HAPPY NEW YEAR IN 2009 TO ALL OF YOU

Frank and I want to wish you a very happy new year and hope the incoming year will be a health and special one for all. We had a great Christmas Season. We started out on Christmas Eve going to The Nash's for dessert and being with Dick, Barbara, Taylor, Andrew, Erika and baby Kaeyln. Then on Christmas Day we went to Frank;s daughter, Brenda Mayo and family and had a great time and lots of food. We enjoyed the close one on one that we all had. We had the Nash's Pirtle's, Gonzales's and Cindy over for dinner on Saturday, Dec. 27th and it was GREAT! We just loving having all the family over celebrating with us. For our Christmas, Frank and I got ourselves a Wii. We love it and play it for hours at a time. We will be having our final Christmas get together this Saturday, Jan. 2, 2009 with the Bishop Family from Albany, CA. Linda, Brian, Liam and Casey will all be here and we are looking foreword to seeing them again and getting quality time. Our lives have been kinda hectic for the last month since we got back from Michigan and it looks like it will get back to some normalcy starting next week. Frank's brother Lyle who had intensive back surgery on Dec. 16 it getting back on his feet, slowly, but making progress each day. it will take awhile for him to be completely with out pain, but it will get here eventually.

HOME!

December 9, 2008
2004 Trailblazer/Trailer

70,287 miles on trailblazer

8:15 a.m. - Well it is 50 degrees now and sunny clear skies with a little wind as we leave the Quality Inn Motel in Barstow, CA. We had a good night sleep and a good dinner and this morning a good breakfast. This motel gives you a voucher to eat at the local restaurant which was nice. The weather man says we are going to get caught up in the Santa Ana Winds that are coming through this whole area all the way to Bakersfield, CA. Suppose to be 30-40 mile winds with gusts up to 60 m.p.h. Hope we can get through there before all that happens, since we are leaving a little earlier, we might just be ahead of it. Seems the winds pick up more in the afternoon and evening.
10:00 a.m. - We are in Tehachipi, Ca and the windmills here are moving but not blowing off their stacks. Still 50 degrees and the winds are picking up a bit. We have the wind at our back which is good for us and our mileage.
10:40 a.m. - We are on the ground floor of the valley with still 50 degrees and sunny and lots of smog! Luckily we missed the 30-40 m.p.h. winds going this way, we are about 180 miles from HOME!
11:30 a.m. - We are in Pixley, CA just 2 hours from home and we have come into FOG and the temperature has dropped to 40 degrees. What a bummer, we were hoping to have sun all the way into Merced.
1:00 p.m. - Whoopee there is no fog in Visalia, CA and the sun has reappeared. We gassed up here in Madera, CA which is about 30 miles from Merced. Gas here is $1.59 a gallon and the weather is a pleasant 57 degrees and sunny. There is no wind here at all and we are getting great gas mileage for us, 17.5 miles to the gallon.
1:50 p.m. - WE ARE HOME! Sunny blue skies and 60 degrees! Was invited to go to Barbara and Dick's this evening for dinner and to see little Kaelyn, Andrew and Erika. What a lovely beautiful family. We really enjoyed the evening with all of them. A nice way to end the day, that's for sure.

Drove 335 miles today

Total Miles Driven 3,356

Monday - December 8, 2008

December 8, 2008

69,872 miles on Trailblazer

10:15 a.m. - Just leaving Bob and Carol and their lovely new home. What a beautiful place they have right off the 202 loop freeway and huge big malls all within 5 minutes from them. Very impressive and we really enjoy our stay and felt good about being so close to home and not having to hurry because we had miles to go yet. We hope to be home on Tuesday.

1:30 p.m. - Making our turn from-10 north on Us 95 to Lake Havasu, CA and gassed up on the AZ boarder because gas here is $1.59 gallon and in Blyth CA it is $1.89 gallon. The temp is a nice 70 degrees with smog, cloud covering but it still feels good and warm and nice to be on the West coast again.
3:15 p.m. - There is a gas station here along the road in the desert and gas is $2.79 gallon!!! what a rip off, but I guess if you need gas and you are at least 50 miles from the next station you will pay. We stopped to let Abby run and have a bite to eat with a nice 70 degrees still holding on. We are just getting off US -95 and it is not a good road on the CA side at all! It has nothing on it for miles and miles and you hardly even see a car. I will not travel this road again!.
5:15 p.m. - Finally saw some civilization here in Barstow, CA. We pulled into a Quality Inn and they had one room left. We went and had dinner and we are TIRED. Frank had to fight the wind in the latter part of the day and that is always tiring. We decided to make this a longer day so that tomorrow we will be home early in the afternoon. Whoopeeeeeeee!!!

Drove 534 miles today

Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008

Sunday, Dec. 7,2008

69,753 Miles on Trailblazer

9:00 a.m. - A nice stay at the La Quinta by the Tucson Airport. We had a huge room and a beautiful lobby and good price and breakfast. We are on our way to Bob and Carol's home with 53 degrees and an overcast sky.

10:30 a.m. - We stopped for gas at a Pilot station because gas was only $1.57 a gallon here a little wind and still a nice 57 degrees.

11:30 a.m. - Arrived at Bob and Carol's after stopping at Pet Smart to get Abby another ball thrower since we left hers in Michigan. They have a beautiful home and we had a great BBQ dinner that Bob put on, with chicken and salmon and the works. Tiffy and Kyle came over and we had a good chat with them and then connected with Jenni and Justin in Poland through the camera and skype on the computer. It sure was interesting to here them talk about their experiences in Poland and how different it is to live there compared to the United States. Bob, Carol and Tiffy are sure getting excited about going to Poland and touring Europe with Jenni and Justin. Abby sure loved chasing her ball in the "Greenbelt" that Carol and Bob have behind their home. It's been awhile since she could do that. It tired her out and she slept like a baby. We stayed up and chatted for a few hours. What a nice and relaxing day we had, we sure needed that time. Their "guest" room is like your own hotel room. Bob and Carol have the neatest refrigerator, it has a sliming reflective mirror on the doors and when you stand in front of them you look like you have lost 10 lbs!!! awesome!!!

Drove 299 miles today

Saturday - Dec. 6, 2008

Saturday - Dec. 6, 2008

69,198 miles on 2004 Trailblazer

8:45 a.m. -Had a good breakfast at the Motel and now on our way towards Lordsburg, N.M. with a 45 degree temp and sunny, clear, blue skies.

10: 00 a.m. - An hour of driving and we now have lots of wind at 4074 ft. This area which is about 163 miles from El Paso, TX is always windy. In the motorhome we have to be very cautious going through the canyons. Pulling the trailer also is a bit worrisome. It is 55 degrees and still sunny, clear nice day.

12:30 p.m. - El Paso, TX sure has a lot of smog and a 60 degree temp with a lot of road construction. Gas here is $1.65 gallon. We can see Mexico from this freeway across the Rio Grande and on the left side of the freeway and N.M. on the right side.

2:00 p.m. - Had to stop at the border patrol and get checked out. They asked what we had in the trailer and what kind of dog we had. Guess Abby was too small to be considered a dog stuffed with drugs, so they let us through. hahahahaha. We have had a lot of wind coming right at us from the West making our gas mileage go down. We are at 4500 ft. which I guess, is called the High Desert. Not much here but sagebrush and dinky palm trees. The speed limit here is 75 m.p.h. but like most of the roads we have traveled, no one pays attention to the speed limits.

3:30 p.m. - We were going to stay here in Lordsburg, N.M. but since it is early we are going to continue to Tucson, AZ. The roads are dry and the temp is a pleasant 67 degrees and my driver feels good for at least another 100 miles.

5:30 p.m. - We pulled into a La Quinta for the night. We are only about 1 1/2 hours from Bob and Carol, but we have driven 555 miles today and is is starting to get dark and my driver is now tired. No Wonder!!!

December 5, 2008 Friday

Friday, December 5, 2008

68,812 miles on Trailblazer

8:45 a.m. - We left Debbie and Jimi's after a great evening and a good morning. Jimi left for work about 8:00 a.m. and Debbie was leaving right after us. The majority of the homes and business' here in Texas, that we see, seem to be made of brick.
Hardly no wood or stucco structures. The temp is a cool 33 degrees, but we have sunny, blue skies. Elliott sure is a cute little dog. It is funny to watch him when you tell him to go to his bed and he goes and then waits for his treat. We are taking I-35 south from Debbie and Jimi's to US-190 west towards Killeen, TX and then to US-281 south and catch US 29 west to US-377 south to Junction, TX which is on I-10 west. We will then continue on I-10 west to Fort Stockton and hope to spend the night in a La Quinta Inn.
10:00 a.m. - Debbie you might be interested in this little tidbit. In a small town of Lampasas, TX, which has 6700 people in the middle of nowhere gas is only $1.54 gallon at a new Wal-Mart and $1.59 at a regular station down the street. We figure it must be a winter retreat because there is a fancy hotel, a lot of new business cropping up and a resort area with cabins to rent on a lake here, by a dam. They are also building a big new high school here (for 6700 people? you figure)
11:00 a.m. - We stopped at our favorite place to eat--Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar B-Que in Llano, TX right off the freeway. This is the place where you pick out your meat from the BBQ then go inside and choose which side dishes and drinks you want and they have white butcher paper you eat on as your plate!! The BBQ guys are out starting to fire up the grill and BBQ at 6:00 a.m.! As you can see by the pics it is a different place to eat, very interesting. This is the web site: http://www.coopersbbq.com/

2:00 p.m. - We stopped for gas at Sonora, TX. Most of the stations here have gas for $1.99, rip-off city, we are so use to paying $1.50 or so. It is 50 degrees and sunny.
4:30 p.m. - We are at Ft. Stockton, TX for the night, we have had no cell service since we left Sonora, TX until now. We have been in the high desert at 2900 ft. and only a handful of cars and trucks have been on this road. The temp is 46degrees and still blue skies and sun. No wind for a change, all the windmills on the mountains are still. The RV campground we usually stay at has quite a few RV's. It is odd seeing all this during the daytime hours, usually is it dark when we pull in here. We went for a walk around the area after we settled down for the night.

We drove 384 miles today

December 4, 2008

Thursday, Dec. 4

68502 miles on Trailblazer

9:00 a.m - and the temp is 40 degrees with sunny skies and a little windy. Filled up with gas here at $1.59

a gallon. I took a picture of the beautiful morning, but will have to put the pictures up tomorrow since I am writing this on Jimi's Mac and can't transfer my pics from my camera to his computer. You guys will just have to wait until tomorrow. It is a pleasure to drive right now. There are 2 La Quinta's in this area that are right across the freeway from each other. The one is in Arkansas and is more expensive by about $40 than the other one that is in Texas. We are passing through the town of Mt Pleasant on our way to Dallas.

11:00 a.m. - We stooped for a break and gave Abby a chance to play ball. It is still sunny,but winy with a temp of 42 degrees.
12:15 p.m. - We got through the mess of Dallas with no problem, thanks to "Nellie". It is 47 degrees and still sunny, blue skies and not as much win.
1:00 p.m. - -We stopped for gas at Hillsboro, Texas where gas here is $1.69 a gallon with still sunny blue skies, 50 degrees and windy. The good thing is the wind is behind us so we are getting much better gas mileage. We are about 1 1/2 hours from Debbie and Jimi's. We have driven 1510 miles so far.
2:35 p.m. - Arrived at Debbie and Jimi's with a 52 degree temp. Had a great night and dinner with them and just kicked back and enjoyed their company. At this stage of the game we just want to get home. Frank is really relaxing and enjoying the company and calmness. We will head out in the morning for Fort Stockton, Texas which is close to the border of New Mexico. That should take us about 7 hours.

December 3, 2008 - Wednesday

Dec. 3, 2008 - 7:15 a.m.

Up at 7:15 a.m. ate breakfast and out the door at 8:15 a.m. no messing around with Mr. T. It is a little windy with overcast skies and the sun in trying to peep through, and the temp is now 44 degrees.

11:00 a.m. - We stopped for gas and a break. It is partly cloudy and we have high clouds with a 59 degree temp and still windy. On our way to Little Rock, Arkansas right now. It is very nice to have some clear dry, roads. Danny Thomas St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is here in downtown Memphis.

12:00 p.m. - We are in a traffic jam on this bridge in the picture at the Arkansas State Line. The temp. is a nice 64 degrees and still windy, but nice. Seems they closed the left lane for construction. Ole "Nellie" told us awhile back that 20 miles up the road this would happen.

1:30 p.m. - It is extremely windy here in Brinkley, Arkansas and gas here is a nice $1.53 - $1.59 a gallon. We stopped to have a bite to eat and listen to our "Noah" weatherman and he says there are 10-20 mile per hour winds, with gusts to 30 mph! There is suppose to be a cold front coming in here tonight right now we are 41 miles from Little Rock. I-40 west in this area is a double lane interstate with woods on both side going north and south.

2:00 p.m. - We had to come to a complete stop! We are in Lonoke, Arkansas on I-40 W and about 14 miles from Little Rock, Ark.

2:20 p.m. - Just starting to move at 3-8 mph. Took some pics of the fall color trees along the road since we were not moving much. Traffic is backed up for miles and miles.

3:25 p.m. - FINALLY got passed the accident that kept us going so slow. The pictures are a bit blurry, but it looks like a semi must have caught on fire. Now we are free to continue on our merry way. We have about 5 miles before we get onto I-30 west and head out for Texarkana, Arkansas and the temp here is now 70 degrees.

6:00 p.m. - Pulled into a La Quinta Inn here at Texarkana, Arkansas in a swift moving, intense lighting, rain storm. It came down very fast with a lot of lightning. Abby was freaking out and hid under the seat. As soon as we finished checking in, the rain stopped and the storm passed on through. Weird!! This is a nice place and very clean and a good place to stop for the evening.