September 30,2006

We saw a lot of beautiful scenery today including lots of antelope and a couple of deer. Pictured below is wagon mound. It looks like a larger than life covered wagon going behind a hill.

Tonight we are in Amarillo, Texas. It was very warm today and tonight is supposed to fifty-five degrees. This will be the warmest night we have had in the last few weeks. Yea! We are very excited about this.

Charlotte and Mike wanted me to include this picture of one of our drivers. He is not much fun when he drives – very serious. He loosens up a little after we stop.

September 29, 2006

We left the Denver area this morning on our way south. While we were going through the mountains in New Mexico we heard a loud crash from the rear inside of the Motorhome. Mike and Charlotte went back and found glass all over the floor in the bath area. The shower door shattered into a zillion pieces. We have no idea why or what caused the door to break. After we stopped for the night in Raton, New Mexico, we started the clean up and repair process. We bought a heavy duty shower curtain for a temporary fix. With a little ingenuity, duct tape and the shower curtain, we can now use the shower again. We will get it fixed properly when we get back to Florida.

September 26, 2006

This morning on our walk we stopped to see our neighbors. It is nice of them to share their campground with us. They are beautiful but they leave a terrible mess on the ground everywhere. When walking, you have to watch where you step. They call us each morning to let us know when they get here. They then strut around about a half hour before leaving to entertain others in the area.

September 24, 2006

Mike, Charlotte and I drove about thirty miles north to see our great friends Andy and Peggy Bosomworth today. They are in the process of remodeling their almost five thousand square foot home. They are extremely ambitious and both get involved in the actual hard work. Peggy provides most of the design ideas while Andy has the knowledge of construction. They have completed approximately eighty percent of the interior and the results are terrific. In the picture they are in the master bedroom, which is still under construction.

September 23, 2006

Today Uncle Mike ensured continuation of a family tradition. He taught Abby how to play a solitaire card game. Abby is a quick learner and was playing with little supervision in a very short time. In the picture below, you can see Abby playing under the watchful eye of both Grandma and Uncle Mike.

September 21, 2006

Today our son, Mike, flew in from Orlando. It has been a while since we have been together with Jill, Karl, Abby and Mike in one town. We have a week to enjoy one another’s company before we leave Denver. Abby wants Uncle Mike to stay at her house for a couple of nights before joining us in the motor home. Mike will travel us with on the trip back to Florida. He will go back on the Disney Magic ship in early November for another six months work.

September 18, 2006

Fall is just around the corner. It was a cool thirty-five degrees last night but it was nice in the RV. We were warm and happy with our new electric blanket we purchased yesterday. Additionally, the ducts for the heating system go under the floor, so it was nice on the feet when we got up this morning.

In the evening, we were invited to go to Abby’s school for “Back to School Night”. While Karl and Jill met with the teachers, Abby gave us a very good tour of her school. After the parents – teacher meeting, Abby introduced us to her teacher, Ms. Georgie.

September 17, 2006

Today, Abby, Karl, Grandma and Grandpa went to the Soccer Fest Celebration at a nearby park. The temperature, in the low sixties, was a little cool for Grandma and Grandpa but Karl and Abby didn’t mind. She had a great time trying the different games, challenges and the popcorn.

September 16, 2006

We spent the afternoon with our family. They came to our home this time. We wandered around the Park enjoying the scenery. We walked along the reservoir stopping to look for keepsakes and to throw stones into the water with Abby. Karl was the best at hitting a floating stick in the water. There is a model airplane field near our campsite so we stopped and watched various sizes being flown. The people with the controls sure are talented. They can make the planes do all kinds of amazing things. We went back to the RV where Karl and Grandpa helped Abby try to fly a kite. The wind was very strong and it was quite a challenge. We had a lot of fun. You can see our campsite behind Abby as she is trying to get the kite into the air.

Later we had dinner at the picnic table outside our front door. The food always tastes better when outdoors and with family.

September 15, 2006

We moved to Chatfield State Park today. No more forty-mile drive to see Jill, Karl and Abby. Now we are only fourteen miles from their house. Tonight we went out to dinner with them to one of Abby’s favorite places – Sweet Tomatoes. It was nice getting back home in about twenty minutes.

September 10,2006

We went to Highlands Ranch to see Abby, Jill and Karl. Abby, Grandma and Grandpa drove a few miles to Parker to play in a City Park. We had a lot of fun with Abby. She has more energy than both Grandma and Grandpa together.

September 9,2006

We moved to the KOA in Strasburg, Colorado today. I finally have Wifi again. This is a very busy campground. Almost every site is filled. The campers are close together. We don’t have the same view as yesterday. Still, it is a very nice place.

September 8,2006

We started our walk at daybreak today. We wanted to get out and watch the Sun come up. It is very beautiful and tranquil here. We sat on a bench along the lake and listened to the quiet.

As it became lighter, we could here birds and a rooster off in the distance. We saw some Turkey Vultures setting in the rocks and on a small cabin.

Charlotte has the keen eye when looking for things in the early morning. She saw something standing ahead of us along the road. It was reddish with a distinctive white shape on it neck or chest and stood about four to five foot tall. In fact we saw a couple of them as we moved around the Park. They didn’t seem to be afraid of us. They just stood still and watched as we passed. Later in the morning, we managed to get a picture of one. They don’t look the same in daylight.

After breakfast, we went to see Monument Rocks. It was a pleasant twenty or thirty mile drive through the prairie. They are awesome. They are in the middle of nowhere on each side of a gravel road. They stand about fifty to seventy-five five tall.

We spent the rest of the day at the RV enjoying the weather while Charlotte worked on her tan.

September 7,2006

When we toured the National Weather Station, our guide, Fred, told us about Scott State Park. He showed us some of his pictures from the Park. It looked and sounded great so we decided to go back towards the east and try it. It is a great place to camp. We have water and electric only and will need to use the dump station. It is after Labor Day so we only have two neighbors. They are four sites away and about twenty sites away. We have lots of room. We have a nice view of the lake and beach out our dining room window.

We went to the El Cuartelejo Pueblo Ruins in the Park. It is the only known Indian Pueblo in Kansas. Taos Indians originally built it in 1664. The picture below shows the pueblo site with its foundation reconstructed.


We went for a walk at dusk to see if we could find any animals. We did see a few deer. After dark, we enjoyed a full moon. We sat outside for a while until the mosquitoes located us. One thing for sure, Scott State Park has lots of mosquitoes and they are all very hungry.

September 6, 2006

Today we toured the National Weather Service here in Goodland, Kansas. Our tour guide, Fred, was extremely knowledgeable and helped us understand what happens behind a standard weather forecast. After we told him we are fulltime RVers, he gave us tips and website information to help us keep up with the weather changes as we travel. It is a great tour and we highly recommend it to everyone as they travel through the area.



Later in the day we went to the Puppet Factory. We saw many different puppets and accessories. They even sell plays for puppet shows. It brought back memories of when Jill and Mike did puppet shows at Central Babtist Church in Lexington, Kentucky.

Goodland is the home of the Worlds Largest Van Gogh Sunflower Painting on an easel. The easel stands 80 feet high and the painting is 24 feet x 32 feet. It is impressive and very large.

September 5, 2006

We are in a KOA at Goodland, Kansas. While setting up, the first slide went out okay; the second slide went out half way and stopped. It would not move either in or out. We checked the things we knew but could not fix the problem. We called the slide company but no one was available. They said they would call back later. We then called the Dealer we purchased the RV from in Florida. One of the techs talked me through the tasks I needed to do to get the slides operational again. After things were fixed, we completed the set up without any additional problems.
This is the cleanest place we have stayed at while on the road. The only disappointment for me, they don’t have Wifi. Though this campground has easy access and is close to the main highway, it is very quite.

September 4, 2006

Today we enjoyed the 110th annual Hoisington, Kansas Labor Day Parade. There were 150 entries and it lasted about 1-½ hours. We saw bands, vintage cars, trucks and tractors, fire trucks, police cars, class reunion floats, horses, clowns and much more. We took our chairs and sat on Main Street next to a Dentist and his four beautiful children, ages eight years old, twins 3 ½ years old and 16 months old, from Great Bend, Kansas. It was fun watching the expression on the little ones’ faces as the parade went past. Prior to the parade we talked to people from Hoisington and a couple from Enid, Oklahoma. We enjoy meeting people and learning about them and where they live.

September 3, 2006

We packed our lunch and headed south today. We went to Pawnee Rock State Monument. It was a pleasant sixty-mile drive. On the way we stopped at the Fort Zarah Historical site for lunch. Two large walnut trees shaded our picnic table. There was broken nutshells on the table left behind by the area squirrels. After lunch we drove the last fifteen miles to Pawnee Rock. For travelers on the Santa Fe Trail, this sandstone citadel was one of the most prominent landmarks on their long journey. Native Americans were said to have met at Pawnee Rock and reputedly used it as a vantage point to spot bison herds and approaching wagon trains.

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