Sensationally Six

We continued to enjoy our time in Colorado. The day that everyone did Epic Discovery was a highlight. We were all impressed with the bravery Bee showed as she gutted out the ropes course even though we know she was scared to death. She also did the trampoline, rode the Super Chair Lift with LaLa all the way up the mountain, rode the mountain coaster, lots! She also rode the Alpine slide, jumped in the bounce house, played mini golf and panned for gold (or maybe just cool rocks). What a day.

We continued to enjoy daily gelato as well as ride the gondola, which allowed us to spot a momma moose and her baby, also deer. We rode the gondola just to spot the moose. And on our way down the mountain in ROADA the baby moose and momma walked right out in front of us on the rodeway. We were so excited. 

I know it isn't the best quality pic but our eyes saw them and our memory will last a long time. It was very neat to see for sure!

The big horn sheep herd was WOW!

After the kids headed home MiRV and I stayed on a few days and made it over to Gunnison and Crested Butte. We were able to see a marmot, elk, big horn sheep, hummingbirds right in our campsite, woodpeckers, bluebirds and lots of ground squirrels. We have enjoyed some lovely weather and nice camp spots. 

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 60th birthday Kansas trip, which we dubbed the "water tower tour" was a success. You only turn 60 once and she wanted to go back to her roots. We not only took the back roads we took our time and enjoyed a slow laid back pace. It was quite a good trip. We also hit the birth towns of the other Kansans. 

No pic of her hospital because it is now apartments! But still showing up for Kinsley.

Representing Phillipsburg and Topeka!

Then we made it back so we could join in on the B. I. G. 2 celebration! FUN stuff!!!

Daniel Tiger is his favorite!

And let's not forget Father's Day...it was a bit of a weepy one for me. However, we still went out to lunch and had ice cream to celebrate MiRV. The Northern girl rocked a tournament over the weekend. They did well and she had a good time, she is making lots of improvements since playing with this team.

The water towers across small town America are neat to see and we made a point of looking for them in each little town we went through. I leave you with a small sampling of the ones we saw...

Gonna be a hot week, stay cool out there...

Sensationally Six

We returned from the North late Sunday evening. Stayed longer to see the Bee in her Vacation Bible School Program. What a joy that was...and wow what memories were brought back to when her momma did the same!

After lunch together we headed home. Nearly went bankrupt filling the van up after driving back...

I'm somewhere in Kansas today. The Sisters and I are on a girls trip. MiRV is holding down the fort at the Meadow. Probably enjoying some downtime but perhaps he is getting some chores done. It's been a heat wave this week with super hot temps. Hoping for relief soon!

Sensationally Six

Bit quiet at the Meadow lately...which is okay with me. MiRV is getting a little itchy though. Have a few things in June coming down the pipe and then we should be able to getabout and take a jaunt. The days are growing longer; and hotter so not sure where the adventure will be but stay tuned it's bound to be good! I think I mentioned we have one who wants to stowaway and go with us again this year.

Oh, there is a bit of news to share! We have a new wee one in the group. He arrived just today. We are all excited to welcome the newest little guy to the tribe. He and momma are doing well.

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

So we did make it onto the Blue Ridge Parkway via Skyline Drive which was just beginning to pop with fall colors and another National Park. Ohio has a national park...who knew? Well, MiRV did, so we planned a stop. Stopping was not easy. This is NOT an RV friendly National Park. We were, thankfully, able to snag a spot to park at the Ledges area (though truth be told we took up three spaces and just prayed for the best). We hiked the 2.5 mile trail and enjoyed the scenery. We tried to get to some of the Falls in the park but there was NO parking to be had for an oversized vehicle. We even drove waaaaay out of way and still no joy; I call that a BIG party foul. We were able to get into the visitor center and see one of the neat bridges but it was a no go for most other areas.

Oh, and the update on our water tank is that we believe it is still leaking. Spoke with the dealership and we will just be without onboard water and address it with the RV repair shop when we return to MO. So there is that to contend with upon our return.

Alright, well today we are heading on to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park via Tsali Campground in the Cherokee National Forest. We have been in Tennessee the last couple days. 

So fun to get together with these people!

So driving Skyline Drive was neat in a lot of ways. Had some beuatiful views and swirly, curvy roads, though I feel like the Blue Ridge Parkway was even more swirlier, curvier, twisty turny. So the ride was at times notsomuch fun for me...but again, scenery was very pretty to look at with so many shades of yellow and green it was amazing to see. If you can take a look at the many beautiful landscapes and scenery without being able to belive in creation perhaps you need your eyes checked. God created such a beautiful world for us, it saddens me to think about how we are not being good stewards of all that He has so freely given to us.

We have decided to take a couple down days and wait out the weekend before moving on. It is fall break in this area and we have definitely noticed an increase in the crowds. Our plan is to just chillax until Monday before we head into GSMNP. I haven't been here since childhood and remember virtually nothing. MiRV was last here while on his AT ThruHike.

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!