Sensationally Six

We are over a week in to a ROADA trip but have taken a luxury week to meet up with the parents of our Bee. She left with us for a few days of roughing it in ROADA and checked off another state. Colorado was new for her and her daddy. What fun we've had with her and she is loving the "mountain house". She has also enjoyed riding the gondola, seeing moose, horseback riding, hiking and gelato.

She's tired, we are tired but we are having a great time in the mountains. One more full day and the adventure is still ongoing.  We've had mild temps, some rainy afternoons but that hasn't stopped us. MiRV and I will continue on doing some exploring as they head home this weekend. Nice to be escaping the excessive heat warnings in MO right now! We are enjoying 70's in the day and mid 50's at night. I may not go home til September!

Sensationally Six

Last week I think I failed to mention another milestone...she's now lost FOUR teeth. Licorice was the helper in this. It was already quite loose but a Twizzlers helped it make it's way all the way out! Tooth fairy found her at the Meadow (though she was a bit concerned on that front) and left $2.00. She was pretty excited!

Well, the fair has come and gone and ohmygosh we had sooooo much fun. The Northern girls loved it all. Next year could be her year to get to show something at her own fair in NE. Not sure those rules but I know she will be in it some way, some how. 

These little girls had lots of fun...playing in gravel, eating ice, skittles, nachos, popscicles and pie or cheesecake depending on the day as well as cinnamon rolls, pancakes and drinking lots of lemonade.

This weekl I'm somewhere in the heart of Iowa or maybe Minnesota today. I'm off on another girl's trip and then next week it is off to Colorado with Bee. We are excited to take her in ROADA again and she is excited to go. She would have liked to go to the ocean but we are taking her to the mountains instead. We will have a few advance days with her as we slowly make our way out then mom and dad are coming in for a week in a mountainside condo. 

Living the dream around here and loving it! 

Sensationally Six

The sale was as successful I suppose. We got rid of things that we needed to even if it meant a trip to the donation center. It was a hard weekend. Still no offers on the house. Still navigating final bills and closure. The sale definitely made it more real. In other happenings we got a much needed City trip in and had the little girls this week. They are growing so fast. So is our Northern girl. Seeing her in pictures/videos this week, especially at her horse lessons, tell us how big she is getting. When she stayed with us a few weeks ago she wanted to know if we were taking a ROADA road trip. Well, we are now. If you want to make a trip with us then we most certainly are! Destination to be determined. Her actual question was "are we taking ROADA to see the trains again?"

As warm as it's been this week we jokingly said we need to go to the lake with the paddleboards. I think that it's really not a joke! When it's 90 degrees you should be at the lake! Still got lots of household chores to do and exterior home maintenace we need to get completed. This weather is a bit warm to be wanting to get out doing those chores. And allergies are off the charts. I'm not usually an allergy sufferer but have been in recent years and it stinks, MiRV, on the other hand, has had them very bad since I have known him. He has been miserable as of late. My ears are still a bit plugged and I've still got a lingering cough. Ready for this sickness season to be O.V.E.R.

Happy Spring! It seems that we might have gone straight into summer though!

The HANDFUL

The best thought out plans change! So on Sunday we were rested and ready and decided to head on into Great Smoky Mountain National Park... Yeah, I'm not gonna say it was m.i.s.t.a.k.e. but it WAS super duper busy and crowded.  The drive up to Clingman's Dome was long and bumper to bumper traffic. People were doing pull off parking about for the last half mile up. When we left they were even farther back on both sides of the road. But the mini donuts on the way there were scrumptious!

Walking up the .5 mile path to the Dome was a worlout. Gracious! It was straight up, ooh-kay, okay, maybe NOT straight up but up at a huge angle. I made it. Views were good, some haze but still overall a spectacular view. Took the time to stop (wait in line) at the little ranger store on the way down in hopes of scoring a T-shirt but no joy. Not only are they VERY proud of their T-shirts at GSMNP ($34.99) they didn't have a size M in hardly any styles I liked. I'm just disappointed that the last few NPs we have visited are so stinkin' expensive with their T-shirts. Why?

We started our trek home this week. There were several routes to take and we pretty much had decided to just wing it but when we hit Kentucky we were sooooo close to Mammoth Cave National Park we decided to stop. And stop is all we did. While I had been here and got to take a cave tour in my childhood MiRVB had not so we were plannig to do the self guided tour like we did at Carlsbad. Nope, that didn't work out, they had no tickets for this type tour until October 18th. So we got the T-shirts (which were much cheaper than any other Park we visited and just as cool) and motored on.

As we motored we passed a very large GM factory... and as we pass MiRV realizes it is the corvette factory. Next thing I know we are crossing three lanes of traffic to make that exit and find ourselves in the parking lot of the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Now I'm quickly googling and find out there are factory tours. We head inside to get the scoop. Unfortunately, no tours, you know COVID and all. So since we are here and all we just decide to tour the museum instead and $28.00 later we are in the museum theater learning all things corvette. While it was a cool stop, the venue has a big focus on the sinkhole that occurred a few years back. By far the Harley Davidson musuem in Wisconson is way better. But it you're a 'vette enthusiast I'm sure you'll enjoy a visit. MiRV certainly did. AND we go the T-shirts though MiRV would have preferred to pick up an actual corvette there!

Thankfully, we are back at the Meadow, have ROADA tucked away (although she needs to get in for a looksy at the water tank issue and service) and now we are catching up on home chores. I have sadly only really scratched the surface on our trip. There were so many more things we were able to see and do and I have just not captured them, this makes my crazy but also I know I cannot put everything here so I have attempted the highlights. 

The HANDFUL

It's been a week of travel for us...we are in OHIO and stuck at the MB dealership with a BlueDEF issue on ROADA. Thankfully, we were able to make it to the dealership before the dreaded limp mode kicked in. Also, thankful that said dealership could take on the repair. We did have some quality reading time while hanging out in the waiting area. We also got to reconnect with some Alabama folks. 

The other three dealerships we called gave us no reassurances they would be able to get us in...sooooo after 2.5 days here in Dayton we are back on the road, albeit with a water tank situation that remains to be seen if it is resolved. Nevertheless, we are heading East in the morning. Grateful to Katie and her team for the assist. 

We came to Ohio for a retirment...funny how things work out. Met these fine folks in Italy, stationed again together in Nebraska, last saw them in Texas in 2016. Military connections are funny like that you just meet up whenever and it's always good. 

Congrats to the the newly retired Chief!

The retirement ceremony was at the museum which was very cool!

Oh, and there was definitely more bathroom reno progress before our departure...plumbing progress. 

AND we got a couple days at the Indiana Dunes National Park...while I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from ever visiting one of our national treasures I have to say this particular park seems underwhelming. Nonethless, we visited and made some memories. Did a little hiking and enjoyed a little downtown after an exceptionally busy last three weeks!

Here we come Blue Ridge Parkway!

The HANDFUL

We have been in Colorado this week. It's been too long since we have been footloose and fancy free. It feels good. It's all gone too quickly, in fact we are actually making our way back East today. It's been a good trip. The Blue River was a great place for a getaway. No hustle and bustle but if you are looking for that sort of thing you are just a short drive away. We did take a day trip into Breckenridge. Rode the gondola up the mountain, strolled the town, got the T-shirts, had lunch and then returned to our quiet little riverside spot. And yesterday we made our way through Hoosier Pass so we could make a stop by Bailey, CO. Found some neat things in this cute little town. IYKYK...

Campsite view night #1.

Campsite view nights#2 & #3

Night #4 was another awesome view but I failed to snap a picture. The real picture would have been the road getting there...yes, yes it was quite a ride! But we made it in and out unscathed. Though I do not wish to repeat such trip.

Here's hoping to be able to get out and do this again soon as when the weather cools. Chose our destination specifically to escape the Midwest heat. It worked as there was snow in the higher elevations while we were there and the overnights were quite chilly. It was a welcome change and made morning coffee taste that much better! While we might have had bigger plans like paddleboarding and hiking, We mainly enjoyed the scenery, good food and bourbon.  Cheers to our last night in the mountains.

The HANDFUL

It's fair week. We are proud supporters of our local youth fair. This week we've been both volunteers and goers. This morning we've enjoyed the rabbit show and then tonight the steer show. It's always a good time. And we love a slice or two of pie and the pork burgers. They are the best! Cash the Cow did a great job in the ring and so did Little #2 handling him. Tomorrow is the big sale; unfortunately Cash the Cow weighed in above selling weight but one of the rabbits will be auctioned off.

Lots of tired Little Littles, thank goodness for a wagon to rest in! They have both been troopers.

In other news ROADA got new house batteries. Quite a job to get the old ones out and the news ones in but MiRV did it! Now we are back in business. Just thrilled to have had them last as long as they did.

So if things get back to some semblence of a new normal we are ready. However between family needs and a new outbreak along with a new variant we aren't too hopeful for potential travel. But we are ready, well, sort of...

The HANDFUL

The theme this week was to rest up. Hahahaha hahahaha, well, at least we tried. Lots went ahead and happened after the departure of daughter and family and so much more needs to be done. We are knee deep in summer projects and have a looooong list still on our "to-do" list. It would help if we stopped acquiring new projects. 

Had a very nice 4th of July celebrating with friends and family...

Family Celebration #1

Family Celebration #2

Annual Stonegate Parade...

Impromptu swimming party with the cousins on 4th of July!

Our new flagpole!

That's just the highlights folks...it's been a challenging week and yet a good news week. Though the challenges seem to be coming fast and furious. We've popped up some BIG bucks for new RV batteries, yes, plural as there are F.O.U.R. and those little puppies aren't cheap. Hope we get at least as long out of the new ones as we did the old ones. They were the originals and we have had ROADA an unbelievable 7 years now! It's all good in the big scheme of things and hoping to be out driving and seeing the our country soon.

The HANDFUL

We are on a roadtrip with the Bee in ROADA! So far so good...weather has been less than cooperative but we are, of course, making the best of it. She is a great "camper" so far. She loves throwing rocks in the "ocean lake" right behind our spot and going to the playground four spots down. The bigger bonus was PBS on the TV this morning with breakfast. 

After breakfast we headed into town to do some exploring...she loved the Lincoln County Museum. It was a neat stop for sure. We also got to see a two week old baby buffalo!

This one is ALWAYS up for a playground stop and Cody Park was a really nice park. There were peacocks, buffalo, deer, geese and a few more I am forgetting. Plus another train section. This is a railroad town!

I am calling her first trip out with us quite a success and it's only been a little over 24 hours! She is a great traveler!

The HANDFUL

After being up North last week to help with the SunRoom subflooring the Bee wanted to return to the Meadow with us. We were excited to have her with us and a good time was had by all! She did quite a bit of visiting this trip. She really enjoyed seeing the goat's again...

And playing with cousins!

She also kept very busy just being the queen of the Meadow!

She is growing so quickly and we are thrilled she enjoys coming to the Meadow. We had a great week with her, lots of fun times and memories were made, Looking forward to our ROADA weekend with her later this month.

The HANDFUL

We've had a houseguest this week...thought she was going home today but she's having too much fun so she's ask for another day! What a week we've had. Cousins have been over and we've also been to see them, Aunts and Uncles have been by as well as Grands and she even got to see the 4H project bovine "Cash". We've played outside everyday even on the blustery days. GraveDigger has seen a lot of action as have the balls, paintbrushes and swingset! She's been spoiled with her favorite foods of meatloaf, fish sticks, french fries, waffles and pizza, oh my. We've also been shopping, cow cruising, horse hunting and a Sonic visit. Only disappointment has been no ostriches! We also did some testing out of her "sleeping arrangement" in ROADA as we are planning to take her with us this year...stay tuned for how that pans out. We are certainly hoping for travel time soon!

It's gonna be awfully quiet around here when you are gone...already planning another MO visit with her but for now she is ready to return to the Northland and her momma and daddy. She has had a great visit for sure and many memories are etched in my brain for sure as well as hers I hope!

Wild & Three Thursday!

We are safely back at the Meadow. It's time for cleaning and catching up. It was a most wonderful trip. We did just over 5K miles. In fact, ROADA is gonna need new shoes! We were also thrilled to get to make a stop in OKC on our way in to see dear friends. It was so lovely to have a "catch up" dinner with those who are so near and dear to our hearts. AND maybe there might have been some new Sooner gear found :) I know for sure there was a new chocolate shop located that had handmade caramel that was sooooo delicious! Repeat visit needed FOR SURE!

December is shaping up to be quite busy as the holidays approach. We are planning to go North to be with the Daughter and family for Christmas. Bee has already called to see when we are coming. Give us a few days little girl, give us a few days! But until then there will be wrestling matches, band concerts, choir performance, candy making and snuggles with MGM. Along with gift wrapping and shopping.

Wild & Three Thursday!

We are in Joshua Tree National Park! WOW! Neat, neat little place. We snagged what we thought was the last spot, then as we are walking back to the iron ranger we notice a spot with people but no tag. After inquiring, no they aren't camping, they just stopped to picnic. Really, in the campground? There are plenty of picnic stops, I just don't get it. We moved to that spot since it was a bit bigger and move level for sure. Sweet!

And those Joshua Trees, well, you might get a Dr Seuss feeling while looking at them. But fun fact...they are not really trees! I know! Google it, it's true! Since I was so underwhelmed at Big Ben National Park last week it was good to be impressed again. Part of my poor assessment could be weather related. It was windy, really, really windy. And due to rains and foggy weather we were unable to do some of the major hikes we were planning. However, the reality is we will probably not make a return visit to BBNP. Park staff was not very helpful or friendly and the park itself seems tired. Back to Joshua Tree...lovely park. Though not a fan of their new all reservation campgrounds. At least two of their larger campgrounds have gone the route of must make a reservation to get in. Not good, not good at all especially for people like us. We were fortunate to snag a spot at White Tank which is still a first come, first serve. We ended up staying two nights. As we made our way through the park we checked out one of the reservation only locations. Nearly empty! Ugh, that really makes me ruffled. we encountered this reservation only type campground in Michigan earlier this year and we are just not a fan. Especially when the walk in sites are ALL full and the reservation sites are going unused.

Anywho, as I mentioned in another post we are making our way to California to meet up with the Daughter. We were fortunate to get a visit in at Guadalupe National Park. However, due to high winds we were unable to hike.That was a real bummer for MiRV as he had hoped to hike the high point. Speaking of campgrounds, GNP has one....well they are calling their parking lot a campground which IMO is stretching it. What you really have is a semi flat parking lot that they call  a campground! LOL It most certainly is not. But at least you get to stay right in the park. And in all honesty we were thrilled to snag one of only two spots open when we rolled in. While we were there we trekked on up the road to visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park. How cool is that place? FYI you can go on your own self guided tours. So don't fret when you check the website and it says all the "tours" are sold out. Those are the park guided tours and you can still go on your own self guided tour during park hours. You set out and just explore on your own on the designated paths or grab an audio guide for $5. It's pretty awesome. Disclaimer: It does stink at the natural entrance from all the bat droppings!

We also stopped by White Sands National Monument, twice. Even rode down the dunes a couple times! Then we headed on into Arizona where we made a little side trip up to Saguaro National Park. It was incredible. The number of saguaros was totally overwhelming. I have never even seen that type of cactus in person before so to see so many in one spot was WOWSA! The coolest thing there was seeing the little Mexican elf owl in the abandoned woodpecker hole.What a treat that was. So cute. We really enjoyed the drive through this park and the friendly staff. Another impressive stop has been Organ Pipe National Monument. The campground here was quite nice. Not crowded at this time of year...even though there are 200+ sites. There had solar showers and a beautiful sunset as well as sunrise on our stay over. I would return here in a heartbeat. Though it's quite a drive to get down there I think it was worth it. In hindsight we probably should have done more then one night. Make sure you leave the light on and the hood up for pack rat deterrence! Seriously!

Still looking forward to seeing the Daughter and family in a few days for a week of beach life. Meanwhile we are gonna enjoy a little more time at Joshua Tree before meandering on that direction. Looking forward to the night sky tonight, they say it is quite the view. I'll let you know.