchez, a distance of at least 300 miles, is along the Mississippi flood plain, and is absolutely flat, only broken by the occasional grove of trees.

Even so it has not been that warm. We are now just across the Mississippi from Natchez, MS in Vidalia, LA. Found a nice RV Park right on the river (only 100 yds from the motorhome).

Weather forecasts were not that good with heavy rain, possible tornadoes, and wind for the next few days, so we are just going to sit tight here for a week. Hopefully by then conditions will improve to the south and east of here. We think we want to meander that direction across Mississippi, Alabama, and into Florida. We have never been there so we will never have a better chance than now. We will likely tour down the west side of the peninsula. Maybe all the way to the Everglades, depending on weather and time.
Seems like everyone these days traveling has a pet dog or a cat, or some other little beast. We are no exception as we travel with Phiedeaux, our favourite pet, and he is sure enjoying the trip so far with his exalted position on the dash of ELTORO!!

COOL DUDE!!!

Since arriving here from Branson, we have done little, other than read, rest and relax. Rain and poor weather has hampered any site-seeing, but the weather man says tomorrow should be better. We want to experience Old Town Natchez, and some of the real old Antebellum homes there. In case you don't know, as I didn't, antebellum means Deep South Plantation Houses built before the Civil War. (Ante = before and bellum = war)

We will also try to travel some of the Natchez Trace. We drove the southern end about 20 years ago in the car and enjoyed it very much. I will update after we do it again. It may not be as good now as late fall may have some effect on what we see.

The 444-mile Natchez Trace Parkway commemorates an ancient trail used by animals and people that connected southern portions of the Mississippi River, through Alabama, to salt licks in today's central Tennessee. Today, visitors can experience this National Scenic Byway and All-American Road through driving, hiking, biking, horseback riding, and camping.

Maybe a short drive down some of the Great River Road as well. We will see!

Vegas of the Ozarks

Well, our week in Branson is quickly coming to an end. We have greatly enjoyed our time here. The signs say that the population of Branson proper is 6,000 people, but I'm sure with all the suburbs that it must be about 100,000. At the info booth, they told us that 10,000,000 people a year pass through here. Traffic is heavy during the rush hours, but thins out for the rest of the day. Getting around in the city is quite easy, as all the main routes are color coded. For instance if you want to get the the "Sheppard of the Hills" all you have to do is follow the green route. In just a week we have found ourselves quite comfortable with finding our way around.
We started the week on Monday with a trip to the Butterfly Palace - Denice took lots of pics



This Statue is real!! I saw her blink!!!


The Sheppard of the Hills



Then we went around Highway 65 by the Lake and Tablerock Dam and then back to Branson
Went to "Fish House"for dinner - Denice had catfish, me shrimp. Both were very good. Appetizer was alligator tail. It was good. Pink Flesk, but it didn't squirm!
Then returned to 2 1/2 miles of "Trail of Lights" - 4,000,000 lights! Very Good!! Took lots of photo's, but many did not turn out, as taking them in the dark is an art that we obviously have not mastered. Instead we bought a DVD that a professional had done.
Back at ELTORO at 9:00PM

Tuesday - Spent the day shopping. Walked the whole Branson Landing Mall, a huge place, with 2 main Dep't stores at each end and a couple hundred in between. Made a few purchases. Knick-knacks and stuff
Denice bought another photo scanner. This one scans old 4" X 6" pictures, She is going to scan a whole bunch of the old ones we have.
Then we drove all over town looking for some thread that she needs to do some stitching that she wants to get back to.
Lunch at a wine tasting place. We had coffee and a sandwich - No wine ----

Wednesday - Shopping again today. Wally World for groceries
Michaels for for Denices thread
Not much excitement today

Thursday - US Thanksgiving - stayed home all day
Did some cleaning and then Denice cooked a great Turkey Breast Dinner with all the trimmings. Turnips, Sweet Potatoes, Mashed Potatoes, Asparagus, and salad. Turkey and dressing.

Friday - Black Friday - not sure why they call it that, but it’s the day after US Thanksgiving and one month till Christmas. This apparently starts the Xmas shopping season and has the highest volume of purchases of and time in the year.
Did some shopping in the morning - Home Depot, Wally World, Michaels, post office etc.

Then drove out to the Branson Belle paddle wheeler ship, till evening - sunset pics.

Cleaned up the Left over Thanksgiving Dinner for supper - It's even better than yesterday

The Charms of Branson, Missouri

Well, finally back on the Blankety-Blank Computer. Spend a good share of the past few days trying to get onto my Blog to do a new Posting. For some reason unknown, as soon as I put in my Password, the stupid thing would go into all kinds of contortions, and keep re-directing to an address in a circle route. Thats the best I can explain it. I have tried everything, and nothing seemed to work. However something I did must have been right, as all at once, "Here I Am". Denice says "write it down so you know what to do next time" I don't know what I did, so how am I going to write it down. "IT'S A COMPUTER". That explains it all.
Now, when I have a little more time I will fill in some of the Branson details. Today is US Thanksgiving, so we are cooking a turkey breast to help celebrate.

And on to Branson, Missouri

Nov 19th:

Lazed around today - A few motorhome chores. Went and got some more groceries at Price Chopper store - Nice grocery store!! Put groceries away - Cooked a steak for supper. End of Day. Now wasn't that exciting !!!! Watched planes come in to Kansas City as we are in the flight path and only 4 miles from the end of the runways.

Nov 20th:

Denice does washing this morning.

Dennis washes floors in ELTORO.

Mostly just a rest day - went for a walk around the RV site - It is very nice - I wouldn't mind spending a few more days here, but we have reservations in Branson, so will leave in AM tomorrow.

Nov 21st:

Leave Platte City by 9:00AM this morning. Take circle route ,East 435 around outskirts of Kansas City, then 71 to 7 and then 13 to Springfield, and then 65 to Branson. Arrive early at 2:00PM. Check in at Lakeside RV park, a City owned Park. Decided to stay for a week rather than the 3 days we had reserved for. They had to do some shuffiling of spaces to accomadate us. We are in space 103 tonight and then move to 108 for a week. Both are right on the water. Our front widow faces the Lake. A Great Spot!!!

ELTORO Repaired for under a buck

Woke up to light fog and cloudy skies this Morning. Decided to re-route to the south as fast as we can go rather than through Kentucky/Tennessee. Headed south down Interstate 29 - Lots of construction going on, on the highway to upgrade, What is good is very good, What is bad is quite bad. We stopped at a rest area and looked up RV Parks open all year long, ahead of us. Found one,"Basswood Resort" near Platte City Missouri. We called ahead to confirm reservations. Although only a couple of hundred miles travel, decided to stop there. As it is now raining steadily, we knew that was far enough for the day. (ELTORO behaved well in the rain - see note below) Arrived at about 2:30PM and checked in. Very nice park and friendly people. We reserved for 3 days. We were ready for a rest. They have a nice store and some take-out food. We ordered a Pizza and 10 hot wings. They delivered them to us at about 4:30PM, and they were well worth waiting for.
--- ELTORO -- I think you have heard me speak of him as being a "Fair Weather Vehicle" who does not like rain. Whenever in the past we have been in rain it is inevitable that it will soon start missing, and soon after the windshield wipers will start acting up, either start without turning on, or not be able to shut them off. I have spend at least $1500 trying to find a solution to both these problems. Been to some of the best service centers on both sides of the border. Installed new Spark Plug Wires, a new Wiper module for $800, and $100 here and $100 there at several diferent shops. No one seems to be able to solve the riddle.

Well I think I have.

At Shaw GMC they said they thought that the missing was from moisture getting into the air intake, not a wiring problem. Their solution was to extend the air intake higher into the front compartment, to be above moisture sucking in. I did that, but to no avail. But I was looking at the problem before I left High River, it just dawned on me that there was a little rubber valve arrangment at the bottom of the intake pipe to allow any dust that might accumulate there to escape. I inspected it and found when I pulled it off that it was not closed completely, and concluded that moisture could easily be sucked in there. My solution, 3" of duck tape!!! As for the wipers, I sprayed water on the electrical junction, and sure enough the wipers started on their own. Out with the black electrical tape, and taped it up firmly. Tried spraying water there again. Voila, success!! But when sprayed around the wiper moter they started again. Solution, one baggy completely covering the motor and electrical connections, secured by tightly wrapped electrical tape. Soak again with water. Everything working just great!!
Moral of the story:
After spending nearly $1500 at some of the best service departments in the country, yours truly fixed it with a 3" piece of "Duck Tape" and one large baggy from our kitchen. Lets hope that it is a perminant fix.

November 15th

Whats that white stuff??

Fairly long day traveling - from Roundup to Spearfish SD. Good highways all the way. Stop in Billings and buy cell phone with 300 minutes airtime. Phone number 406-671-2957. Arrive in Spearfish, just across the SD border just before dark - found a great RV Park called Elhorn Resort.

Nov 16th

Left Elkhorn at 9:00AM and traveled down to Wall Drug at 11:30AM. Stopped for a couple of hours until 1:30PM - had lunch. Then on east on I-90 - trouble finding a RV Park that was open - most closed at the end of October. Called ahead to Cedar Shores in Chamberlain - they were closed but allowed us to park in the lot anyway - power was supposed to be on but wasn't, so we used the gen set as required to make sure water compartments did not freeze during the night

Nov 17th
Left Cedar Shores by about 8:30AM and headed south again - sure looking for some warm weather - last night in ELTORO was cold. Started Gen set at 9:00PM, 12 Midnight, and 3:00AM and let run for a half hour to warm things up - especially underneath to ensure water lines did not freeze. At 3:30AM after shutting Gen set off, turned thermostat down to 50 F but left furnace on to run from batteries. Between then and about 7:30AM furnace started quite often, but batteries worked well. Was a little cool in bed but we covered up well with blankets and an afgan. Didn't drive too far today. Down past Sioux Falls, SD and Sioux City, IA. Stopped at a rest area and set up international calling in our new cell phone. No big deal, just have to call 1-800-584-7652, then 1 for English, the the long distance number you want to call in Canada, including the 1- Area code - number. Our Cell number is 1-406-584-2957. We also were looking for an RV Park open all year and found one about 25 miles south of Sioux City, right on the banks of the Missouri River, a little rustic, but all hookups, except cable TV. We had called ahead and got directions to their site. Found it quite easily, and with help of hired hand set up on a grass site. Complete by about 3:00PM. Early supper of bacon, eggs and Hash Browns. By then sun dipping lower in western sky, so went and took some sundown pics across the Missouri.

South into Winter - Hmmm - somethings the matter here

Up and Have breakfast with Tom and Linda, Say our goodbye's and on the road south before 9:00AM. Long line up at Coutts border, but it moves quite well. No difficult questions this time, just the usual, firearms, booze, where you goin, how long you all going to be gone. I told him 120 days for sure and possibly 180 days. His comment, "Better come home in 120 days, we don't like you to stay any longer and we don't care how much money you spend" Don't know where that come from, but I thought a little uncalled for. OH WELL !!!!!!! Uneventfull from there on to Great Falls and then on to Roundup on Highway 87 where we stopped for the night. RV park next to motel. Manager allowed us to park right up beside the motel so we would not have to unhook TOAD. Couldn't make to corner into the yard, so Co-Pilot Denice to the rescue. Sit in TOAD an hold the steering wheel while I did some creative driving maneuvers. Highways were good all the way,but fields covered with up to 6" snow. Are we really traveling south??

FRIDAY THE 13TH

It's Friday the 13th, and that explains it all. We are prepared to leave first thing this morning - all I have to do is fill with water, and we are off - Not To Be!!! Go to hook up the water and immediately find a froze up and broken valve on the hook up rigummaroll thingamajig. Can't get it apart - fingers freezing, and then finally able to completely break it and get it apart. Off to High River RV Supply, but as luck would have it, I walked in and walked directly to the exact fitting/valve that I required$29.50 later I walked out and returned to the subject site. Installed same quite easily, then went to hook up the hose - Froze solid - get new one from garage and commence filling. Can't get water to the Hot Water tank --- Hmmmmm, forget that, we'll deal with that later. RV Water pump will not start, even though I did a proper "Winterization" a month ago. Deal with that later also. Then yesterday, we had the bedroom slide out, to access our closets, but didn't slide it back in at the end of the day. Denice said we should put the furnace on overnight, but Me knowing best, said why would we do that, as its all winterized and nothing can freeze - Maybe a little "Scotch" blood there. You know, we need to conserve propane.Anyway the long and short of it, when we tried to activate the slide it would not budge. Checked 120 Volt breakers - AOK. Tried 12 Volt Fuses AOK - now what?? I went outside and tried to assist by pushing while Denice activated the switch - Good Luck, thats like a flee trying to stampede an elephant!! But while I was out there I detected a small short hum when Denice acivated the switch -- so the motor is ok. I went back in and tried the switch a few more times, and alas, finally noticed small movements. A few more tmes and finally it started to come in. I surmise that overnight there must have been a small amount of condensation on the rubber sealing around the slide perimeter, and it had froze overnight. Now it was about 10:30 AM. By now our master plan said that we would be somewhere south of Lethbridge. Oh well plans are only made to be broken. By the way, we are retired. What we don't get done today, we will do tomorrow!! So now shut off the water and all appliances in the house, humidifier, water softener, add vegetable oil to all setting water in the "P" traps and toilets to prevent evaporation (as we plan to be gone up to 6 months) and finally at 11:00AM we are on the road. Once out of High River I ask my co-pilot to call friends, Linda and Tom in Warner to let them know we are on the way and will see them in a few hours. Not to be. I had instructed Telus to put our land line, internet, and cell phone on Vacation Disconnect while we are gone, in an effort to save $$$. Again SCOTCH you know!! We plan to buy a "Wally World" cell for $29.99 once in the USA and a 300 minute card. So now our cell is out of commission. Can't call anyone. So we just arrive at Lindas and Toms at 2:00PM. Linda whips up a turkey sandwich for us, and dinner at 6:00PM. GREAT FRIENDS !!! Tom and I get the Pump working - must have been stuck!! Fill the hot water tank, and now I do believe we are really on our way. Spend the night in ELTORO in front of Lindas house.

OK, starting new 2009-2010 winter blog

Here it is November the 10th, 2009, and we are getting ready to head south once again. We have had a great summer here in Alberta. Just spent a lot of time relaxing and enjoying our home in High River. Did about 3 short week long trips in ELTORO during the summer. Twice down to Pincher Creek to visit our kids and once to Waterton, with a day trip into Glacier Park and over the "Going to the Sun" highway. And, oh yes, once out west of Turner Valley to Blue Rock campground for a week long primitive sojorn. The last month has been rather hectic, as my financial advisor, Denice, took a well deserved vacation in England with her sister and another friend. Denice, has always wanted to go and see some castles and see some of the real old stuff.
If that is all she wanted all she had to do was look at me, as I am some of the really old stuff.

Anyway, if she was going to wait for me to take her to England, she would have had to wait a long time, as I have no desire. While she was gone, our son Ross, decided that he could no longer affort the basement suite that he was living in, so we decided to buy him a Mobile home close to where he works at the Sears Warehouse in Calgary. So, the long and short of it, Dad had to step in with some assistance, and then to move him. God, how I hate moving!!! The big stuff is easy. A few loads of furniture, and its done. But the small things a person collects over the years. Seems it never ends. Load after load after load. Finally finished on Sunday. His mobile home is 30 years old. Originally 12' x 54', but with a 10' x 40' well constructed add-on on one side, as well as a nice deck and a garden shed for all his landscaping equipment. He should be happy now!!
So now we are rushing around trying to get all the final arrangement done before we leave this fall. Put phone, internet, and cell phone on "Vacation Disconnect", get all insurances, and ongoing bills organized for auto payment, vehicles (TOADONE and ELTORO) serviced and ready for a long vacation ahead, medicals, pills, and all of that stuff figured out, etc, etc, etc. I'm sure you all know what I mean!!
Plan on leaving as early as Friday, or Saturday. Heading down across the border at Coutts and on to Shelby, then turn east on US #2 across Montana and North Dakota to Grand Forks, then turn south down to Minneapolis, and down the Mississippi on the Great River Road to near St Louis somewhere, then likely over into Kentucky/Tennessee. From there everything is just cast in jello. Whatever road look appealing, that is the way we will go. Hope to be somewhere in Texas in mid January, and spend a couple of months there, between Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, before returning home in the spring. This year we are going to try for 6 months away. Not sure how that will work out!! May have to fly home for Christmas, for a break, but we'll see!!
This year, I have decided not to do a daily "Blog" as what we eat at each meal, gets to be rather "Old Hat", so will try to update at least once a week, to keep all informed of our whereabouts, and activities. Sometimes, I may do it more often, if we have interesting things to report.
So now follow along, and do send comments as you see fit. We do love to hear any news from home.

3rd Week at Home.- May 3rd to May 9th, 2009

Well, time to fill you in on another weeks activities here in High River. Lets see, what did really happen? I'll have to refer back to my digital diary that I do keep up regularly, well I try to, sometimes it even gets a little behind. And now with my age, it's sometimes difficult to remember things that happened even a few hours ago, let alone a few days. As I often say to friends in todays computer age, "My Hard Drive is good, but the Ram is a little Slow". Like its all up there, but the recall is sometimes a little hesitant.
Sunday May 3rd - Like all Sundays, starts with Coffee, then the "Health Thing". Weigh in, Uggg, we're each up another lb. We go US system here. Kg's whould be bad, although the total is good, like 90 kg's vs. 200 lbs, but an increase of 1 Kg is not good. Then Blood Pressure. Mine stays about 140/80 without taking any pills. Denice takes pills and her's is usually around 125/65. Got to do something about that weight!!!
Then I make Porridge, oatmeal today, with toast. Denice likes cream on her oatmeal!! lllllbbbbbs. Mine downfall is brown sugar.
Ross comes out from Calgary in our Suzuki, TOADONE, in the afternoon. I have him sold so need to keep him here for a well deserved cleanup prior to delivering to the new owner. Ross tries "turning" a large dry piece of poplar tree to make a bowl. It does not turn out well as the wood is so dry that it tends to tear, rather than peel away smoothly. By dinner time he is so frustrated that he just quits. "Dad, you can throw it out or whatever" I take him home to Calgary and keep TOADONE here.
Monday May 4th - Little to report of interest - Breakfast, Wash and clean TOADONE, Lunch, Down town for some of those things necessary to sustain our bodies, groceries, Dinner, read, to bed.
Tuesday May 5th - Take Denice to South Center appointment for Medical Tests at 1:00PM. After go to Oscar's for lunch. Return to High River. Dinner is left-overs from Lunch. Friend RV'er from Warner, Tom Neal stops by for coffee at 7:30PM on his way home to Warner from Calgary Dentist visit.
Wednesday May 6th - Around home all day. Take TOADONE to Fountain Tire for service and safety check, required for sale, at 8:30AM - completed by noon - A OK - recommend new tires and a tune up. Work on TOADONE some more. Denice comments that yours truly has spent more time getting that little fella ready for sale than I have for the last year, keeping him in shape for ourselves. True, true, true. Buy Groceries. Read, rest.
Thursday May 7th - Today is the day that all vehicles we own need to have next 6 months insurance paid, so, go pay insurances - Uggghhhh. Lincoln, (pay, but hopefully sell in next couple of weeks so will get a refund on that one), Suzuki, ( taking it to Warner tomorrow to sell, so sweet talk the Cooperators into just keeping it insured for another day with no charge) Jeep Liberty ( no option there but to pay), and my 3/4 ton Ford pickup( I just carry PL/PD on it). Then of course there are Ross's vehicles. His 1/2Ton Dodge and his 1 Ton Dump truck. And then you start to wonder where the money goes !!!!!

Friday May 8th - Hook TOADONE to my 3/4 Ton Ford and take him to Warner to Doug and Germaine, the new owners - I must tell the story of the sale of TOADONE. While we were in Quartzsite in January, while having a coffee with Tom and Linda, one evening, their friends Doug and Germaine, showed up. During the coffee chatting, the subject of tow vehicles came up. I said that I was towing a jeep, but at home in High River I had a little Suzuki that I had formerly towed. Germaine, especially, said. "We want to buy it". Well I wasn't really sure that I wanted to even sell it, as it is just a great little unit to "Bomb" around in, but however as the evening progressed, Germaine, just kept the pressure on. Much discussion on pricing, and I must tell you Germaine is good, and I guess I am a little weak, and finally I relented, and basically made the deal there and then, "sight unseen". Germaine, you got a good deal !! So that is the story of the sale. Then last week after we were back home in Canada, Lo and Behold, Sunday afternoon Doug and Germaine stop by with their motorhome on a trip back from the Edmonton area, with the hopes of taking TOADONE home with them. I would not allow it, as I wanted to get it all "ship and shine" before letting them have it. Why do people do that??? I guess its the old scenerio where your wife has to completely clean the house before the Maid service shows up!!
Anyway, back to Warner and the sale. We have lunch with Tom and Linda, then do sales paperwork with Doug and Germaine - cheque paid in full. They immediately go to Milk River and get insurance and Licence plates. Deal Complete - GOOD BYE TOADONE!!!

The New Happy Owners, Doug and Germaine.

After dinner Doug and Germaine Clinkenbeard, Denice and I celebrate my 68th Birthday that is Tom and Linda, Marty and Margo Kirby, andhappening tomorrow. Linda had made a delicious cake for me - Thanks Linda!! Our Good Friends, Tom and Linda

Saturday May 9th - 68 years old, Holy Shit!! 1941 was along time ago!!
At Tom and Linda's today - spent the night there after delivering TOADONE to Doug And Germaine. Return to High River leaving Warner about 2:30PM. Stop in Nanton to find place to have Brunch with Kids tomorrow for Mothers Day - reservation at Humpties at 11:00AM. Then we stop at Kens for supper - chinese smorg - very good. Back in High River by 6:ooPM - Good friends, Ron and Donna stop for coffee and bring dessert (Another cake)for my Birthday, as well as a neat card, and the "Good Sam" RV Campground guide. Thank you very much, Ron and Donna - they leave about 9:00PM, as they see we are bushed!! Does that come with being 68???

I Think Spring Is Really Here

It would certainly appear so! Last couple of days have been great. Up to 18 C yesterday and today seems to be another one the same. Not much to report this week again. In to Calgary a couple of times for the ever required groceries, and for Denice to catch up on the winters happenings from her coffee clutch.

Calgary Skyline in the background - shrouded by smog - something we here in Alberta are not accustomed to.

The new Calgary Hospital on the South side continues to Grow

I have been driving her in, but yesterday was supposed to be her initiation into driving the New Jeep on her own. She did drive it a few miles while down in Arizona on the desert, but was still nervious about going to the BIG city alone. In the end she coerced me into "Riding Shotgun" for the day. She did a great job and from now on will need no more coaching from me. The steering is much more sensitive than the old Lincoln's is, as is the gas pedal. Takes a little getting used to.
Other things during the last week, well income tax, completed and sent in, money back for both Denice and I, a nice surprise, but son Ross has to pay. Poor guy, he seems to always have to pay. Must be that Sears, where he works, or Langscaping Ventures, our little company, is not taking enough from him. Have to get that sorted out sometime! hmmm!
One other item; TOADONE, our little tow car, that we have pulled the last couple of years until we bought the Jeep Liberty, was broken into while we were down south for the winter. Ross had been driving it as it was much cheaper to use than his gas guzzling pickup. He had left it in his driveway and during on night someone slashed the back window ( it was a soft top, so sides were canvas and windows were plastic). Rather ironic that they slashed the window, when all they had to do was unzip the back widow, as it has a large zipper around the entire window. I guess its just easier with a knife!! There was nothing to steal inside other than a small stop watch that Ross had, a $10 value. Appears to me to just be kids in a destructive mood. However, I have the vehicle sold to friends of friends down in Warner, Alberta, so needed to get it replaced. Finally found a supply place called Zuki National, in Airdrie, Alberta that had them as used stock. Purchased it for $40 + $20 delivery by Greyhound. Received it yesterday, so will have Ross bring TOADONE out today and install -- Just Zip it in! Then get serviced and safety check prior to towing it to Warner where we will say a fond farewell to a great little vehicle. We will miss TOADONE, just a great little unit to bomb around in! But we have to get our vehicle number down. Just too many of them around here. Insurances, licences, parking space, etc, etc

First week Home

Well, I promised one blog a week now that we are home in High River, Alberta. The weeks activities were pretty mundane. First couple of days were devoted to unloading ELTORO, and getting him winterized and put away at the RV Storage. Had some indecision as to wether I needed to winterize, as this is the last half of April. Spring is supposed to be here. However, within a couple of days the snow started to fall, and the temperature dropped to near - 10C. Sure glad I made the right decision and completed filling the water lines with non-toxic anti-freeze. Now I rest a lot easier, and rest we did.

Daily activity was: up at about 6:30AM (can't seem to sleep in anymore), have a coffee, read, make breakfast, clean up, domestic stuff, Denice makes lunch (usually some of here conjured up soup- and it is good!), some more domestic stuff, make and eat supper, clean up, read --- The day is over. Where did the time go??

The Sunday after we got home Shannon and Don came up and delivered our promised "Easter Turkey Dinner" that we missed as we were still on the road home. Now she had them done up in Microwave plates and we weren't about to share, so Denice had cooked a Port Roast to feed the crew. Ross, our son, also had come out from Calgary. A good dinner, a good welcome visit with the kids. Skype is good on the road, but not like a real visit. Denice and I enjoyed the Turkey Dinner the next day. Thanks Shannon for the thought that went into that for us.

Then, of course the real reason for coming home, Income Tax. We assembled all the papers, T4's etc, that are required, and stuffed them into a large envelope. Now we have our accountant do Ross's as well, so I needed toget his put together as well. Ross and I have a small "One Man" Landscaping Company called "Langscaping Ventures". Ross is the prime worker and book keeper. Well not much of a book keeper. He does much better at the "Dirt" work then the paper stuff, so I spent parts of two days trying to update his files on his computer in "Quick Books". Somehow with a little number juggling, got the Bank statements and Quick Books statement to a close proximety. Printed out those numbers and put it all in the envelope with Denice and my stuff, and drove it over to our accountant who lives in North-West Calgary. He is a son of a very good friend of ours, who we were neighbors with in Pincher Creek so long ago, when we lived there. He was not home at the time, so just left the documents in his mail box. He promises to have it dome over this week-end. One more thing completed.

"Turned" a couple more bowls. I did one from a small African Exotic burl of a tree that I'm not sure of the name, and Ross did one yesterday from an Oak Log that we brought from Loredo, Texas. It turned out very well.

Now I must tell you, the weather has not been what I would call, "Good Spring Weather", but I guess it's what it usually is at this time of year. Oh to be back in Rockport Texas! We all want to see warm days and grass turning green and flowers starting to bloom. Here in Alberta we really need to wait another month for that. Just last night reading a blog from a full timer who is on the way from Pennsylvania to Alaska, http://www.gundyville.blogspot.com/ and I advised him to take his time, as its a little early here yet. He responded that they would, as they were going to stay in Rapid City for week. We wish them well with their Alaska visit. We want to return there as well, as we sure enjoyed our first RV trip there a few years back, Oh well, another year. So many places to go, so little time to do it all!

Day 101 - April 18th - High River, Alberta

Today is wind down day. ELTORO out in front of the house, while we empty out all the stuff that we want to take back into the house. We had resolved to leave most of the contents in the motorhome so that we would be able to be back on the road in short order is we so desired. As this is mid-April we should not have to worry about canned goods freezing inside, so will leave them. But, surprising how many trips we made back and forth from motorhome to the house to get all in order. Clothes (We took away too many with us), Laundry, reading material, purchases (not too many of them, but knick-knacks, and small gifts), Frig and freezer stuff, and empty out the outside basement compartments of items that we may need at the house. Seemed that took the most of the day, but now we have it all inside. Piled her and there throughout the house. Still need putting away ---
By 4:00pM I took ELTORO out the the RV Storage, where my 2003 Ford Superduty Pickup had been stored for the winter in ELTORO's spot. Went to start the pickup, and of course the battery was dead. Had to boost it from ELTORO. Moved the pickup and backed in ELTORO. Still need to go out tomorrow and winterize. Forecast is for some more snow and cold next week, and I'm not about to take a chance on broken water lines. Nothing is as worse then getting ready to go for our next outing and finding a bunch of waterlines that need repairing.
Came home and had a light meal to end the day.
Your bed at home sure feels good!!
Now the future of this "Blog". I think I am going continue it for the summer, but will only update weekly, likely on Sundays, just to keep those who are following the "Langs" up to date of our activities.

Day 100 - April 17th - Home Sweet Home

Well thats interesting. Exactly 100 days since we left home until we returned.

Got up this AM in Moose Jaw to a little fog, but +4C temperature. Had a toasted Ham sandwich for breakfast before we headed out. Did the final dumping of the tanks here in Moose Jaw, as not sure where might be open once we get home. I will be able to do the remaining "Winterizing" at home. Don't think we should take a chance of no more heavy frosts yet. It is only the middle of April, and this is Canada !! A couple worth of bucks of antifreeze may save a lot of heartache later on.

Here is a shot of Moose Jaws Symbol.

The next shock of the day was when we stopped at the Shell Station on the west side of Moose Jaw to fill the gas tank. We had gotten used to filling, when the tank was just below the 1/2 way mark, and it usually took about $75 - $90 to fill to capacity. This morning it was about the same level of fullness, But $140 !!! Gas was $.89/litre.

Oh well, the cost of doing business, but then we had to fill again at Brooks, another $130.

First one of these that we have seen on this trip

Here is the place we are looking for!!!

Anyway arrived home in High River at 5:05PM, a long day with 431 miles covered.

I do have to take back my comments yesterday about, "reminding me why we are going this way". Today was a beautiful day, with bright sun most of the way, temperatures up to +21C, and clear sailing all the way home. ELTORO performed exceptionally well with not even a hicup, so it was a delightful day. And there is something about looking to the west, once nearing home and seeing the Majestic Rocky Mountains just beyond our town. Denice commented, "Now all we need now is a nice sunset to complete the day". I think she may get here wish!!

Day 99 - April 16th - Moosejaw, Sask

On the road under cloudy skies at Minot at 8:15AM toward Canadian border. Reached same at 9:30AM. Border crossing fairly straight forward, but were required to stop at US side - First time ever we were required to do that. They did an abbreviated inspection of the inside of ELTORO, opening doors and drawers, frig, freezer. etc. Found nothing. Then to Canadian side. Declared $1847. 42. That was OK. Then the liquor. We had 4 part bottles of liquor and 10 cans of beer. Only allowed 2.28 litres between the two of us so had to pay duty and GST on remaining ( $25 US). Then on the way. After Estevan it started to rain. Now ELTORO does not like rain, and soon started to get wet. Then start missing. Then Denice starts to fret -----
Limped into Weyburn and stopped at truck stop. Unhooked jeep and drove back to Chev Garage, and explained problem. Said to bring it in and they would look at it. So that is where it is now, and we are in jeep behind Weyburn Inn where there is WIFI, waiting for outcome. Unsure of next step -- overnight here or get to Moose Jaw. Will update when available.
4:30PM
Now in Moose Jaw. Chev garage in Weyburn checked out motorhome, but didn't really find much the matter. One loose spark plug wire, fixed that. Put some dielectric grease on the the wire and said he could not think what else it could be. Paid $98, hooked up and continued on our way. Being a doubter, I had reservations about the "Fix". The rain had slowed down so we did not have any big issues, but I do not think it has been resolved yet.

We are not much smarter of "Birds" than these. As I said a few blogs ago, "Remind me again why we are headed this direction"?
Anyway pulled into the Prairie Oasis Motel and RV park right on Highway #1 and Thatcher Drive. Only electric available, but thats enough for tonight.

Day 98 - April 15th - Swensons Sales and RV Park, Minot, ND

7:30AM
Better get on the road northward and break trail for John and Brenda. They have gained conciderably on us and are now only about 1 day behind us and following the same route as we are. Will complete this when we stop this aft.

4:15PM

Just arrived in Minot, North Dakota. 415 miles under our belts today. A long day for us!! We were amazed at the amount of water laying in the fields all the way across South and North Dokata. Yesterday we saw our first indication of that dreadful 4 letter "s___" word. Today there was more and more as we worked our way north. But it was as if driving on a "Causeway", with water laying in both ditches and extending away out into the fields. We thought that as we got closer to Minot, ND that it would get better. WRONG!! Here it got even worse. Mouse River that runs through was flooding the complete valley bottom. All farmland was buried and many farmyards inundated. We had planned on staying at the KOA just south of Minot, but when we arrived found it under water. Searched for another and found Swensons Sales and RV park on the west side high above the creek bottom. Spent night here.

Day 97 - April 14th - Famil-E-Fun RV Park, Mitchell, SD

Up and on the road from Waco, NE at 9:00AM this morning. 7 Miles back to the west on I-80 to York, and then turn north on 81. 20 miles up 81 came apon a detour. The Columbus Viaduct was closed, whatever that is, and we were detoured a few miles to the west for about 20 miles, before joining back to 81. This section a little narrow and through a couple of small towns, but that is OK with us. Adds flavour to the trip! The remainder of the day was fairly uneventful. We had talked about just continueing on for a total of 400 miles or so to Aberdeen, SD, but as soon as we were onto I-90 started seeing signs for the the "Corn Palace" in Mitchel, SD. We have wanted to see that on other trips, but never did get this far east. I remember once at Ripid City, we started east toward Mitchel, but when we found a mileage sign and realized it was 250 miles away, changed our plans, and went south on another route. Today we decided to take the time and go there. I was for taking ELTORO to the site, but Denice convinced me to go and get settled into the Famil-E-Fun RV Park about 6 miles to the west, and then come back with the jeep. Good decision Denice!! I never realized the palace was on the far side, through the down town section. This is a real neat place, with everything made from either corn on the cob, or straw, or husks.
The Palace, with its mad mix of onion domes and minarets, looks like it was drop-kicked out of czarist Russia. It was originally built to show off the fertility of South Dakota soil - and it's remained on the job, standing in downtown Mitchell for over 75 years. A rival "grain palace"
View of the Corn Palace, 1914. (Courtesy Mitchell Corn Palace)
Mitchell's Corn Palace is built out of reinforced concrete, not corn. Every spring, however, its exterior is completely covered with thousands of bushels of native South Dakota corn, grain and grasses that are arranged into large murals.
Typical yearly themes are South Dakota Birds or A Salute To Agriculture; this past year's was Youth In Action. Locals take great pride in the Palace's "corn-septual art" and "ear-chitecture." Mitchell isn't called the Corn Capital of the World for nothing.
The Corn Palace serves as a huge auditorium for touring celebrities (Lawrence Welk played here five times - a record), as a sports arena for the various Kernels teams, and as the locus of Corn Palace Week, the high water mark of Mitchell's yearly social calendar.

Corn Palace Week marks the end of the harvest - and the beginning of the planning for next year's Palace theme.
The Corn Palace has one more title - the World's Largest Bird Feeder. After Corn Palace Week ends and winter sets it, local pigeons and squirrels make a feast of the tasty murals.

After the Corn Palace went on to see the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village. Here is a link to the site, that will explain better than I can.
http://www.mitchellindianvillage.org/index.php
We were late getting there as it closes at 4:ooPM, and we didn't arrive until 3:30PM, but the on duty Guide was more than generous by giving us a personalized guided tour through the complete facility and archeology dig site. He even took us to the dig site on his golf cart to speed our tour. Now late in the day, so stopped at KFC for some chicken to take back to ELTORO for dinner. Oh Yes!! some sunset pics!!

Day 96 - April 13th - Double Nickel RV Park, Waco, NE

No Motorhome Travelling today - Searching for Denice's Roots in Schickley, NE -- Successful!!Lazy morning as we knew we had lots of time. At about 10:00AM Denice called a first cousin once removed, Gerald Krause, to get some info on cemeteries in the area. She had also e-mailed a couple of other relations, and they all responded. Found that yesterday we had been looking in the wrong town, as they were buried in Schickley rather than Geneva, two towns about 10 miles apart. I also researched some info on the web as we have good WIFI here. The local county Web is very well done, and organized. So armed with a whole bunch of info, and printed plot maps, took the jeep and and drove back to Schickley, NE, about 40 miles. Drove around until we found the town cemetery. Not too difficult as the town is only about 6 blocks long by 6 blocks wide. As we now had good info with the printed plot map and relative names associated with each, we were able to locate with relative ease each of her ancestors. Of most importance to her were her Great-grandfather and Grand-mother, Henry Peter Krause and Louisa Kreger Krause. She took multiple photos, and I took back up ones just in case! Denice will now be able to document all of these into her "Family Tree". This is becoming a valuable document to us, and should be retained long term with our decendants. Denice has over 8000 names associated with our "Tree". Many, many days, weeks, months, and years of work researching all of these associations. Once finished at the cemetery it was near noon, so went back into town and to the local restaurant, Dawgs Cafe, where we ordered burgers. As with all small town cafes, they were big and very good. Listened to the local chatter about politics, weather, etc. Every small town has that type of atmosphere at the local gathering place. While paying the $10 for our two burgers, I engaged the local proprieter and owner in some local information about possible other living relatives of Denices. Seems that there are none remaining locally, that she could recall. We asked about other close by cemeteries, and she gave us directions to both the Luthern and Catholic ones a few miles from town. We went to both of them, but were unable to find any other headstones of interest.This did not disappoint Denice as we had already found about 25 that she was in some way related to. A very worth while trip, and one that my wife has wanted for a very long time. We had never been in this part of Nebraska before. Returned back to ELTORO in Waco NE. for dinner. Now tomorrow we will be back on the road Northward again. Had an e-mail from John and Brenda. They left Rockport this morning and made good time travelling over 400 miles today. Who knows, if they keep that rate up they may catch up with us!

Day 95 - April 12th - Double Nickel RV Park - Waco, Nebraska

A real short Drive today. On the road at 9:00AM and cross into Nebraska. Another 40 miles and turn off into Geneva, Nebraska. Denice believes this is where her great-grandfather and some of her other ancestors and relatives are interred. I had found the Geneva cemetery on "Streets and Trips" so had little problems finding the site. As you can imagine Geneva is a real big town!! However the cemetery IS big. Must be a long history here. No place to park ELTORO and the jeep so pulled into a feed processing facility next to the grave yard, and parked there. One of the locals in a pickup drove in to ask if he could be of assistance, but I ensured him we were OK and only looking at roots. We did not even know where to start so just wandered through all the headstones, looking for the names of Krause, Kreger, and Rachow. Never found any of them as we wandered north to south. At the far south end and entrance found a directory and plot map. But it only indicated those after 1900. We would have to contact the director at the State National Bank tomorrow, for those prior to that date. Wandered back through, just randomly checking head stone names. Did find a couple of Krauses, but unknown to Denice. I did find one of some "Langs", but pretty sure no relation to me. It was good to get back to ELTORO as it was rather cool, only 50F degrees. We don't know what we will do back in Canada --- and remind me again why we are going home!!!
Head north again, but only as far as Highway I-80, then turn east for 7 miles to Waco, NE and Double Nickel RV Park. Self register, nobody around, and find a site that satisfies us. Hallelujah!! Good WIFI !!
Get on the internet and do some investigation, as we have nothing to do for the remainder of the day. Find that the people we are looking for are actually buried in Schickley, NE, a real small town about 10 miles further back. We will investigate that tomorrow.