A Year in Review....

November 5, 2016

It's been a year since we started this Great American Adventure!  What a wild ride it's been so far!

I unexpectedly quit my job of 22 years with a 30 minute notice.  Our plan to RV full time got moved up about 3 years.

George put his business up for sale.

We bought our 40' 5th wheel toy hauler.  Sold everything we owned.  Sold our home of 20+ years & moved into our 5th wheel. 

 







We found a beautiful park to move the 5th wheel to, Timberlane RV Park & Resort http://timberlanervpark.com. 

We moved here November 1, 2015 and stayed until July 1, 2016.  George's business sold & closed in June 2016.



Daisy

While we were here the motor on our bedroom slide had to be replaced, the living room air conditioner had to be replaced,  we made some changes inside the rig


Before

...and one of our Golden Retrievers, Daisy, passed away.  This happened in February.   We thought, maybe it would be easier to travel with just 1 golden retriever, Tori, and our cat, Alley.


After

That lasted about a week!  Tori was depressed.  We were depressed.  We were a 2 dog family!  We started our search for another Golden.  Daisy was a rescue & was such a good girl we knew we only wanted another rescue.

We ended up with Annie...a goldendoodle!  She was not a rescue but an 8 week old puppy!  We were NOT prepared for a puppy!


We prepared to take our first road trip...July, August & September.  We wanted to be back in Florida October, November & December.

We spent the next 2 weeks getting the rig ready.  George made an appointment to have the brakes checked on the rig as well as getting 6 new tires.  We took it to A & A Trailer in Bradenton, http://www.aandatrailerhitch.com. 

They had the tires off & were checking the brakes.  The brakes were shot!
We not only had 6 new tires put on but we had to replace all 6 brakes!

While we were waiting for the brakes to come in our refrigerator stopped working.  We need a new refrigerator!

Finally...off to some of the western states!  Our 1st stop was St. Cloud, FL.  Our 2 boys & their families live here...5 minutes from each other.

Brent & Ashley (& Lyla) live on 5 acres east of St. Cloud. 

He put in 50 amp service so we could park at his place.  It's a 3 hour drive.  We going to stay 3 days...best laid plans!

While there our little Annie was playing outside with Tori, Zoe & Emma (Brent & Ashley's 2 Goldens).  She ran, full speed, into the L pin on our front leveling jack!



This is one expensive dog!  1 surgery & $1200 later...

 

Now...off to Colorado!

 

Ran out of fuel in Texas! 

 

July 15...made it to Cortez, CO! 

Had to take Annie to a vet in Durango.  She had an infection where she had been stitched up. 

Another surgery, 2-3 visits for the next couple of weeks & $2000 later...  Plus an extra week's stay...in Durango.

 

Found out our "gas tank" was leaking!  It supplies gas to the generator & also serves to fill the bikes if needed.  Patched it.

Made the best of this unexpected stay...rode the Million Dollar Highway to Silverton & Ouray, CO!

August 8...off to Cripple Creek, CO

August 16...off to Cheyenne, WY. 
WAIT!  Only made it to Colorado Springs.  The brakes on the truck were smoking!  BAD!  Had to get new brakes on the truck so we spent 3 days in Colorado Springs. 
Made the best of it.  Got to ride up Pike's Peak!

August 19...finally off to Cheyenne, WY.

August 26...on to Keystone, SD (Mt. Rushmore)  Took some fantastic rides...Sturgis & Deadwood, Custer State Park, Needles Highway & Iron Mountain Road!

September 5...headed to Morton, IL to see my best friend...Julie Cleveland!
(More on this & rest of our trip in separate blogs...soon I hope)  We had reservations at Carl Spindler State Park outside of Morton September 8-11. 

We decided to really take our time getting there.  Decided to stop in Waterloo, IA for a couple days.  Ready to head out on the 7th but...the bar that runs across the leveling jacks broke so we couldn't hook up!  Ended up there until September 9th waiting on the part then installing it!

September 9...another delay but finally got to Morton, IL around 7pm. 

Julie & Anthony

September 12...on to Pennsylvania to see our daughter & her family for a couple weeks.

She, Fid & the girls had just moved into their new log home a couple days before we got there...oh yeah!  Poor kids. 

They also had a 50 amp service so we hooked up there a few steps from their place.

September 26...off to Luray, VA...to see the Caverns!  Spent 2 days!  This is a must see!

 







September 30...made it back to Timberlane RV Park in Bradenton, FL.  Here until January 1, 2017 but will probably leave December 17 & head over to St. Cloud for an early Christmas with the boys & their families then on to....somewhere between there & Las Vegas, NV!  Meeting our friends, Ray & Jackie, January 22-26 for a well deserved "Vegas Fix"!

Thinking we may not come back to Florida until November for a couple of months.  October this year was SO hot!

Our Ride up Pike's Peak....What an Unexpected Adventure!

 

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

 

 

We left Cripple Creek on our way to Cheyenne, WY.  Coming down the mountain from Cripple Creek, Rt 24, is kind of a harrowing experience.  Georgie downshifted but still had to use the brakes pretty regularly. 

 

Big Horn Sheep we saw on our way down the mountain

It took us about 1 1/2 hours to go 45 miles, to Colorado Springs.  We smelled something but thought it was someone in front of us because our windows were up.  I rolled my window down...it was us doing some serious smoking.

Georgie pulled over on the shoulder...yep...our brakes were SMOKIN'!!

We waited a while for them to cool off 'cause Georgie got under the truck and put the Infrared Temperature Gun on the brakes...280 DEGREES!  Those suckers were really hot!

He said, "Find a Ford Dealer.  We are getting new brakes."  I found a dealer about 5 miles away.  He then said, "Find a campground for a few days."  I found a campground about 2 miles away for 3 days.  (kind of a dive, Fountain Creek RV Park) but it served our purpose.

We pulled in, got unhooked and Georgie went to the Ford Dealer.  He came back with an appointment for the next day at 7:30 am.  Wheeewwww!





 

 

Since we were too far in Cripple Creek to go to Pike's Peak we decided, "Hell!  We're only 10 miles from there now!  Let's ride it!"

 

 

Thursday, August 18, 2016

 





So we did!  What a thrill! 

We left at 9:30 am and got to the top at 11:30 am.  It was 70 degrees when we left but we still wore our leather jackets.  We were SO glad we did!  It got colder & colder as we went up.  By the time we got to the top it was 42 degrees.  We were FREEZING our asses off!

We got some hot chocolate, bought a few small souvenirs, peed, took some amazing pictures then headed down. 

Georgie said it was more thrilling than riding up The Million Dollar Highway to Silverton & Ouray.  Most of the switchbacks were marked 10 mph...I went 5 mph 'cause most didn't have guardrails! 

Of course I had to talk to myself out loud...again.  A lot of HOLT SHIT! and YOU GOTTA BE F'ING KIDDING ME! as well as REALLY!  All while trying to keep Georgie (the pro) in sight.  He was pretty good...he'd tap his brakes if he went around a corner that I should slow down for.  He obviously didn't know...I WAS SLOWING DOWN FOR EACH & EVERY CORNER!

On the way up some smartass on a BMW passed me!  On a curve!  Those f'ing bikes are too quiet!  I didn't even hear him.  I only saw him when he went whizzing by me!

Another thrill of a lifetime!

 

We picked up the truck when we got back to town.  Georgie decided to have 4 new tires put on the rear & get an oil change.

We were ready to head out Friday morning for Cheyenne, WY.

What a great, unexpected stop!