2015 RV Adventures - Part 2

After Oklahoma, we continued our westward trek into southern Colorado, and up the Rocky Mountains. The mighty diesel engine in our Ford F-250 pickup had no trouble hauling the Shuttlecraft around and up winding roads to an altitude of 11,000 feet. (Warning to those who are squeamish about heights: When going up a steep mountain road on the outside lane, don't look down!)

Our next stop was Durango, Colorado, altitude 6,500 feet. Durango is the home of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, which began carrying passengers and freight between Durango and the mining town of Silverton in 1882. These days, one can still experience very old-school train travel along the same route. A coal-fired steam-powered locomotive pulls a train up 45 miles of track through remote wilderness and the high-mountain landscape of the San Juan National Forest to Silverton, which is 2,800 feet higher than Durango. After a two-hour layover in Silverton, the train makes the downhill return trip to Durango.

The locomotive, built in the mid 1920s, powers the train to a lumbering top speed of 18 miles per hour. With periodic stops for the locomotive to take on water for its coal-fired boiler to make steam, passengers get a Petticoat Junction experience. I could swear I saw Uncle Joe movin' kind of slow!

I think I can, I think I can!

Here is a video I took of the train pulling in to the Hermosa, Colorado station.

About 10 miles north of Hermosa is Haviland Lake. We enjoyed hiking the scenic trails near the 80-acre lake, which is within the San Juan National Forest, at an altitude of 8,700 feet.

Haviland Lake - as seen from one of the hiking trails

We acclimated to high-altitude physical activity fairly quickly. (We figured when we returned to sea level, we'd be strong enough to lift cars off the ground!) What surprised us was an aspect of life at higher altitudes that is different than at sea level: cooking. We discovered that difference after Janet made biscuits that didn't come out right. Hmm... Janet is an experienced cook. How could that have happened? A careful look at the package revealed this helpful nugget: "See instructions for preparing this mix at high altitudes." (At 8,700 feet, water boils at 196 degrees F. Liquids evaporate faster and gases expand more than at sea level. The quantity of each ingredient added to the mix and the baking time have to be adjusted accordingly.) If only we had paid attention to Betty Crocker beforehand. Perhaps an experience such as ours inspired Fred Durst to name his metal band!

On September 1, we took a picturesque ride from our RV Park in Durango to the resort town of Telluride, Colorado. It was a 107 mile trip over winding mountain roads. The views along the way were breathtaking. Between our gawking at the scenery, and numerous delays as road crews removed fallen rocks and made repairs, the trip took nearly three hours. The quaint downtown area and the view did not disappoint.

Looking west from downtown Telluride, Colorado

Kiko and Janet taking a walk in Telluride

When it came to majestic scenery, the best was still yet to come.  Next stops: Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah.

2015 RV Adventures - Part 1

On our westward trek, we were going to be near West Monroe, Louisiana, so we figured we'd check out the town's claim to fame: The Duck Commander Warehouse, as featured on the TV show "Duck Dynasty". Perhaps we'd get lucky and have a Robertson siting. Well, the visit wasn't all it was quacked up to be. Not only was there nary a Robertson to be seen, the only part of the building open to the public was the gift shop. Most of the products offered, including entry-level duck calls, were made in China!

Nothing to see here!

The West Monroe visit wasn't a total bust, because the town has a beautiful park (Kiroli Park) that includes a very large, really nice dog park. Kiko had a great time romping around there.

Good boy, Kiko!

Our next big stop was Oklahoma City. We found a highly-rated RV park in the north side of town, the Twin Fountains RV Resort, that actually lived up to its billing. It was downright luxurious, and truly deserved to have the word "resort" in its name. There really were two fountains adorning the front of the main building!

Oklahoma City has two "who'd've thought there was such a thing" museums.

The first was the National Banjo Museum. If you have an interest in the banjo, be sure to add the National Banjo Museum to your must-visit list. Oh Susanna!

In downtown Oklahoma City

Some mighty fancy banjos are on display

Steve Martin's heaven

The second was the National Cowboy Museum. Yee-haw, little dogies!

Lots of interesting things to see here

A really sweet find just down the road from the Twin Fountains RV Park was Braum's. Forget the hamburgers, this is an ice cream shop on a grand scale. A zillion flavors and toppings galore! Fresh and delicious. Want to take some home? Yep, they're got a giant freezer section. Too bad we have a tiny RV freezer. If you're counting calories or worried about your cholesterol, don't come anywhere near this place!

Mmmmm!

About 30 miles to the north of Oklahoma City lies Guthrie. (Interesting fact for Jeopardy fans: Guthrie was the first capital of Oklahoma.) It is here that we attended the First Capital Stampede Rodeo (aptly named). Sure, bull riding is a tough way to earn a living, but so is bronc riding. Play this short video clip I took, and you'll see why.

Hey pal, this ain't my first... Oh wait, it WAS my first rodeo! We had a great time. Oklahoma's O.K.!

By the way, lest you think after the Shuttlecraft tire fiasco that our trip was a bed of roses, think again! Three days after our departure from Fort Myers, I noticed that all of our truck's tires had small cracks in the sidewalls. HOW COULD THIS BE?? The tires were only two years old and have rolled only 24,000 miles (and not all of that was towing an RV). They've been properly inflated and rotated twice. Were the cracks cosmetic, or a prelude to a potential blowout? The tire experts couldn't say for sure.

Tires are guaranteed to work properly until they fail, so I decided to err on the side of caution by replacing all the tires on the fourth day of our trip. Who can put a price on safety? The tire dealer sure can, to the tune of $1,500!

Westward ho!

Our 2015 RV Travel Season Started With A Bang – Hey, It's Déjà Vu!

And now, here's the story of our 2015 RV travel season, which started ominously on August 21. First, a bit of a backstory: This year, we had one planned event, an RV rally at the annual Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, which would take place the first nine days of October. Since we were headed west, we figured we'd check out Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks in southwest Utah, so we could see for ourselves tremendous natural beauty we'd been told we shouldn't miss. I also wanted to go to Mesa, Arizona to check out a very interesting attraction I've been wanting to experience for the past decade. (More on that in an upcoming blog entry.) As far as where we would go before and after the Balloon Fiesta, in the spirit of adventure, we decided to fill in the blanks and figure it out as we went.

With the desert southwest as part of our trip, being there any time from June to the middle of September was pretty much out of the question. Sure, sure, it's a "dry heat", but 120 degrees is a tad excessive, low humidity notwithstanding. Thus our late-August departure from Fort Myers. (O.K., so while we avoided baking in the southwest desert sun, we were drenched by tropical rain and humidity while being eaten alive by mosquitoes in a typical southwest Florida summer. We simply traded one form of misery for another!)

With a long trip in the offing, back in the spring, Janet came up with the idea of getting a small, lightweight travel trailer (the kind that attaches to a ball hitch at the back of a pickup truck), which would make traveling much easier than it would be hauling our home, the big Jayco 5th wheel trailer, across the continent. To that end, we bought a used 2011 Keystone Outback travel trailer, a.k.a. "The Shuttlecraft".

Our vacation home.  It's 22' long and has a 6-foot rear slideout with a king bed.
It even has an outdoor kitchen!

The quarters are tight compared to the Jayco, but large enough to accommodate Janet, Kiko (the poodle), Elkay (the cat) and me without being too cramped for space. (Don't get me wrong, if we were stuffed in The Shuttlecraft for more than three months at a time, one of us wouldn't make it out alive – namely me!) At the end of May, we took the diminutive trailer on a three-day, 400 mile shakedown cruise. It was smooth sailing all the way. (When not in use, The Shuttlecraft is parked in a storage area at the back of our campground.)

On August 20, the day before our departure, I did a full safety check of The Shuttlecraft. To my dismay, I noticed that all four tires had small cracks in the sidewalls. (There were no tire cracks back in May.) Not good. I looked at the date codes on the tires – oops, they were all over five years old. As someone who likes to learn from experience, and not wanting a repeat of the blowout scenario that inaugurated our first travel season two years ago, I decided to get new tires before hitting the road.

At 8:00 a.m. on opening day (August 21), we went to our local Camping World to get new shoes for The Shuttlecraft. The guy at the parts counter said the tires were not in stock. They would have to be shipped to the store and wouldn't arrive until about 1 p.m. Add an hour for installation, and our departure would be delayed by six hours. So as to not waste all that time waiting in the lounge, we came up with what seemed like a fine idea at the time: Let's call the Camping World in Ocala to check if they had the tires in stock. That store is near the interstate we'd be traveling on, 210 miles to the north. They had the tires in stock, and could install them when we arrived (around noon). We would be back on the road at about 1 p.m. Instead of waiting around in Fort Myers, we'd already be 210 miles and several hours ahead of the game.

We were cruising along on I75, about 130 miles south of Ocala, when we heard the dreaded loud BANG sound that could mean only one thing: A blowout! Haven't we been down this road before? The force of the shredded tire cut a hole in the floor of the trailer (which, fortunately, did not penetrate all the way through to the inside) and tore away part of the right fender skirt from the side of the trailer.  As luck would have it, three things went our way: We were right near an exit, there was a Goodyear tire store a mile and a half away, and the emergency roadside service showed up and put on the spare tire (which worked O.K.) in just thirty minutes.

It was before noon when we pulled in to the Goodyear tire store in Bradenton, Florida. It should go without saying that the tires we needed were not in stock, and had to be shipped to the store. Estimated time of arrival: 3 p.m. Time we actually left the store with the new tires installed: 5:30 p.m. And where do you suppose we spent the night?  Ocala!

Oh, by the way, I made a temporary patch in the the trailer floor and reattached the fender skirt to the trailer with good old duct tape. (As any RVer knows, always travel with lots of duct tape.)

Memorable Moments 2014 - Part 2

It's hard to believe we've been full-time RVers for two years and two months!  We are already planning our 2015 travel adventures.  Meanwhile, here are some more memorable moments from our 2014 RV travel season, shown photographically (in chronological order):

Two-fisted beer drinking at the Hop Cat brew pub in Grand Rapids, Michigan. YUM!

A moment of tranquility at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Sculpture on a grand scale at Frederik Meijer!

The Jolly Green Giant's garden at Frederik Meijer. (No trick photography or Photoshopping!)

A large sculpture taking a nap at Frederik Meijer!

The greenhouse complex at Frederik Meijer. Big doesn't quite describe it!

Pondering world affairs in the Oval Office
(Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan)

The 6 a.m. temperature in Traverse City, Michigan on July 16, 2014.  Brrrr!

Who ever heard of a herd of buffalo in Traverse City, Michigan?  We did; saw them too!

At the Traverse City, Michigan downtown waterfront.  The music in the flowers must be Cherry Baby!

Working his way through college in Traverse City, Michigan – the cherry capital of the world.
Best cherries we ever tasted!

One of the most enjoyable things we did, as well as the most physically demanding activity of the year, was the dune climb at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park, in Glen Arbor, Michigan.  Located about 28 miles west-northwest of Traverse City, the dunes abut Lake Michigan.  The trek from the parking lot to Lake Michigan and back is "only" 3.5 miles, yet it took us about three hours to complete it!  We started out right as the park opened at 8 a.m. on a beautiful day in mid-July.  (You wouldn't want to start much later in the day.  Although cool breezes off Lake Michigan are nearby, by afternoon in the summer, the sand and the air temperature in the dunes can get very hot.)

The sand is very slippery; getting a good footing can be difficult. There is one dune after another to climb and descend until, at last, one reaches the holy grail: Lake Michigan.  Descending a steep dune can require almost as much exertion as ascending. As you'll see, it's worth the effort for the view alone.  The initial climb, shown in the photo above, is 130 feet, with an incline of 15 degrees.  (If you can't make it to the top of the first dune, forget about doing this hike – the initial climb is relatively easy compared to some of the dunes that follow!) There were lots of kids doing the dune climb (where "kids" is defined as folks much younger than we are), but not many fellow young geezers.  We were elated to have been in good enough shape to do the dunes.  (As a side note, after about a third of the way to the lake, there is no cell phone service, which is great for peace and serenity, but a problem if you'd need to call 9-1-1.)

As each successive dune peak gets higher, the view gets more dramatic.  Here is a panorama of Glen Lake, which is to the east of the dunes.  The parking lot (right of center) and the people on the right give you a sense of distance and height.

From one of  the highest dunes in the climb, at a height of 260 feet, the view is breathtaking.  In this panorama, you can see Lake Michigan in the distance on the left, and Glen Lake to the right of center. (From this location, there is still lots of up-and-down hiking to get to Lake Michigan!)

Rugged landscape as we trudged on toward Lake Michigan.  Good thing we took lots of water!

Here we are at the end of the dune trail.  Lake Michigan, at last!  The lake water was very cold (no surprise), and very clear (a pleasant surprise).  

Lots of  people write their name on a rock at the Lake Michigan shore to commemorate their dune climb triumph.  Can you see our rocks (outer edge of the pile, at about 5:30)?  Janet wanted to take some rocks back with us, so we loaded about ten pounds of them into her flannel shirt and took turns carrying the payload on the return trip across the dunes.  Ten pounds never felt so heavy!

Photographic proof that we were way up north!

In the next Memorable Moments installment, it's on to the upper peninsula of Michigan.

Memorable Moments 2014 - Part 1

Our 2014 RV travel season had many memorable moments.  Here are some of them, shown photographically (in chronological order):

The view from our spot in Long Key, Florida State Park  (5/31)

David fishing before sunset off the bridge just south of Long Key State Park  (5/31)

View of mangroves from our spot in the Geiger Key, Florida RV Park  (6/1)

Janet (right) & Cheri (left) in Key West, Florida  (6/2)

Pink Flamingoes in the Homosassa Springs, Florida Wildlife State Park  (6/7)

 The Rock Crusher Canyon RV Park in Crystal River, Florida  (6/10)
This was one of our favorite RV parks this year.  (Our rig is in the middle of the photo.)

Had lunch at the famous Jack's Bar-B-Que in Nashville, Tennessee  (6/16)

Nashville is indeed Music City!  (6/16)

A real record shop in downtown Nashville  (6/16)

Inside Lawrence Records -- Note row after row of LPs and 45s.  (6/16)

An appropriate lighting fixture inside Bootleggers Inn, Nashville  (6/16)

In the next Memorable Moments installment, it's on to Grand Rapids, Michigan.

A Most Welcome Anticlimax: Almost Nothing Went Wrong!

During our three months and two weeks on the road this year, we covered 5,905 miles towing our 5th wheel, and 2,725 miles with the truck on its own, for a total of 8,630 miles.  Given last year’s troublesome fiascoes, and this year’s run up to our departure, who could blame me for being nervous that many other shoes would drop during our travels?

To my sheer surprise, delight, and relief, I am happy to report that the truck and 5th wheel performed close to perfection!  Only two things went wrong the whole time, neither of which was a big deal. Three weeks into the trip, one of the tires on the RV had a valve go bad, causing the tire to lose air while we were on the highway.  Fortunately, the tire pressure monitoring system alerted us to the problem, and we were only a few miles from our destination for the day when it happened.  We proceeded slowly, and as luck would have it, just down the road from the RV park was a tire service center.  One hour, and a mere $35 later, the problem was solved.  (Hmmm, didn’t I pay $200 in February for RV tire service?  This was now two of four tires that had a problem the service was supposed to address!)

The second problem did not occur until the middle of August.  I heard strange noises coming from the hitch and the 5th wheel’s king pin assembly.  A friendly mobile RV service guy adjusted the hitch and the king pin assembly, putting an end to that problem for only $60.  That’s it.  No show stoppers, no breakdowns.  We spent a total of $95 on repairs for the whole 8,630 mile trip!  HOORAY!  Someone pinch me; I must be dreaming!

So, what do you think was the largest expense category for the trip?  If your answer is fuel, that would be a good guess, but you’d be wrong!  We spent the most on RV park and campground accommodations, averaging a bit over $33 per day.  I realize that’s way less than the cost of a cheap motel, but come on, we’re providing the furnished rooms, toiletries, linens, towels, and meals, as well as the maintenance and cleaning staffs.

Now it’s time for a look at where we went, as shown on an interactive Google map, complete with zooming and panning (see link below).  If you click on a location marker, the name and address of the RV park or campground at that location will be shown.

There are 36 individual locations, starting with the green location marker at our old home base in Fort Myers, Florida, and ending with the red location marker at our new home base in Matlacha, Florida.  Each RV park or campground we stayed at is indicated with a numbered or lettered blue location marker, in order from 1 through 10, then from A through U.  There are three location markers with a red dot under them, denoting a place we were at twice during our travels.  (We stayed at our old home base in Fort Myers a second time, between locations 3 and 4.  We stayed at location I a second time on our way back from Maine, between locations N and O.  We stayed at location 4 a second time on the way to our new home base, between location U and Matlacha.)

Click here for an interactive map of all the places we stayed during our 2014 travel season.

Upcoming installments of Going Mobile will feature highlights of our trip, including lots of photos.  Stay tuned!

Ominous Prelude To 2014’s Summer Travel Season

It was a dark and stormy night.  My bank account lay on the ground, writhing in pain, bleeding red from ongoing expenses that were supposed to come to an end in 2013, but didn't!

We did not leave Fort Myers until the afternoon of May 26, but the hemorrhaging began in mid-January with the addition of an auxiliary fuel tank for the truck and the reprogramming of the truck’s computers to prevent some of last year's mishaps from haunting us again this year.

In February, the kitchen sink faucet had to be replaced, and a persistent slow leaking of air from all of the RV’s tires had to be staunched.

In April, the refrigerator failed in a spectacular way.  We had a Norcold RV refrigerator (not a good brand name for a refrigerator, just as Nova was not a great name for a car), which can run on either electricity or liquid propane (LP) gas.  It has an ammonia cycle design, which uses heat to create cold (don't ask)!  Unfortunately, all of the ammonia leaked out suddenly.  Cost to repair (with “refurbished” parts): $1,500.  Cost to buy a new refrigerator (same make and model): $2,000!  Hey, it’s only a 10.5 cubic foot pipsqueak; the small freezer section isn't even frost-free.  For $2,000, I could buy a residential refrigerator/freezer with sufficient capacity to store enough food to feed a family of twelve for a month.  And the freezer would be frost-free, with an ice maker to boot.  There had to be a better (meaning “way more economical”) solution to this chilling problem.  Fortunately, there was, in the form of a small, conventional refrigerator/freezer that cost only $375.  As added bonuses, the new fridge fit exactly in the space that held the old one, and the freezer is frost-free.  (Although it can't run on LP gas while we're traveling, the new unit can stay cold long enough to keep its contents from going bad until we hook back up to electricity after a day on the road.)

In May, one of the truck’s batteries died.  (This baby needs two of them to turn over that monster diesel engine.)  Then, the week before we were to begin our summer voyage, the truck’s alternator went bad.  (The good news was the alternator failed before we hit the road.  How considerate!)  To top it off, one of the RV’s tires was still leaking air, and had to be serviced again (due to the fact that the tire service in February was not done correctly).

Total expenditures before the first mile of travel in 2014: $3,150.  Would things finally settle down?  Had we thrown enough money into the maw to ensure a trouble-free summer of travel and adventure?  Or, would the RV and truck conspire to complete my financial and psychological demise?  You’ll find out in the next installment of Going Mobile.

One Year Later – And I’m Still Alive!

It was December 5, 2012, a year ago today, that we sold our house and started living the full-time RV lifestyle.  One year ago already!  My, my, my, where has the time gone?  When I reminded Janet about our first RVersary, her comment was, “And I haven’t killed you yet!”  With the two of us plus our dog and cat packed into 300 square feet of living space, I knew I’d have to be on my best behavior.  Surviving the first year in close quarters required a fairly high “tolerable to live with” index.  Since I am still around to write this, perhaps I have succeeded.

If you’ve been following this blog, you know that we faced some interesting “challenges” after we hit the road this past June.  But, as the proverbial “they” say, “Time heals all wounds.”  Either for that reason, or because we’re gluttons for punishment, we have started planning our travels for the coming year.  Our on-the-road theme for 2014 will be “Strength in numbers”.  We’ll be traveling with another couple, good friends who also have an RV.

Now that I’ve been living in a tin can for a year, here are the things I have enjoyed the most compared to life in a traditional house:

·  I am no longer affected by large annual increases in homeowners and flood insurance premiums. The same goes for property taxes.

·  No more worrying about hurricanes. If a hurricane is coming, we can take our house and get out of harm’s way.

·  House cleaning is a quick affair.

·  The term a “road trip” has taken on a whole new meaning.

·  Wherever we go, we’re still home.

Here’s to a happy, healthy, and adventurous 2014.

Outdoor living space under the awning

Elkay stretching out on the bed

Annie relaxing on the couch

What is six?

"I'll take 'The Keller Summer 2013 RV Trip' for $400, Alex."
"The answer is: Of 54 days on the road, the largest number of days in a row nothing went wrong with the truck or the RV."
"What is six?"
"That is correct!"

We're back.  The trip has been completed.  We covered 6,675 miles (5,300 of them towing our 5th wheel RV) in 54 days.  To say that the Griswolds had an easier time getting to Walley World than we had getting to Rapid City, South Dakota is an understatement!  Here is a list of everything that failed in the truck and had to be replaced during the course of the entire trip: Cooling system thermostats, brake sensor, rear window, four tires, a cracked wheel, all ball joints, left-hand inner tie rod, steering drag link, steering stabilizer shock, all four shock absorbers, exhaust gas temperature sensor, transmission seals, rear brake rotors, rear brake calipers, rear brake pads, air conditioner belt, air conditioner compressor clutch adjusting bolt.  How about the RV?  Replaced on it were: All five tires (4 plus the spare), all four wheel hub assemblies, all four shock absorbers, all suspension shackle bolts, nuts and links, all liquid propane piping, the 12-volt power converter/battery charger; hot water heater thermostat and main burner assembly, rear stabilizer jack motor, smashed side window, left side fender skirts.  The cost of all this mechanical mayhem?  A mere, eye-popping $16,000!  I'm still suffering from a severe case of PTSD (post-trip savings drawdown).  Naturally, most problems occurred on a Thursday or Friday, in the middle of nowhere.  That ensured we'd be spending three or four days stuck in the middle of nowhere, waiting for parts to be shipped from somewhere!  In the end, we prevailed, having laughed in the face of adversity.  (Or perhaps adversity prevailed, having laughed in our faces.)

Oh wait, I forgot to mention that the RV's roof has to be replaced because it somehow got torn on the left side!  (Thank goodness insurance will cover that lofty expense!)  Word to the wise: Never take an RV trip without lots of duct tape.  (Fortunately, we had several large rolls, and wound up using most of it.)  A good towing service is also a must have (which we had).  Lots of patience and an overly-optimistic attitude are helpful too!

Lest you think we didn't have any fun, here are some photos of things we did and saw between breakdowns:

The SPAM Museum, in Austin Minnesota.  Yes, it's for real.  The museum houses a complete retrospective of that classic American food product, Spiced Ham (SPAM)!  If you're ever traveling on I-90 across southern Minnesota, be sure to check it out.  By the way, if you put your email address on their mailing list, guess what you'll get?

Easily the friendliest town we've ever visited.   White Lake is located at I-90, 36 miles west of Mitchell, South Dakota.  Everyone who was in a car waved hello as we rode by on our bikes.  We had breakfast and dinner at the local cafe.  Eat your heart out, Garrison Keillor!

The Corn Palace, in Mitchell, South Dakota.  The murals and decorations on the building are made entirely of corn plants and cobs!  Inside is a venue for basketball games, concerts and events.  The Green Giant is mighty proud of this place.

Wall Drug, in western South Dakota.  Sure, it's a tourist trap, but where else can you get a cup of coffee for a nickel?

Why did the buffalo cross the road in Custer State Park, South Dakota?  So the tourists could watch it get to the other side.  Buffalo are really big; the nickel didn't do them justice!

If you take the twisting back road to Mt. Rushmore, you will come to this tunnel...

And when you're inside the tunnel, this is what you'll see!

Mt. Rushmore.  The South Dakota landmark demonstrates fine sculpture work can be done with lots of dynamite!

Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota.  A work in progress that shows what can be done based on the assumption Mt. Rushmore just isn't big enough!

Downtown Sturgis, South Dakota -- two weeks before the annual motorcycle rally.

Downtown Sturgis during bike week!  (No, we weren't there at that time.)

Devil's Tower, Wyoming

Climbers on Devils Tower.  Talk about close encounters!  Not for us, thank you!

In the heart of Alzada, Montana, population 38.  Oddly enough, the food wasn't lousy!

The bar inside the Stoneville Saloon.  "What'll you have, mister?"

South Dakota badlands.  Bad lands, good wife!

A prairie dog.  Cute?  You decide!

Yup, it's Nawlins!

 The Big Easy -- where boozing it up in the streets is O.K., just as long as the libation is not in a bottle or glass container!

So what did we learn from this trip?  With lots of fortitude, and a big wad of cash, RVing is a great way to see and experience the good ole U.S. of A.  And since we didn't kill each other, Janet and I must have some kind of crazy, enduring love!  When it comes to Final Jeopardy, you may as well wager it all.