The reason

Really big snowflakes!

Why?

There have been moments over the last couple of days when I wonder why we aren't sitting outside in a campsite in warmer climates.

We'll, the picture may be sideways, but it still says COLD! It's been below freezing every morning since we got back on Friday. But the next picture really is the reason we wanted to get home.

It's just a light dusting this morning, but soon it will start to pile up. Typically we will ski before Thanksgiving, and by the New Year we should be measuring the snow in feet instead of inches.

And we wil

Home!

We arrived home on Friday so this post is overdue. Been busy unpacking the Breeze, cleaning and washing also. Then yesterday we put the Breeze in the storage warehouse for the winter.

New Hampshire

Back in New England!

We're back in New England tonight!  After visiting in Virginia we decided we were ready to book it home. So, 2 days later, 700 miles, and 8 states later we are camped in the Bershires of Massachusetts. We're starting to see some of the fall colors, hopefully we will see more tomorrow as we head north to Maine.

A couple of views of western Massachusetts. A little bit of rain as we got here.

So tomorrow we drive to Norway, Maine to spend the evening with our friends John and Donna at the farmhouse. We stayed with them on our first night of the trip, on June 1st, so it seems appropriate for us to spend our last night on the road with them too!.  Then on Friday we drive the last two hours home!

It'll be just in time, Sugarloaf reported that the first "skiable" snow of the season fell last night! Probably will melt quickly, but with nights dropping under freezing winter can't be far off.

fun Hike in Manchester Tennessee

We visited the Old Stone Fort State Archeological Park for a hike. It was close to our campground and we needed to get some exercise. What a beautiful place! It had some very old indian ruins, dating back centuries. Also there were foundations of 1800 era factories, including gunpowder for the confederacy. Best of all, the hiking and natural scenery was wonderful.

Visited Jack!

Not my best friend Jack from Denver, or my dog Jack, but the Jack with the last name Daniels!

We toured the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee. Fun tour, saw the process, the spring used for the water, his original office, and then got to sample some of the whiskeys! It was fun and good. That's the cave where the spring is behind Trish and Jack.

Tupelo

OK, I'm a bit behind on the blog. It is Sunday and we are in Virginia, a rainy day. But we have cable today, and on a football Sunday, especially a rainy one, is all that's needed.

Last post we were arriving in Mississippi. We spend two nights in Tupelo. Had a great visit with friends Gary and Amanda Martin, recent transplants from Maine. Of course after we left the restaurant Trish reminded me that we forgot to take pictures! At least we got a few of the city if not the friends.

Pretty city, Elvis's birthplace. Visited a fantastic hardware store, the old fashioned type of store, they have everything you can imagine. It is the store that Elvis's mom bought him his first guitar! He wanted a 22 rifle, she decided he needed a guitar, thankfully!

A few other pictures of Tupelo, including our campground neighbors.

Now the neighbors!

Mississippi tonight!

Today we left Little Rock Arkansas at 9 am, traveled through Memphis Tennessee and are staying in Tupelo Mississippi for the next couple of days. It felt more like east coast driving today than in awhile, mainly due to the heavy semi truck traffic. It was not so bad for me since Trish drove most of the way today.

We are in Tupelo to visit with some friends who recently moved from Maine to Mississippi for work. Tomorrow we will have dinner with Gary and Amanda and hear about their transition.

Missing grandson Nolan, it was hard to leave Oklahoma.

Little Rock Arkansas

Tonight we are camped on the riverfront in Little Rock Arkansas. Walked across an old railroad bridge converted to a pedestrian bridge to downtown. Enjoyed great beers and nachos at the Flying Saucer Draught Emporium.

Walked by the Bill Clinton Presidential Library.

And enjoyed beautiful views as we walked back at sunset.

Loving Oklahoma!

Hard not to love it here in Oklahoma. Fantastic weather, although a dash humid, sunshine, great campsite, and Nolan!  Nolan is 12 days old and seems like he can focus on looking at you. Hard to really know what he's seeing or thinking, but he sure looks like he is interested. Here I am sitting with Michael holding Nolan in his lap.

I also enjoyed trying to communicate with Nan's dad. He speaks as much English as I speak Chinese, meaning we can both say grandfather in both languages! But we sit on the couch, cell phone translators in hand, and talk world politics. Its fun, but also brings out how different we see the world from our respective sides of it. No picture of theses discussions today, maybe Trish can get one tomorrow.

Our campsite while in the Tulsa area is wonderful. We are at the Will Rogers Downs / Cherokee Casino KOA. Our spot overlooks the racetrack and is only 200 yards from the casino door. Watched a couple races right from the campsite. Also walked over, bet two races and won $15 on bets totaling $8. Guess gambling won't supplement my social security very quickly.  But it was fun! Below is the view of the racetrack.

3 generations!

My first visit with my first grandchild!  So proud of my son and his new son Nolan Taoran Keane!

Only two more days!!!!

Until I meet my grandson Nolan for the first time! I am so excited to see him, but even more excited to see my son Michael as a father. Michael has been the type of son that has only brought me happiness every day since he was born. Now I get to share the beginning of his experience, which I just know will be as wonderful as mine. Michael and Nan are going to be awesome parents!

Currently we are in Wichita, Kansas for a couple of days before heading to Owasso (Tulsa burbs).

Lazy day in Dodge

It's just a last day here in Dodge City, Kansas. A round of golf this morning, boy it was chilly when we started! Trish hit her best score ever on the back 9, a 45!  This afternoon a visit to Boot Hill Casino which is less than a mile from our campsite. Now a gin and tonic outside the Breeze in the sun.  Life is good!

Turned the corner - 4 months in

The map above is hard to see probably, but it shows what we've done since about August 10th. We were in Montana, having spent about 3 weeks in that state, getting ready to head south and west. After visits to Salt Lake we spend 10 wonderful days on the National Parks in Utah, Bryce Canyon and Zion. The we headed to Nevada where we turned the corner with a visit to Death Valley in California. Since then, which was Labor Day weekend, we've spent time at Grand Canyon, Tucson and Denver. Now we are headed to Owasso, Oklahoma to see my new grandson Nolan and his parents, Michael and Nan!

Having turned the corner, we are headed back to Maine. We learned that we missed Maine and actually are looking forward to skiing all winter. So after we leave Oklahoma, we will visit friends in Mississippi, visit Jack Daniels in Tennessee, and spend a day visiting my former manufacturing plant in Wytheville Virginia, where I look forward to seeing many of my 400 former co-workers.

We expect to visit Wytheville on October 15th. Then I think we are both ready to book it for home. We want to get there before too much snow starts to fall and while we have time to get the house opened back up after 5 months away.

Kansas .... and no sign of Dorothy

We are in Kansas tonight, staying in the Gunsmoke RV Park in Dodge City. Everything here is themed for the days of the cowboys. But no signs yet for Dorothy.

Kansas is kind of flat, lots of grasslands and grain fields. All sort of feed lots for cattle, most containing thousands of head each. Across the fields all you see are the distant grain elevators, looking like highrise buildings on the horizon.

Actually the above picture is in Colorado on the way to Kansas!

Dodge City, definitely cowboy country.

Trish hanging with Doc Holiday

Visiting in Colorado

Haven't posted in a few days. We've been in the Denver area, camping at Chatfield State Park. Very nice campground! More importantly we've been visiting our good friends John and Carol. We even had a chance to visit with Johns daughter Ellie for a bit.

Fun hiking in Colorado

Today we took two hikes, the first with Jack was on a level abandoned railroad bed. It led to an interesting series of tunnels dug for the railroad a long time ago. Naturally Jack enjoyed a swim in the river and covered the 3 mile hike well. But he is paying the price tonight with soreness in his hips and knees. Poor guy is showing his age more and more these days.

After lunch Trish and I drove to a trailhead and climbed a local peak, reaching just over 9000 feet elevation at the top. The drive to the trailhead was over an interesting road. And the views from the hike were wonderful!

Buena Vista, Colorado

Todays campground view during a brief shower

The town of Buena Vista Colorado is quite interesting. Today we saw them setting up for their annual town dinner, where all the residents sit down together for a dinner, right in the middle of Main Street! Now that means somewhere over 4,000 people having dinner together!

Tables and chairs the length of the street!

 Tables up but not the chairs yet at the far end of Main Street