Day 113 - Venice, Florida

We finally made it home after a wonderful trip. All is well here and we are back to our normal lives. Thanks for following us through our summer journeys. Hope you enjoyed them. We sure did! THIS IS THE LAST POST OF THIS BLOG!

Day 108 - Red Bay, Alabama

We finally made it in for service! Everything was fixed just fine, only minor work needed.
Tiffen has 55 bays for work and they are constantly full. Appointments are made a year in advance. Once you're in, they do a great job of solving your problems.

Day 104 - Lexington, Alabama

We're still visiting our friends, Jim and Sue, in Lexington, Alabama while we're waiting for service at our RV manufacturer.

Their beautiful home is in a beautiful setting with a pond out the front door.

Janie and Sue took time to make up a batch of homemade pear preserves!

Day 97 - Lexington, Alabama

Rather than just waiting for our turn for service, we have moved to our friends place about 60 miles away for our yearly visit with them. It's almost like being home! We'll go back to Red Bay when it's our turn for service.
Our friends place is so large it takes both of them about 4 1/2 hours to cut the grass. They call this retirement?

Day 94 - Red Bay, Alabama

Red Bay is a very small town on the border of Alabama & Mississippi, dominated by Tiffen Mfg. (our motorhome manufacturer).
We had to put ourselves in line for service and will have a wait of a week before they can take us.
The plant has cut production from 13 units a day to 6 units a day. Naturally, that meant a large layoff of workers.
They were still putting units together when we went on our 2nd tour (we went on one last year) of the factory.

Day 92 - Branson, Missouri

Today we went on a luncheon cruise on the Branson Belle, an old style paddle wheeler.
We had a wonderful lunch in a private dining room.
And then saw a great show in the showroom. It was a terrific experience and we enjoyed it very much.
That's about it! I just liked this picture so I decided to throw it in with the rest. Oh, almost forgot, tonight we will finish our stay here with The Jim Stafford (I don't like spders and snakes) show.

Days 90 to 92 - Branson, Missouri

Branson is in the Ozark mountains of Missouri. I wouldn't want to tell you that people here are any different than anyone else but......
we met these guys on the street here. Needless to say, I don't think we need to worry about either of them running for President!

Days 90 to 92 - Branson, Missouri

Of course, Branson is known for entertainment. There must be at least a hundred different shows in town and they all run $25/$35 vs the $100 plus shows in Vegas.
Of course, that many shows create a lot of traffic. That's Andy Williams' Moon River Theater in the background.
The Baldknobbers was the first show in Branson and has been playing here for 50 years. It's a very good show!

Day 89 - Branson, Missouri

This is Branson taken from our campground across the valley. We love this campground because of the location and the view. This is our 4th year here!
Branson is just off of Tablerock and Tanneycomo lakes. This dam separates the two lakes. They are beautiful and so is the whole area.
On our first night we went downtown and had dinner outside overlooking dancing waters, with fire bursts, and live music. Neat place!

Day 86 - Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City IS Barbeque! The two most famous places are Gates and Authur Bryant's, both black families, that have been cookin' up barbeque in KC for many, many years. Neither is in the best of neighborhoods but that doesn't seem to matter to the people that go out of their way to eat their barbeque. Our favorite is Bryant's (we ate there twice in three days). The original location (pictured) has been visited by President's Truman and Carter, Steven Spielberg, Sally Fields and many other celebrities. Their sauce makes the difference! It's a little hot and gritty (like sand). It's just simply the best! Don't miss it if you're ever in KC.

Day 85 to 88 - Shawnee Mission, Kansas

Shawnee Mission is a Kansas suburb to Kansas City and where I grew up. We spent a few days here visiting family, including ex-wife (shown at back on right side).
Granddaughter Shea (7)!

Granddaughter Hannah (16)! Grandson Nathan (Hannah's twin brother) wasn't around for the photos.
Granddaughter Emily (17)!
Granddaughter Rachel (22) and boyfriend, Larry!

Day 84 & 85 - Kansas

Kansas.....The Sunflower state!
Yep, Kansas is just one long, flat road (actually it's almost 4500' downhill from Denver)! It's 600 miles from Denver to Kansas City. We drove it in 2 days because we didn't want to hurry or stress ourselves.
Just a note to let you all know that Kansas has oil and the pumps were pumping. There are many of them along the highway. I have no idea what they do with the oil they pump but I doubt it would make a dent in the U.S. usage.
Kansas also has windmills. There is no question that they have a lot of wind. If they filled Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas with windmills our electrical problems would be over!

Days 78 to 83 - Denver, Colorado

I'm sorry I haven't been posting lately but there just isn't much to post while in Denver. We've been having a ball seeing friends and family here. This is home and, I guess, it always will be (that doesn't mean we don't love Florida too). We had a great stay here, at the fairgrounds, and will stay here again on our next trip.

Day 77 - Denver, Colorado

This is the #9 hole of my old home course in Denver (The Meadows). We lived on the 17th hole of this course and loved it. I was going to play here during our visit but got rained out and then they punched the greens (that wasn't nice of them). For a public course, I think it's beautiful!

Day 75 - Denver, Colorado

We're staying at the County fairgrounds. The other night we got home and we saw all of these guys walking around in their midevil garb so we went to see what it was all about. These guys actually go to war with each other and beat each other with their sticks. It was wild to watch. They just have fun. It's their hobby!

Day 73 & 74 Denver, Colorado

We made it to Denver! We didn't know where we were going to stay here but were extremely lucky to find camping at a County Fairgrounds right in the city and very close to where we used to live. It's a beautiful spot and extremely inexpensive.

For the next couple of weeks we will be visiting with old friends in the Denver area. This picture is of us, in our RV, with an old employee, Coleen Peppmuller. It was great to see her after all these years and to know that she still cares about us.

Day 72 - Travel to Denver

Glenwood Springs is a beautiful city which is famous for having an extremely large outdoor "natural thermal" heated pool and spa. Just outside of the city is Glenwood Canyon, which is simply gorgeous. You may remember John Denver fighting to stop them from putting a four lane highway through the canyon. He lost and I think they did a great job.

Dillon Reservoir is between Vail and Denver. The surrounding area is beautiful. I may be predjudice but I still think Colorado is the most beautiful place in the world (Well, in the USA anyhow).

Day 71 - Carbondale, Colorado

Today we visited with our good friends, Barb and Bill Grant, who we went to China with. Unlike the other friends we've visited on this trip, they were not in the video business but were friends when we lived in Denver.

Over the last year and a half they have built a beautiful home in this mountain paradise and they love their new location and new life. We had a wonderful visit!

Day 70 - Glenwood Springs, Colorado

We've arrived in Glenwood Springs. If you've never been here or elsewhere in the mountains of Colorado, it's absolutely beutiful and it surrounds you in every direction. Tonight we went to the local Elks club and had a wonderful dinner buffet for $5. What a deal!

Days 68 & 69 - Traveling

We left eastern Oregon and headed to Ogden, Utah. That's 380 miles and one of the longest days we've ever had driving the RV. Remember, we're only driving at 60 mph so that made for a long day. We made it just fine but were very tired. The next day we drove to Green River, Utah, which is in the middle of nowhere. It's just a place to spend the night.