February 10th - February 27th

Here we are again.  It has been a couple of days but then who is counting?  Sometimes it seems  easier to do this once a week as there is less to remember and type but on the other hand it I get lazy and only want to do it once in a while...  we shall see when the next update happens.

As many of you know,  Jake is our new  traveling companion since Steve and Jenny moved to Chicago which has meant  we have had to make several changes in our routines...

Here are a few pictures from our last days at the Woodchip campground in GR.

As we continued our journey, we left Danvailia IL for Chandler OK where we planned to stay for a day or two as we waited out a big storm that was going  across the entire SW.  When we pulled into the camp-ground the manager told us we may not get out until Sat (this was Wed) as he couldn't promise to dig us out before then.  It is a good job we stayed here as about 12" of snow fell over-night, roads were closed with numerous slide-offs and accidents, and it was just plain cold.

Come Thursday morning, the sun was shining, the major roads were bare, and  we were able to drive right out of the campground so we headed west.  We decided to stay in Amarillo TX for the night as we were not too crazy about putting in tons of miles.  It was a lot milder with some snow on the ground but no big deal.

The next morning we headed to Goldminers in AZ.  After a stop for fuel and get the truck and trailer washed to remove all the road salt, we arrived about 3:00 PM to beautiful weather!  Yeah!!!

Cowboy Tom and his new bride Nancy arrived Sunday  afternoon.  They had spent a couple of days with our good friends Steve and Penny Dail who live in Colorado.  Jake was guarding their campsite until they arrived and you know what, he did a great job as no one took the site...

The first week we were here we didn't do a lot as we were just enjoying the nice weather.  Additionally we had some things to do like arrange for therapy for my shoulder... there is a good therapist right here in Sunsites which makes it really convenient.  We went to Tucson on the 18th to have dinner with Jerry and Arda... we celebrated Arda I's birthday with dinner at a local steak-house.  The ribs and prime rib was excellent - they servings were large so Arda and I got at least 2 meals out of the ribs.  I did not ride at all this week... too much going on including have to complete my taxes.

On Saturday, Nancy's daughter Katie and son-in-law Jess arrived from SD for a week's stay in Cowboy's horse trailer... they were very cozy but they had a lot of  fun.  Nancy is doing a great job of getting Cowboy trained...

The week of Feb 21st started off with a bang!  The  21st was Biker Arda's birthday and you know how Arda likes to celebrate her birthday!  I did ride on this day but it was very expensive as Arda, Nancy, and Betty (King) walked and wound up in a jewelery store.  Arda picked out her own present which was a good thing as she wouldn't take it back - HA!  Monday night we went to the Apache Lair Steak House for Arda's birthday dinner.

The rest of the week I spent riding a few hours every day... it sure feels good to be back in the saddle and outdoors again.  One more week and the sling comes off so I will be able to do more things.

Tomorrow (2/28) we get to celebrate Nancy's birthday and  I suspect on 3/1 too as she is a leap year baby... gotta make sure she gets the date!

Well that is about it for now so until next time, keep your loops open.

February 7th - 9th

After much deliberation I've decided to "Tally" this trip but it won't be a blow-by-blow report, rather it will be sporadic.  In other words, when I feel  like it.

This trip will be a little different as we now have Jake with us.  Steve & Jenny moved  to Chicago in Jan and are in an apartment where they can't have a pet so...  As Jake is 13+ years old, he is having trouble with his hind-end as he has hip displacia (spelling).  The steps on the 5th wheel are really hard for him to negotiate but we are learning.

Our first night out, we stayed at our favorite campground, Wally Mart in Vandalia, IL.  It was very cold but at least it wasn't snowing and we had lots of heat as we were able to run the generator.  Steve & Jenny told us Jake could tell time but I guess he didn't know we had changed time zones as he was awake at 6:00 AM EST which was 5:00 AM CST.  Oh well we wanted to get an  early start because there was a large storm coming.

We looked at going through Memphis but there was ice and  snow forecasted for Texas, Arkansas, etc.  Going via OK and west TX was shorter and they were forecasting snow.  Although the snow was to be in the 8" - 12" range, this seemed better than freezing rain and ice.  It was also apparent that we would not travel anywhere on Wed so we might as well find a place to hunker down for the day.   That place happens to be at the Oak Glen RV Park in Chandler, OK.

The temps were in the low 30's when we arrived but it didn't take long for them to drop into single digits... it was 6 degrees with a wind chill of -23 this morning when we woke up.  We also got about 8" of snow, but as I write this, it has stopped and the temp is around 27 with 15 mph winds.  Not a day to spend outside.  By Sunday the temps will be in the high 50's but we will be gone... hopefully already in Sunsites, AZ.

That is about it for now, keep your loops open until next time.