Traveling South

The first of November found us getting ready to travel once again. After going to the bank to get some much needed funds (yay for payday!) and then fueling ourselves at IHOP and the truck at Shell, we headed back to the campground to finish breaking camp.

Typically we try to get on the road no later than 9am. But, we knew we would be spending the night on the road in a parking lot somewhere so there was no need to hurry. We finally pulled out about 12:30pm – very late for us!

And leaving that late made the day seem so very long. We traveled east on I-70 until St. Louis, then we headed south on I-55. Randy really wanted to get past St. Louis before stopping for the night. And it felt like we were never going to get there. We finally stopped about 7:30pm in Arnold, MO at a WalMart. Whew. I was ready and I'm pretty sure Randy was, too.

After a fairly restful night, we were back up about 6:30 and on the road before 7:30. We needed to find somewhere to fill Randy's coffee carafe. For those of you who know Randy well, you know how important this is! Unfortunately, there was nothing to be found in the shopping center where we stayed overnight. So, down the road we went.

Ahhhhh! Just 12 miles down the road, a Cracker Barrel called our names. :) Good! Now we can get Randy's coffee; crisis averted. Oh, and we filled ourselves, too. :)

Just five hours or so later, we were pulling into Tom Sawyer's Mississippi River RV Park. Many of our friends have stayed here and raved about it.

I have to admit it's more rustic than I anticipated. Not that that's a bad thing. It's a nice park, right on the Mississippi – I mean RIGHT on the river. And that's the draw. We were fortunate to get a pull-thru site that was on the river, so our view out the back window is all river, all the time.

And I do love watching water flow. Very peaceful.

And it's fun watching the barges float by. Especially at night. It's so cool to look out the window and see lights floating down the river.

This will be home for the next couple of days. Saturday we'll be back on the road, heading to Rainbow Plantation. We'll get there on Sunday.

Today's weather isn't supposed to be so great. It's been very windy since about 2am (and we've been up since 2:30!!) and the rains came in not too long after that. So, it'll probably be a stay-at-home day. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Oh! And we get to put another state on our map. This is our first time camping in Arkansas!

I'll leave you with some Halloween pics of our beautiful grandchildren. Fun, huh? :)

Tommy (12 years old)

Reagan (6 years old)

AubreyLynn (2.5 months old)

Until the next time . . .

A Good Way to End the Month

We spent the week in our usual way – hanging out at home, me hitting Curves a few times, cross stitching ornaments, computering, watching TV; Randy keeping our home in good running condition, computering, watching TV. Just our normal routine of living.

Yesterday we had a lovely change of pace. Sam's parents, Donna & Steve, invited us to their house for the weekend to join them in celebrating two birthdays – Steve's and their eldest daughter, Casey's. Randy & I really like Donna & Steve. They are easy folks to be around.

The birthday party was very laid back – just good friends and family plus some really good food, too. :) We felt very much at home.

Of course, the best part of the weekend was getting to spend lots of time loving on AubreyLynn! We hadn't seen her for a couple of weeks and she'd grown so much. She is really responding to you now and her smiles and giggles are priceless.

With her Mommy & Daddy

Gangsta in her hair hat :)

And just plain being adorable!

Tomorrow is a get-ready-to-travel day. I'll hit Curves, then go to the laundramat. Randy will be getting the rig ready for travel. We also need to get a propane tank filled. We've had to turn the heat on since the weather has turned so cold (30s at night – yuck!) and the propane is flowing!

Kevin, Sam, and AubreyLynn are going to come over for a good-bye dinner tomorrow night. Sure will be hard to say good-bye, but we'll see them in the summer – at their new duty station, Ft. Lewis, WA! Yep, we're gonna get to the Northwest after all. :)

After going to the bank on Tuesday morning, we'll get on the road. The plan is to travel for a couple of days; spending Tuesday night on the road and arriving at Tom Sawyer RV Park on Wednesday. We'll stay there for a couple of days, hopefully getting in some sightseeing. Then, we'll travel Saturday and Sunday, arriving sometime Sunday afternoon at Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, AL.

It's going to be wonderful seeing our Alabama “family!”

So, we say good-bye to another month and hello to new destinations. We live a great life!

Until the next time . . .

Oz Museum

Don't faint! Yes, two blog posts in two day!! Don't get used to it, folks. :) We just happened to do something fun and interesting today.

In the cozy little town of Wamego, KS, you’ll find the Oz Museum. As we drove down the main street of the town, I was figuring we'd come out on the other end of town and there would be a stand-alone building housing the museum. Nope! Right in the middle of town, located among shops, banks, restaurants, etc., is the museum.

You can't miss it – its sign is bright yellow. Hmmmmm . . .

The museum is just the right size. We were able to meander through it in less than an hour. And we didn't feel we'd rushed. That's my kind of museum! And the price was very good – just $7/person. They do offer a small discount to AAA members, military personnel and a couple of other groups that we didn't belong to. But, when you're only paying $7, it's hard to complain.

In addition to the requisite displays featuring the main characters of the movie, there are many cabinets filled with more memorabilia there you can imagine there could be. And call me ignorant, but I didn't realize that the “Wizard of Oz” was only one book in a series of books about Oz! Okay, don't call me ignorant, just keep it to yourself, okay? :)

The pictures can tell you more than I can – plus you can always go to their website. Enjoy.

Theater shows the movie on a continuous loop  

And last night we had a lovely dinner with Kevin & Sam. AubreyLynn was with Sam's parents, so no snuggles with her. But it was really nice having Kev & Sam to ourselves, actually.

All in all, a good couple of days. :)

Until the next time . . .

Ch – ch- changes!

I hope I'm not frustrating anyone out there in blogland who reads our blog. I know I've been very sporadic in my posts, but truly there hasn't been anything going on that is post-worthy. I found it very boring to write the same things each day, so I figured if I find it boring and I'm living it – readers will be bored reading it!!

Anyway, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. :)

We have made some decisions over the past couple of weeks that completely change how we will be living over the next six months. One is exciting; the other? Notsomuch.

First, we've decided to move on come the first of the month. We've enjoyed seeing the kids and AubreyLynn, but it's time to travel. We've looked at the finances and spending the next couple of months in Alabama at Rainbow Plantation will help us save on site fees. While it will be hard to say good-bye to Kevin, Sam and AL, we'll see them again next summer.

To round out the decisions for this year, we made the very, VERY hard decision not to go “home” for Christmas. I know most of you full-timers don't travel during the Christmas holidays, but this will be the first time in the seven years we've been on the road that we will not be with family. When we made the decision to full-time RV, one of my non-negotiables was that we go home for Christmas. But, again, finances have dictated that it's foolish to spend the more than $800 it would cost to do so. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy to tell our kids and folks. But, everyone was very understanding and we are grateful for that.

Dang! Being an adult and making adult decisions is NOT fun sometimes!!

The exciting decision we made is to workamp this winter from January through April! Again, this is financially driven, but it will be fun to do something different. We will miss our Alabama buddies and the activities we've gotten involved in there, but we get to make new friends.

We'll be working in panhandle of Florida in Bonifay, at Florida Springs RV Resort. In exchange for our site, electric, and discounted propane, we will work about 12.5 hours/person each week. I know, that's a rough schedule, huh? :) I've talked with Alicia, one of the owners, a couple of times and enjoyed our conversations. I think it's going to be a good fit.

Plus, it's only a couple of hours away from the Plantation, so we can make playdates with our friends!!

And I apologize if this post came across as a “poor us” commentary. In no way is it meant that way. But, like many RVers, we've had some hits this year with repairs so it's time to refill the coffers. We just continue to be grateful that we have the flexibility to do that in unconventional ways. Life is such an adventure!

Until the next time . . .

Another Sleepover!

After a quiet weekend in which the highlight was breakfast at Cracker Barrel after church yesterday, we had a nice treat.

Kevin, Sam & AubreyLynn came over for dinner yesterday evening. After dinner, they asked if we'd like AL to spend the night. Well, of course!! :) So, we have been enjoying her company since.

AL will be spending tonight with us as well because, unfortunately, Sam came down with a horrible migraine during the night. Poor thing! She finally gets some time to herself and she's sick. Ugh. Thankfully, she's feeling somewhat better this evening, but we're going to keep AL one more night to help out.

Oh, the sacrifices Nana and Pop make! heeheehee

Until the next time . . .

Being Lazy in Kansas

I haven't been posting because there's nothing going on. We've been really lazy so far this week. I told Randy we have to stop that and get moving, doing something – ANYTHING – next week. :) There is an Oz museum close by (after all we ARE in Kansas) so we may check that out.

Our weather's been pretty good, we've had mostly sunny days. It got chilly overnight; was 48* outside this morning and only 56* inside! Could it be time to run the furnace? I am so not ready for that. I'll just turn on the electric heater and take the chill off. How's that for denial?

Okay, I can't think of anything else to ramble about, so

Until next time . . .

The Big Weekend is Over

And it was a great weekend! My mom, Lindsay & Reagan arrived at the campground about 1pm on Friday. Kevin and Samantha were kind enough to drive to Kansas City (a two hour drive) to pick them up. While they were doing that, we were on AubreyLynn (AL) watch. Not a bad trade, I'd say. :)

Once everyone arrived, it was all about Mommy, Lins and Reagan getting to know AubreyLynn.

She was definitely the center of attention all weekend long. Reagan did really well with that considering she's used to be the center of attention – especially with her mom and me.

I can't begin to express how great it was to have so much family together in one place. It has been three years since Kevin & Lindsay have been in the same place. Add to that, having my mom there, too, was just icing on the cake.

Was the RV crowded? Sure. Was it chaotic at times? Absolutely. Did I love it? YOU BET I DID!!

And it was oh, so very hard, to say good-bye when we took Mommy, Lins & Reagan to the airport yesterday. I still find myself tearing up when I think about it. Okay, only ten weeks 'til Christmas!

Now, I'll just let the pictures talk.

Oh, and we were interviewed by Shane of nationalrvparks.com. If you're interested, here's the link: http://nationalrvparks.com/interview-with-randy-and-terry-guiler-of-guiler-travels-blog/

Until the next time . . .

Beginning of a Big Weekend

Last night AubreyLynn had her first sleepover at Pop and Nana's! Kevin has a four-day weekend this weekend, so they took advantage of us (which was soooo tough!) and left AL in our care overnight. She was very happy to be here!

Of course, we were beyond delighted to have AL all to ourselves. She is such a sweet baby. After eating around 8pm, she fell asleep at 9pm and slept until about 6:15 this morning!! And she's only seven weeks old. Now, that's a good baby.

We had a nice morning; well, hour, during which she gobbled down her bottle, talked to me a bit, and then promptly fell back to sleep! And this is where's she's been ever since:

Dang. This AubreyLynn watching isn't such a bad gig. :)

This afternoon my mom, Lindsay, and Reagan will arrive. Kevin & Sam are going to pick them up at the Kansas City airport. That was so nice of them to do that. KC is a little more than two hours from us, so I wasn't really looking forward to the drive. However, it would have been worth it to have them here. I'm sure we'll do the return trip on Sunday.

Lindsay & Mommy have already started a “baby hog” war. Both of them plan to have AL all to themselves. Not quite sure who will be the victor, but no matter what, AL will get lots of loving this weekend.

Many more pictures to come, I'm sure. Soooooo looking forward to family time!

Until the next time . . .

Reunited . . . and It Feels Sooooo Good!

We left Mark Twain Landing Resort a few minutes past 8am Friday. That's really good for us – we usually get on the road about 9am. But, we had a long (for us) drive ahead of us so we wanted to get moving.

Once again, we were blessed with an uneventful trip and arrived in Junction City, KS at Owl's Nest Campground about 3:30pm.

With the loss of an hour by entering Central Time, that was an eight hour travel day. Whew. We got ourselves set up and vegged the rest of the evening.

This morning we went to church at First Southern Baptist Church of Junction City. This is where we worship when we are here. It's small church with a big heart. We really enjoy Pastor Nate's messages and the people are very friendly.

After church was over, we made a quick run to WalMart to pick up something for tonight's dinner and then it was back home for lunch. We also “personalized” our campsite – got out the banners, chairs and awning. I love it when it's all “homey.”

The site is nice; a pull-through with lots of room to park our truck behind the rig. This allows room in front of the rig for a visitor to park.

And we were waiting for our visitors!!

We weren't sure when Kevin, Sam, and AubreyLynn were coming, only that they would be here for dinner. I'll admit it – I was antsy! I couldn't wait to have that little one in my arms again. After all, it had been more than a month since we'd seen her!

They finally arrived and as soon as Sam got AL out of her carseat, my arms were stretched out. I got her snuggled in and didn't share her for the rest of the evening. Poor Pop didn't even get a chance to hold her. My defense is that he didn't ask! :)

These pictures are from a week or so ago. I didn’t get any tonight because I was too busy. :)

The kids stayed for a couple of hours and then it was time to go. AubreyLynn was fussy and needed to sleep and Kevin & Sam were tired, too. They had been at Sam's folks this weekend which is a couple hours away and had just come back this afternoon. Plus Kevin had to do a repair on his truck this afternoon as well.

Yes, our time together this evening was just too short, but that's okay. We're here for several weeks. I'll get plenty of AubreyLynn love. :)

Until the next time . . .

Merriment in Missouri

Gosh, here we are at the end of September! It feels like this month has flown by. I'm sure much of that is due to the anticipation of our time on the East Coast was drawing to a close and looking forward to traveling again; albeit with bittersweet emotion.

We've had a great week of traveling and sitting. Only one travel day of ugly weather and that only lasted for part of the day. Since we got to Missouri the weather has been fab – u – lous! It's a little cool this morning 'cause it's breezy, but that's okay. The sun is shining and every day is better when the sun shines. :)

Here’s a look at our campsite and surroundings.

  

Yesterday we took the day to go into Hannibal to visit some of Mark Twain's (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) stomping grounds. Hannibal is another quaint town that has made the most of its most famous residents.

 

Thankfully, there is lots of public parking as well as on-street parking in town. And it's free! We were able to find an on-street space on Main Street. When you drive a big ol' truck like ours, finding parking isn't always easy. :) We then walked down to the riverfront. Oh, the Mississippi River. It is gorgeous. And it's fun to stand in Missouri and realize you are looking at Illinois.

I don't know why I find that amazing, but I do. I guess I am easily entertained.

The riverfront has a nice little park with beautiful flowers and a statue of Mark Twain in his riverboat pilot days.

It's so easy to walk to anything you want to see in town. Our next stop was touring Mark Twain's boyhood home where we started with a walk through of the timeline of Mark Twain's life. He sure packed a lot into his life! We saw the bedrooms, kitchen and living area. He even had a chest of drawers exactly like one we used for all of our years in our home! It's now being used by our great niece, Ryleigh. Kinda cool. The one thing I didn't like was that there was a life-sized figured of Mark Twain in each of the rooms. That was a little creepy to me.

The block that includes MT's home (yeah, I know him well enough to call him that!)

also has Becky Thatcher's home,

the law office of his father, and Grant's Pharmacy where the Clemens family lived for a time.

I’m not going to bore you with lots of facts and lore about Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens – you can google him and find out whatever you want. However, I did learn one thing I had never heard before and thought it was pretty neat. On the night of his birth, Halley’s Comet was seen. He said he would love to have it come back on his death. Now, since the comet doesn’t show up but every 75 to 100 years, that was probably not gonna happen, right? Well, as it happened, while Samuel Clemens was dying, Halley’s Comet was once again seen in the night sky. Isn’t that cool???

From the tour, we went to the Hannibal Trolley Company to sign up for the next tour.

We had taken a trolley tour in Savannah and just loved it. Well, this one didn't come close. We enjoyed it, but the driver/narrator wasn't the best. She was a nice older lady, but her narration left a little to be desired. She told us facts, but there was just something missing. The tour takes you over 14 miles of Hannibal and you learn the history of the area. By far, the best part of the tour was Riverview Park where we stopped at the overlook of the Mississippi River.

Oh. My. Gosh. Such a view. And there was another statue of Mark Twain as he overlooked the river.

After our trolley tour, we were ready to come home. We enjoyed our day in Hannibal. On the way home after we both said what fun we'd had, I made the remark that it's not often that we don't have fun together – no matter what we're doing! And isn't that a great way to live!

Tomorrow we break camp and hit the road one more time before setting down for awhile. We've got a long day (for us) as it's a little more than six hours to Junction City, KS from here. That translates into a seven or eight hour travel day, depending on how often we stop. But, that's okay. Once we're get there and set up, we don't have to move again for at least six weeks or so.

Next post will be filled with AubreyLynn updates! :)

Until the next time . . .