So here we are in sunny Las Vegas NOT! It’s been cold and rainy for the last two and a half days. Vegas itself is at an elevation of around 2200 feet and the snow level was supposed to get down to 4000 feet. Don’t think it did though but there is eight inches or more of snow on Mount Charleston and the ski resort is open now.  And why did we leave Indiana when we did?

Let’s see what have we been doing? First thing Monday morning we had Alfie washed and waxed, poor thing needed a good freshening up after sitting for a year in the woods. Had the guys we used when we lived here come to the campground and do it. They do a wonderful job and I think they got some more jobs while here. While they were working we took a nice drive – or to quote Bill “We drove 150 miles to no where to see nothing.” I suggested we drive out to see Saint Thomas a little town that was covered with water when Lake Mead was filled. Because the lake is so low now what’s left of the town can now be seen. Always wanted to drive out there when we lived here but never did. He was agreeable. So to get there we drove out I-15 towards Utah (towards, not quite to) to the Valley of Fire road. The Valley of Fire is a state park that is magnificent to drive through. The red sandstone rocks just explode from the desert.  All kinds of weird formations and different colors. And in among them are some prehistoric Indian petroglyphs from around 300 BC. Didn’t hike out to them as we did that last time we were here. After taking lots of pictures in the park we continued on down the road to where the pavement ended at Northshore Drive. Continuing across the Drive we took a wash board, gravel and in places, red dirt road out to the Saint Thomas site. Where to my chagrin I discovered that to see the actual foundations of the town one has to continue on foot 2.5 more miles. So I stood there and took pictures of a big old empty meadow while Bill sat in Willie shaking his head. I should mention that we had just paid a fortune to have Willie washed inside and out. Now he was kind of an all over rusty pink color. Well – we turned around and drove back out the dusty road to the highway where again I suggested “Let’s not go back through the park, we’ve already been there. Let’s take Northshore road it eventually comes out in Henderson. It looked shorter on the map! Should have been a breeze. Lonely nicely paved two lane road. Right? Wrong. Would you believe after a couple of miles it turned into rough gravel? It was under construction – even had a flagman! Had to wait for a pilot truck as it was one lane only. Out here in the middle of no where. Had to laugh as in front of us was a motorhome towing a car. Can’t imagine why he was even on that road, unless he came through the Valley and this looked shorter to him too. Bet he was fuming. Once through the construction it was fine. But a very long nothing to see but desert drive. Got back to 1000Trails just as they finished up with the waxing. Alfie looks so pretty now, like brand new – lasted for a day until the rain!

The next day we visited my favorite store “Frys” got a new edition of Streets and Trips. Spent most of my time there just walking around and drooling over all the stuff I haven’t seen since we left here. Coming back here is cultural shock in reverse. I’ve got a stiff neck from swinging my head back and forth taking in all the STORES as we drive around. We haven’t been living in the country that long but its easy to forget how much is available.

Have visited with our oldest and youngest sons and their wives. Also with Bill’s brother and sister-in-law.  Had Thanksgiving dinner at youngest son’s house. Very nice. His wife is a good cook.

Well we did a marathon run from Grants, NM to Las Vegas, NV 488 miles – one day. Got here, got set up, went out to dinner and went to sleep. At least the weather has warmed up. Didn’t even need a jacket last nite.

The road most of the way was pretty good or under construction so it will be good. No wind for the most part. Every time I mentioned stopping The Driver said he was fine and we could continue. Saw a few strange sights in our journey. One was a big billboard announcing, “Ernie’s Authentic Fresh Mexican Food.” The “fresh” part was kind of weird – as opposed to “not fresh?” Also lots of Authentic Indian Jewelry, Rugs, Pottery etc. etc. With the stores in shapes of teepees and forts.  Also crossed the Continental Divide twice (?) once at 7275 feet.

The only not too good part was crossing Hoover Dam. I hate that part of the road. Will be nice when they finish that bridge. Of course we got inspected under, out and inside. I would have liked to ask if they ever find anything. But decided not to. Very polite, asked if we were full timers as the placed was fixed up so nice.

Once crossing the dam I couldn’t help but notice how low the lake is. But then all through Boulder there were big wide grassy shoulders on the road bet that takes a lot of water. We beat our reservations to the TT Park, not in the computer yet. That was okay as we were three days early anyway. Let us in no problem. In fact we ended up parked in the very spot where we used to store Alfie when we lived in Vegas. And there is even wWiFi (when it feels like it). And we get all the local channels so Bill hasn’t had to drag out the satellite dish yet.

Exciting day today. He is out getting the oil and transmission fluids changed in Willie, arranging to have same done to Alfie and trying to find tires for Willie. When I asked why tires when there are only 37,000 miles on Willie – he reminded me of all the miles we have towed him too. Oops. Guess it’s quite a few. I’m catching up on bookkeeping and doing laundry. And cleaning, always needs to be vacuumed. And throwing out lady bugs. Ten years from now when all the states from Indiana to Nevada are wondering how they got infested with Lady Bugs I hope they forget I wrote this. I don’t know where they are coming from but still find 15 to 20 a day! In fact, after we got parked we were talking to our neighbors and the lady mentioned that all of a sudden she had lady bugs flying around her. Looked at Bill and we both kept our mouths shut.

Met our youngest son and wife and went out to dinner in a part of Las Vegas that wasn’t even there when we moved 1 ½ years ago. Amazing – a whole new city where there was only desert and mud less then two years ago. Looks like lots of new high rises along strip but haven’t driven down it to check them out.

Spent today running around getting things done. New tires for Willie, watch in for repair, smog Jeep and I got a much needed (finally) hair cut. Then to Argentine Market to buy all kinds of stuff Bill can’t get any where else. He also made arrangements to have Alfie washed and waxed this coming Monday.

Wow just realized I didn’t come across any Lady Bugs today. Maybe they’re finally all gone –or they moved next door. My mistake, Bill took the bra off the front in preparation for the wash and wax tomorrow and there must have been over 100 behind it. Now we really have infested Nevada. Shhhhhhh.

Sunday I went out to lunch with some friends (women I worked with In LA who have since moved here to Vegas) and Bill went to his favorite store Harbor Freight and got to browse to his hearts content with me complaining about the smell in there.

Another day – really enjoyed driving around Tucumcari yesterday. One thing I forgot to mention were all the signs for the motels and RV parks that said “American Owned” or “Veteran Owned” guess there must be some kind of immigrant thing going on there.  Got up and on the road around 8 decided to stop at the Flying J right down the road (about 4 miles) to gas up. Bill got out and started the pump and I went inside to pick up a new brochure listing the Flying Js in all states as ours was out of date. When I came back outside he smiled and said “Umm, we have a problem.”  And he pointed at the front driver’s side tire. Oh Boy! It had a bubble on it the size of a grapefruit. They were fine when we left the campground. Some one was watching over us and made us stop for gas. Would not have wanted to be moving down the highway at 60 miles an hour and have it go. Right across the street was a truck repair and tire shop. So we limped over there and got six new tires. Bill had mentioned before we left Indiana that the tires were getting old and we would get new ones when we got to Las Vegas. Guess we don’t have to wait until we get there. Right after we got back on the highway we were into construction, and out of construction, and into construction all the way across New Mexico to where we are staying tonight – a KOA in Grants.

Not too much in the way of scenery. Just desert and little scrubby trees. Saw some cattle and a small herd of antelope – guess it’s not antelope hunting season. And that’s about it. The freeway going through Albuquerque was under construction the whole way. Lots of fun. 

Grants is another town that was at one time a thriving community on Route 66. They mined uranium here until it ran out.  Now there are some buildings new, some restored in all their 50s glory and the rest rotting away.

We are still catching lady bugs flying around in here. Would’ve thought either the cold or altitude (we’re at 6500 feet) would have killed them.

Bill followed directions and drained and put away the water hose last nite – good thing it got down to 20! But is supposed to go up to mid 60s today. Hope so as we are going to The Acoma Pueblo – Sky City. Altitude over 6500 feet.

Turned out to be a beautiful day in the mid 60s so we did go visit the Pueblo. The 2,000 year old sky city is the oldest continuously inhabited community in No America. It sits up on a mesa 370 feet from the valley floor – that makes it over 7,000 feet high. Puff, puff! They made the walls of their buildings with a mixture of mud and golden straw. When the sun shone on the walls they glowed like gold. The tales the Spanish followed looking for the cities of gold. When the Spanish conquered them they made them learn Spanish and convert to Catholicism. If they refused they were killed. The Acoma did revolt but it didn’t last. The big mission there was built over a destroyed Kiva. So to hide the Kivas the Acoma built their new ones square instead of round to fool the Spanish.

About 30 people and families still live there without water or electricity. Water is hauled from the valley and outhouses are all around the outside of the mesa.

They make beautiful pottery pieces, designs have been handed down through the generations.

It is kind of strange to see as some of the homes have been built and/or added on to in the last 50 years. Also there are cars and pickups parked all over up there. Not like Taos which still looks old.

Well Bill is hooking up the car in preparation for tomorrows stretch of our journey.  Don’t know how far we’ll go or where we’ll end up. Or if we’ll have Internet so I guess I’ll get this posted and say “Until Next Time.”

Monday – again sun shine and today no wind. – Think I’ll call this part of the log “Slap Up Along Side of the Head.”  We – The Driver – drove 362 miles today. We were going to stop in Amarillo, TX instead ended up in Tucumcari, NM. Every time before we start out on a trip he says “I don’t want to drive any more than 150 miles a day.” Never seems to work out that way. Any way – freeway all the way. However The Driver was not happy with the road, it is the type that is in sections so it goes “thump” “thump” “thump” as you drive along. Oh – well – the state must have heard him, suddenly we were down to one lane as the road was being repaved.  Then we started to see lots of road signs. “CAUTION”. “SLOW DOWN NOW”, “BRIDGE NARROW”, “BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION AHEAD”  Ugh I hate going over bridges that are being repaired. And this one was special. And they should have put up even more signs. It was terrible. Narrow was not the word for it – NOT BIG ENOUGH! was the word for it. We were driving on the outside edge of the bridge. There was a guard rail about one foot high. The asphalt was missing from half of the lane. So we were half on asphalt half off 2” lower – of course that made us lean to the right – where that one inch guard rail was. I was leaning so far to the left I was practically in Bill’s lap. And I never took a breath the whole time. See how much help I am. Other than that exciting lifetime it was an uneventful trip.

We passed by fields being harvested and fields that were just sprouting new bright green growth. Cotton fields that looked about ready to be picked.

There were wind farms with their huge wind mills. And old farms with their small wooden windmills. Cattle grazing contentedly on rolling hills. Old houses and barns gray with the weather and partially falling down. And miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles of nothing passing through the plains of Texas.

There were a lot of flocks of birds in flight. I wonder how the leader gets picked. And does the guy bringing up the rear ever say, “Pass it up. My wings are getting tired.”

As I said we stopped in Tucumcari, New Mexico. Staying at a KOA that has cable TV and Wi-fi. When we signed in we were given instructions on how to handle the water hose in case of freeze. Something we haven’t run into before. One thing about traveling this time of year we have our pick of parking places. Only a few of us in this big park. Got set up and drove into town. It’s a neat place one of the towns on the original Route 66. Lots of old buildings, motels, souvenir shops and restaurants. Also there are a lot of murals around town. Four years ago when we were here we met the artist who paints them. In fact he was working on one then. So we had to find it and see the final result. Took pictures and checked out everything again. The town seems to have grown quite a bit since we were here last. Stopped for dinner at very good restaurant.

Saturday – IT IS COLD! Rained off and on all night, wind blew and rocked Alfie and in the a.m. when we were getting ready to leave it was not quite snow more like frozen rain.  Rough day for The Driver – once we got out of the drizzle and the sky cleared the wind still blew. The flags were standing straight out from their poles.

Last night on TV the newscasters were talking about today being the first day of deer season. Maybe that explains the billboard I saw “Shot a Deer? Bring it Here – Ed’s Meat Market.” Guess Ed will be keeping busy. Then along one stretch of highway we saw several pickups parked on the shoulders. The fact that there were woods on both sides of the road and gun racks in the trucks gave me the idea that perhaps there were hunters around.  Hope the deer are hiding.

By the time we got to the Oklahoma border the sun was beginning to come out – but the wind didn’t give up. From there to Oklahoma City we were blown all over the road. One good thing though the highway was very smooth and straight - a toll road. Cost $17.

I heard The Driver muttering something about “smoke?”  “What?” I asked. “I’ve been seeing signs that say, ‘Do Not Drive into Smoke.’ I wonder what they mean,” he replied.  After discussing it we decided that they must be there in case of prairie fires. Made sense.  

Settled into the RV park, have Wi-fi and Cable TV and 50amps. There’s a Wal*Mart and lots of shops right across the freeway – what more could we want? Went to Applebee’s for dinner. Watched the end of the Nationwide Race – wish Kyle would have won – would have set a record. Next year.

Got up Sunday morning to sunshine and warmth. Up to 68 today the highest we’ve had since before we left Indiana. Went to see the Oklahoma City National Memorial. Very sobering and very beautiful. Doesn’t seem like it was 13 years ago already. The reflecting pool is amazing and an oak tree that was right in the middle of everything that survived.

Then on to the Cowboy Museum. Very interesting. Lots of neat stuff. Some of the saddles were fantastic and a whole room full of barbed wire of different kinds. Lots of memories of the old movie and TV cowboys. I knew James Arness was tall – but 6’7” that is really tall. A whole area on John Wayne – from when he was Singing Sandy to his last movie.   

Have to give Gypsy credit for getting us to both places and back to the campground with no problems, except when The Driver almost changed lanes into a police car. Who as he went past us just shook his finger at Bill.

Bill’s back is bothering him so we spent the rest of the day just taking it easy. Tomorrow we will be in Texas. Sometime I would like to spend more time here in Oklahoma and follow Route 66 – over 400 miles of it in the state.  

Day 2 spending another day in Saint Louis – Well it took me 33 minutes of my cell phone minutes to upload the last section of the blog and the pictures. Will burn allotted time quick at that rate. The air card is looking better and better.

Up early this a.m. and hurray! the sun is shinning, but it is still pretty cool out. Well we took our $10 that the casino gave us yesterday and went over there this morning and had breakfast buffet – so guess they got their money back after all.

After that we took off up the Illinois side of the River to check out some history. First we found an old part of Route 66. The Chain of Rocks Bridge. It used to be a toll bridge during the glory days of “The Mother road.”  It crosses the Chain of Rocks Canal and the Mississippi River from Illinois to Missouri. Now it is only open to bikes and walking. We started out on it but soon decided there was no way we were going to get as far as the River just too darn cold and blowy. While walking on it we were talking about all the people that must have driven across it heading towards a better life out West. Wonder how many made the return trip disillusioned. Found a neat Kodak moment – an old deserted gas station with its sign “Twin Oaks – Gas for Less” now bent and twisted by the weather and years. Next to the station was an old motel with what looked like an original sign from the 50s.

From there we continued on up the road to the Lewis and Clark State Historic Site. It is #1 on the Lewis and Clark Trail. There is a replica of their kneelboat and the stockade and cabins they wintered in before while stocking up on supplies and training their men.  Lewis wrote in his journal that this area was the point of departure as this was where the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers joined.  Spent quite a bit of time there looking around and talking to the docents. And then of course we had to drive down a little narrow road to the river bank to see for ourselves where the rivers came together. Kind of a neat thing to see.

As we were getting back in the car I noticed a big puddle under it – oops – turned out to just be run off from the radiator – we had been using the heater. Thank goodness, don’t need car trouble.

Drove a little farther north and crossed the river to go back into St Louis. The road we took on the Missouri side ran right along the river. Every so often there would be a sign “Road Subject to Flooding.” Oh nice. Lots and lots of abandoned and burned industrial buildings and along it. Very depressing.

 Once back into town we visited the new Basilica of Saint Louis. Oh my! Construction began in 1907, the first mass was in 1908 and it was consecrated in 1926. The entire interior is covered with mosaics. Absolutely indescribable – magnificent. At first glance the art appears to be paintings, but it is all mosaic. It contains 83,000 square feet of mosaics – 41.5 million mosaic pieces in 7,000 shades of color.  The mosaics were started in 1912 and finished in 1988. There is just no way to describe it. My pictures don’t begin to do it justice. By the time we left both Bill and I had stiff necks from looking up and swiveling our heads trying to take it all in.

From there we went down to the River front again and walked around admiring the cobblestone streets and old buildings before stopping for a late lunch in Hannegans.

It never really warmed up but at least it didn’t rain. Back to Alfie where Bill again got out his “Weapon of Choice” – his little shop vac. – and collected more lady bugs. Pretty soon they should all be gone I’d think.

Day 3 – Started pouring rain about 4:30 this a.m. and doesn’t appear it will stop. Leaving anyway. Got as far as Stafford, MO and called it a day. It was freeway all the way but the rain never stopped, sometimes just drizzle sometimes pouring. Staying in an RV park here just for the night. No internet again and we can’t pick up satellite TV cause of the weather – And tonight is the final truck race of the season and we are going to miss it! Only a few points separating the first two guys. 

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Well we finally got off and running. Left 8:30 (after getting up at 5:30) waited for it to get light out. Going down that hill in the dark did not appeal to The Driver – me either. I followed in the car until he got to the main road where he could pull over to hook up. Was only about 38 when we left so to help The Driver I sat on his gloves while driving behind him so when he went to hook up his hands wouldn’t be so cold. He says it worked – somewhat.

Hopefully we did everything we were supposed to before we left. If not – too late now.  Unless it is something we can buy at Wal*Mart. Didn’t realize that “vacation suspension with AT&T meant the phone would be disconnected – but guess it does as that’s the message one gets when calling our home phone. Hope everyone who needs to get a hold of us remembers our cell number.

So we’re on the road again, feels good now that we are moving. Went down through Nashville, and there actually were NO tourists there – the early hour, the cold, the rain, it was the middle of the week all probably contributed to that phenomenon. Any way it made it easier to drive the beast through. About an hour into the trip a strange thing began happening. Things were flying all over the place. Little things with wings. Lady Bugs. Egad – they must have been hiding/sleeping all over in Alfie and the motion woke them up. Wonder how long it will take to get rid of all of them. Hope they have a short life span.

Hadn’t gone too far when it began to rain, never got really bad, just annoying. And it didn’t let up. Stayed cold and over cast or raining all the way to Saint Louis.  Not much in the way of scenery – this isn’t the prettiest time of year to travel. The fields have all been harvested and the trees are pretty much bare or just have a few shriveled brown leaves hanging on the tips of their branches. Once in Illinois we started watching for a Flying J (it’s a truck stop) not to fill Alfie but for us to eat. They have a great restaurant – Country Kitchen. Good food, lots of it and very inexpensive. Diesel is below $3 and gasoline is below $2 – quite a change from a few months ago. Once our tummies were full and we had swept up hands full of lady bugs we motored on to East Saint Louis. We’re staying at the Casino Queen RV Park the hotel is right on the river the RV park behind it. Do have a nice view of the arch through the front window. [For some reason I thought it was red. Hummm] And we got winter rates with a Good Sam discount. Nice big pull through sites with small trees and grass. Full hookups, cable TV and two $5 coupons for the casino – Wow. But no Internet. There goes their rating. On the way back to the motorhome after running around in town we stopped at the casino, cashed in our coupons for $10 and left. Didn’t make them any money.

Drove over the Mississippi on a bridge built in 1874 to get into town. First things first we went to look at the arch. It sure is BIG. Parked down by the river. All the river boats and helicopter rides are closed for the season I guess so there was lots of parking. Walked around a little. No we did not go up in the Arch – I don’t think I could take the ride up and would not want to look out the windows anyway.

From there I asked Gypsy where the attractions were and first thing she came up with was the Anheuser-Busch Brewery – Oh yah – the horses! So off we went. Got there just as a tour started so joined it. First thing you get to see are the Clydesdale Stables. They are beautiful, full of stained glass. They live better then a lot of people! So beautiful. Also saw the Dalmatian, but I couldn’t remember which of the horses he trained. From there we were into and out of several buildings. The buildings are beautiful all brick and ornate. First we went into the aging cellars. The barrels there hold 36,000 gallons each. Guide said if a person drank one beer an hour for 24 hours a day it would take 130 years to drain one barrel. And there were three floors of them in there.  The Brew House was next it was built in 1891. Inside it was gorgeous. Stories of white iron work balconies and beautiful chandeliers. The Mashing Process goes on there. It was like being in a fairy tale building. Then into the packaging facility. Zillions of bottles going around. Being cleaned, filled and labeled.  Very interesting tour just for the buildings sake and free. The grounds are bursting with Ginko trees. Their fan shaped leaves a lovely golden color.

Leaving there we drove through the neighborhood surrounding it. Wonderful old brick row houses. And most in handsome condition.

From there Gypsy took us to The Basilica of Saint Louis, The King right next to the Arch. Dating from 1835 it is the oldest church west of the Mississippi (according to the pamphlet.) Interesting, very simple as Basilicas go. There is another church of the same name that is newer and supposed to be fantastic with its mosaics. That’s where I thought we were going. Oh well tomorrow is another day.

The fire place keeps Alfie nice and cozy at night while watching TV and sure if quieter than the furnace.

Doesn’t seem possible that it was only a week ago that we drove through the park and admired the gorgeous fall colors. They are now all gone – not only the colors but the leaves too. Looking out over the back valley all we see are brown barren branches. We can see the two houses below us and some of the ones on the hill across the valley. One day it looked like we were in a brown snow storm so many leaves were floating through the air. Happened over night it seems. And it is getting cold – barely made it to 40 degrees today and supposed to get rain and maybe snow tonight. This time I won’t mind the rain it has been so dry here lately my skin is just flaking off – worse then it ever got in Vegas. Before I can spread the lotion it disappears. We are starting to see the pickups on the road with their snow plow blades on already. All the news broadcasts after the headlines are talking about how much street salt the cities have and how much they have to order. Indianapolis has three salt barns completely full…. Whole different view of news here. Seems like everyone is expecting a long, hard winter this year.

My problems with on-line business have continued. I ordered a couple of ink cartridges for my printer from a company Bill has used before. Good prices and quick delivery. Well except for me that is – my cartridges seem to have disappeared into thin air. They didn’t show up so I called the company and they gave me a tracking number. It said the ink had left Indianapolis a couple of days before. Company said call the post office. Called the post office, gave tracking number, they said the cartridges had left Indianapolis a couple of days before (think I had heard that before) Yes….so now what. Post office said “Call the company.” Keep getting same answer from both of them and still no ink – finally went and bought a couple at Wal*Mart. Now I have to call my credit card and see if I can get my money back. Talked to Credit Card company they will credit my account for merchandise not received.

Was reading the Sheriff’s log in the paper this week and there were about ten reports of deer versus vehicle accidents. Also we are seeing a lot of deer road kill. An article in the paper mentioned that it was mating season……got me to wondering - were the deer running towards or from potential mates?  

Well we have set a departure date – Wednesday. If everything goes according to plan and the creeks don’t rise (and that might happen a storm is scheduled to move in Tuesday – wouldn’t you know.) So we’ve been busy cleaning house and transferring stuff into the Alfa. This is the first time we’ve had to really think about completely closing up the house while gone. Hope we don’t forget anything; I have lists of lists of what needs doing. What to do in town, what to do by phone, what to do on-line, what to put where….Now if I could just find the lists.

Our neighbors will be keeping an eye on it and the lady living down the ravine in the woods will come over here from time to time to use washer etc.

Oops just realized tomorrow is a holiday need to get into town and do all our “in town” errands today.

Well it’s Veterans Day and it is about 30 degrees out and raining – expecting some snow flakes. Hope by tomorrow it is over – would hate to have to start out on icy roads.

Got all our running around done yesterday and today just finishing up on the last minute things. Doing laundry and last minute cleaning. Moving stuff from refrigerator and freezer into motorhome. Don’t know about you but I just wipe up the messes in the refrig when they happen, don’t really take it apart and clean it. How embarrassing it is when you really take stuff out and see all the sticky and yucky stuff that is in there. Well at least it will be sparkly clean when we get home. 

Had to make one more trip into Nashville – I cannot believe there are still tourists walking around – it is 38 degrees and the rain drops are freezing – could see them bouncing off the hood of the car.

Well everything is ready – just have to get a good nights sleep and take off – tomorrow night if all goes as planned we will be in Saint Louis – on the Illinois side of the river. Want to see the arch – hope weather cooperates. From there we will head towards Oklahoma City then west to Las Vegas where we hope to spend Thanksgiving. Beyond that no plans except head for Mexico – or not. 

I will keep the blog up whenever we have Internet connection. No pictures this time.

I am frustrated – so what’s new? The electronic age is wonderful what with e-mail, e-banking, e-billing, e-payment, e-tc, e-tc!  But why can’t they just let you decide what username and password you want to use. Noooo….password has to be 4, 6, 8,21 letters or letters and numbers or capital and small letters, and everyone wants something different so one word doesn’t suit all. And then the security questions!  “What street did your 5^th grade best friend live on?” Cripes I’m an old lady, I’m lucky to remember what street I live on. Today I got a good one. Tried to sign in – nope wrong username and/or password. Most places you can say Forgot and they will tell you after asking for blood type and first born. But not this one. They are at present unable to retrieve info so customer must re-register. BUT – if you happen to use either old username or password it says it is taken. So I have to come up with a whole new identity that I won’t remember by next month. Geezzzzzzz.  EEEEEEE…..finally got all the security questions answered and a note came up to the effect of “this has taken too long so we are closing this page.” Back to square one. Finally got it done. Paper and pencil can’t be beaten. And seeing how I was in such a good move by – decided I’d go on and finish the last two I had to set up. I know – or at least think – I’m not stupid but something about some of these sites and their set up procedures seems to make my brains drip right out of my ears. By the time I finished – Bill was laughing so hard he would have peed his pants if he were a woman and I was sweating and heading for the wine. Could not get one straightened out finally had to call them – nice customer service person (I really mean that) told me “Oh, well we’ve locked you out because you haven’t used the account for so long.” This after trying everything I could think of to get in! Anyway she fixed it, set me up with a new password that I had to change as soon as I got in and from there everything worked fine. Need to remember to check in on all accounts at least once a month I guess.

Woke up at 4:55 a.m. a couple of days ago – it was freezing in here – really – temps dropped below 30 over night. Turned the electric blanket on and went back to sleep. When Bill got up he turned the furnace on so it was nice and warm when I finally stuck my head out again. The next couple of days it dropped well below freezing at night and only got to the 40s during the day. In fact the TV newsperson said he saw snow flurries as he drove into work in Indianapolis one morning.  This area is showing its real self now – last year it was nice and mild just to fool with us. Ha!

So we had a couple of real cold days, but with the rain last week and the cold nights the trees are really starting to color up – the ones that haven’t already lost their leaves that is. So this weekend should be the prettiest one yet and a warm one – supposed to get up over 70 again. Maybe tomorrow we’ll take a ride up through the park.

Bill has finished doing everything he can think of to the motorhome. Fireplace and cabinets are finished and look really good – cover over switches has a nicer photo on it so it looks good. All cupboards and drawers are lined with foam backed indoor/outdoor carpet to cut down on rattles and noises. The edges of all cabinets at doors and drawers have been protected with a plastic strip. The Dish TV has been installed. Small area rugs have been cleaned. Little by little now we will start to put things in it and get serious about leaving. So I’ve started to make lists of what needs to be done the last minute before we leave – if I can just remember where I put the lists when I need them.

The little lady bugs are back – zillions of them. They are swarming all over. The motorhome looks like its got measles there are so many on it. And inside of it – don’t know how they get in but they do. In the house too. Just glancing around I can count 21 here in the computer room. They don’t cause any problems but…………wish they’d go somewhere else or that we could find out how they are getting in. And as fast as they came they will disappear.

Boy today, Saturday, turned out to be one of those rare just about perfect days. We were thinking about taking the back road out of her to Bloomington to miss driving through Nashville so we decided to drive it today and go into Best Buy in Bloomington as Bill’s camera needs a new battery. The road has just been resurfaced so it was smooth as glass. And the COLORS!! OH MY!! They have come in force. So beautiful driving through the woods. And the weather was perfect about 73. Got to Best Buy and they didn’t have the battery (that’s what kept it from being a perfect day.) Then we went out to lunch at O’Charley’s excellent waitress and food. Then on the way home we both said at once “Lets drive up through Brown County Park. So we did. Magnificent – beyond words – cannot describe how beautiful it was. The tourists that came in October missed the best. From brilliant reds to eye hurting yellows, oranges, maroons, and greens and every variation of every color. Took over 120 pictures – until my battery died. Every 100 yards or so one of us would say “Wow!” or “Look at that.” Bill’s favorite saying was “We are so privileged to live here.”

Then we got home just in time to see the last 40 laps of the Nationwide race and Kyle WON!!!

Couldn’t ask for a better day. Except for the lady bugs – they were really swarming in the woods. One little kid was crying his eyes out cause they were crawling on him. They don’t bite or anything, he just didn’t like it.

Friday -It is pouring rain here today and he is still out working in the motorhome. Can’t imagine what he is doing now.  Just went to check, he has pulled the front TV out and found petrified mice and poop – gad they got everywhere, no wonder we can’t get rid of the smell. Thought about getting a new TV as long as this one was out but decided against it. Sure don’t need one. But we did get Dish TV installed it works okay with the satellite dish but we can’t get the King Dome on the roof to pick it up. Oh well.

The weather has cleared up and now it is quite nice out – mid to high 60s with lots of sun. Tomorrow it is supposed to go down to the 20s at night for a few days. Guess I should do something about all the plants outside, especially the roses. They need to be pruned and covered. Crap.

Every once in a while I think about not writing this blog any more. Sometimes it seems like a waste of time and maybe an imposition on my family and friends when I send them updates. Of course they can always just delete the letter but….guess sometimes I’m just in a down and drippy mood. Lately has been one of those times. Any way – a day ago what did I find on my blog site but a letter from a couple from Canada who were traveling through Brown County in their 5^th wheel. They were here in part because they had been reading my blog about living here. We arranged to meet them and spent a great day here at the house visiting and eating (Bill cooked). At first it was a little strange meeting people for the first time and yet they knew so much about us – as if we’d known each other for years. But now we will be friends for years. They are heading towards Arizona for the winter. If they have made it that far we’ll see them in Arizona when we get that way. Actually I’ve made several on-line friends through the blog. People I correspond with on a regular basis. So guess I’ll keep blogging away.

On to other things. We have a new neighbor. She works for the woodworker across the street. Last week she had a small camping cabin moved into the ravine down in the woods behind the burned house across from us. She is a real pioneer woman. The cabin will have a wood stove for heat. But first they have to cut a hole in the roof for the stove pipe. She will have a compost toilet (?). No electricity and no water unless she runs a hose from her bosses house. That takes a determined, strong person with winter coming on. Wish her well and told her she can come over here and stay if it gets too much for her. She is going to pick up our mail and watch this place for us.

Bill is out in Alfie again, can’t imagine what he is doing now. He added a couple of mirrors to the bedroom door on the living area side. Sure makes the place look bigger and adds a little stability to the door. Our neighbor was going to throw them out and they fit perfectly. Well with a little trimming of mirror and door that is. Just went out and checked – he is running the satellite cable down through the dash and into the “hood” so we don’t have to run it out a window or door. Just said we have to go to Menards – oh well that means breakfast AND I want to go visit a covered bridge that is only about 40 miles from here. Then home to watch the race, if it’s not over.

Well made it home and race is in progress but Kyle is not having a good day again.

We went to Medora this morning to see the covered bridge. Interesting to me, Bill was not impressed. But then I didn’t have to drive. It is the longest covered bridge still standing in the US. 458 feet long. It was built in 1875. The highway now bypasses it. It was a pretty drive there down through the woods and a couple of the small town out in the county. Saw a couple of funny/weird things on the way that I wished I’d got pictures of. One was a black cow bending down her front knees bent and her head pushed out under the lowest rail of a fence. She was eating the grass on the outside. Guess “the grass is always greener” really meant something to her. The next thing was almost unbelievable! It was a sway back horse. Now I’ve seen other sway back horses but this one was amazing. I don’t know how it could even stand up. I swear it looked like this   U  with her rump on one side and her shoulders on the other. Would think she would just fold up in the middle. Then after the bridge we saw a couple of signs that reminded me I am a city girl. The first was “Butcher Hogs for sale.” My mind said – “Okay butcher hogs – as opposed to what? Nonbutcher hogs?”  Well I was answered just down the road a piece by another sign “Show Pigs for sale.”  Okay now I get it - they either taste good or look good.

Beautiful day for a ride today. That glorious bright blue the sky can be on cool days, filled with puffy white clouds (my favorite) and because of the rain and colder weather the remaining leaves are turning yellow and red.

I’ve mentioned before the person who lives on the road to town who has a slate in front of his house where he writes words of wisdom for all to read. Any way he has a new one out “Gen-U-Wine Brown County tree stump. Just $500.” Then the word “Woody” with an arrow pointing towards the ground. And there sits a tree stump with “Woody the Stump” written on it. So far no takers. Who knows some tourist with more money than sense might just go for it.

This is the last weekend of October so guess it will be the end of wall to wall tourists in town. Was pretty busy there again today.

Well we picked up Alfie again, hopefully for her last visit to the RV place. The refrigerator is working fine again, seems like there is crap in the flue and when it flakes off and drops down on the burner it puts it out. The big slide worked perfectly for them; don’t know why it jumped so last time we put it in. Oh well. The solar panels are installed on the roof. Now she is sitting in the middle of our driveway while Bill is working in her.  We came up with some bright ideas after seeing another Alfa while camping in Parke County. We are (he is) putting in an electric fireplace in the living room area and also putting in a couple of cupboard doors so we can access the storage area without lifting the top. He is also enclosing a little alcove in the bedroom that was just a wasted space and building shelving there. Should keep him busy for a few days.

It was colder than beegibbers here this a.m. – down in the 30s. The furnace even came on during the night. Yesterday morning we even saw some frost on the ground on the golf course. The fall leaves this year were a disappointment. Because Sept was so dry most of the leaves just fell off before turning color. Didn’t keep the tourists away though. Could not even drive through town on Saturday and Sunday.  Report on TV last night said maybe snow flurries on Monday.  But today it got to 70. weird.

Bill has already finished the fireplace and the cupboard space in back; he also built a photo frame cover for an area that had a bunch of ugly switches in it. I do need to change the photo though – don’t like the rose. Now he is building a portable flagpole out of pvc pipe. So we can put it out in our camping space. Every time he gets another idea it means a trip into Columbus to go to Menards (and of course stop and eat.) Actually I have been cooking again lately. Cleaned out the freezer inside and found lots of stuff I’d forgotten we had. One thing was a turkey breast so I even made turkey noodle soup from scratch yesterday. Tasted so good and made the house smell good too. Tonight we are going to have something made with hamburgers – we must have 20 patties in there, guess we just kept buying them.

When he is all done piddling around in there we will start to pack it for the trip. And rearrange what is in there – since after the mouse mess things didn’t get put back where they belong. That’ll be my job. Planning on leaving here around the 10^th of November.

Part 3

Did 92 miles Friday.

Saturday awakened by the geese flying overhead again. Was cool again at night but made it up to mid 80s during the day. The area of the campground we’re in was completely full by Friday night.  We got another early start, stopping for breakfast at a little café in Dana. It is a converted railroad car and has been a restaurant since the 1930s. We took off through the country not going near the crowded areas. In fact we saw very few cars on the roads to the bridges. We headed towards the northern part of the county. The first bridge we came to was 315 feet long but no longer in use. When you stood at one end and looked down it you could see the floor buckling. And the old tool marks and nails.  Neat to see. From there we continued north to see five more bridges. The next two were up and down dirt/gravel roads. Into the woods and through the farm lands. Some of the fields still have crops, some have been harvested and some have been plowed. The plowed ground has a great earthy smell to it. The forests have their own smell, fresh and clean and old. In the middle of nowhere we came upon a field full of antique farm equipment, toys and bicycles to name just a few things. At one corner of it was a sign with a rope hanging from it. The sign said “Weather Station”  Below that it said “if rope is wet = Rain. If rope is dry = Fair. If rope is swinging = Windy. And so forth – cute. We finally came to one of the few non-red bridges around. It was quite pretty and painted white. It was the Jackson Bridge built in 1861. In a real nice setting. And there were steps so I could walk down to the river and see the bottom of the bridge.

As we drive through the wood every day the trees become more and more red and orange. Nature is magnificent. Just a thought – have you ever noticed how many different styles of barns there are. And that most are painted red too. Why?

The last bridge we visited on Saturday was a very little one out in the middle of no where – with a weight limit of 3 tons. Next to it was a dirt “road” leading down the hill, through the river and up the other side. We studied the bridge and the “road” for a while and Bill decided to take the “road” and I walked across the bridge. Willie seemed to enjoy himself. Nice and muddy.

After that we came across a couple of big Amish farms and nurseries. No power lines leading into those houses or barns. Lots of buggies around. How do they live like that? Their faith must be great.

By now we had visited 20 of the 31 bridges and adding Saturdays 93 miles had put more than 270 miles on the jeep.

Had to go through the county seat of Rockville – lots of people there – noticed they had a Melodrama theater there playing “Lily the Felons Daughter.” They are fun to go to – boo the villain and cheer the hero. Also a lot of the stores in the town that were empty when we first arrived on Wednesday are now open selling “stuff.”

Saw lots of equipment out in the fields harvesting. Truck after truck full of soy beans going down the road.

On the way back to the campground we decided to try the road Gypsy suggested to us the first day when we were driving the motorhome. Sure glad we didn’t take it. It was a gravel road of the washboard variety. If we’d taken the motorhome the eggs in the shells would have been scrambled!

Cooked dinner – yes I did and then watched the NASCAR race until midnight. These east coast races need to start earlier.

Sunday we had a rather short day. We were going to go the bridges closest to the campground and to a corn maze. Instead we stopped in Rockville to check out all the going ons there. All around the courthouse were food booths. Again everything you can imagine. Huge pots of ham and beans boiling. BBQs of all everything, corn dogs (they smell so good out in the fresh air.) I finally settled on Peach Cobbler with whipped cream – good breakfast – fruit, bread and milk. Bill had deep fried vegetables. They looked delicious BUT – what he thought was fried zucchini turned out to be fried spinach fritters. Thought he would die he got so sick, he even had me drive he was so bad. That pretty much ended the day’s excursions. I did get a t-shirt, collector pin for our collection and a magnet. Spent the rest of the day at the motorhome. Me reading and him sleeping it off. He is allergic to spinach and it makes him deathly ill, he turns gray and cold and sweaty. No playing around there.

After dinner we walked around the grounds and visited with some neighbors with an Alfa. Actually they were the ones we met in Ohio a couple of weeks ago. They’ve made lots of changes inside theirs. Moved the table and chairs to the other side, taken out the couch, added an electric fireplace and changed the configuration of the computer desk. Gave us some good ideas if we ever get Alfie back from the RV place.

Monday a.m. we came home. We left a day early because it is supposed to rain starting Tuesday. Dropped Alfie off at RV again, for some reason the refrigerator doesn’t want to work on propane (while we’re driving), when we brought the big slide in it really JERKED a couple of times, didn’t sound good. And the solar panels are there and ready to be installed. Today it is cloudy here in Nashville. We need the rain, all the flowers are drooping. Everything at home was fine, no open freezer doors – though now it is empty so wouldn’t have mattered.

Wrote this before we left for Parke County but forgot to publish it So will do it now that we are home again. Will catch up with Parke County Part 3 later.

The last day of our vacation turned out to be pretty interesting. Alfie went off-roading! Through a corn field, luckily it was already harvested.

Left Wilmington mid-morning and got right on the freeway instead of following Gypsy’s directions to go down the country road to another on ramp. As I said she and I have kind of an uneasy truce. Bill says we just need to learn to trust her. Okay. Going through Cincinnati was thrilling – miles and miles of construction – very narrow two lanes. I wouldn’t even want to drive it in a car. My chair has new dents in the arm rests. But The Driver takes it in stride and we motored on. Once into Indiana again got to sit back and enjoy the scenery. In Ohio almost all of the fields have been harvested already. Here in Indiana most the crops are still green. Wonder why. Also did you ever wonder why the sides of the road always have flowers growing there? Even when there aren’t flowers any where else in sight. Even in the western desert roads it is like that. Where do they come from?

Back to our adventure. We followed the freeway to off-ramp. Took it and headed towards Indiana 46 that leads to Columbus. This is the way we came. BUT Gypsy said to turn right, then left and take CR100. Remember Bill said we should learn to trust her. Also remember she doesn’t know we are driving a TRUCK. So we turned right – missed the left turn as the road there is new – made a U-turn – Yes a U-TURN at an intersection and found where we were supposed to turn. Hum…narrow two-lane country road. Well okay. Suddenly up pops a “Construction - Road closed 1000 feet ahead” sign. Oh, oh. From where we are there are no roads leading off of the narrow two-lane road. Awful long way to back up. Now I know why the people coming towards us from that direction were giving us such funny looks. Come to think of it they were all construction trucks. Ahead to the right, was a gravel driveway leading into a Honda facility of some sort (couldn’t see any buildings.) With no other choice The Driver pulled in there. Then he got out and walked up to the fence to see if he could turn around in that graveled area. Nope. I watched him slowly walk back all the time looking around. Then he detoured out into the farm field next to us. Wondered what he was thinking. He got back in, sat down and announced, “I can turn it around in the field.” “ WHAT!!” a squeak from me. “No problem,” he said as he started forward. Well guess it was no problem ‘cause we made a big circle around that field and got headed back the right way. Smooth as silk. Didn’t encounter any angry farmer either thank goodness. But bet he wondered what the heck drove through it next time he got there. The rest of the trip was more or less uneventful. Except for going the long way around Columbus cause I didn’t trust Gypsy again. Turned out she was right that time.

Dropped the motorhome off at the RV place. They are going