• Places

    Blessing of the grapes

    The park we are staying at is about 3 miles from a Monastery that is also a vineyard, New Clairvaux. We have been there several times to visit and purchase wine. We even joined their wine club! The church at the Monastery was built about 900 years ago and was…

  • Parks - Places

    Spring Flood

    We spent the winter in Quartzsite this last winter, planning to return to Woodson Bridge in late March for the summer. In the last week of February we received a text from the Ranger there asking when we could return as camp hosts to Woodson as they were having vandalism…

  • Places

    Monterey

    We have spent the last two and half months at Sunset Beach on Monterey Bay. It is about half-way between Santa Cruz to the north and Monterey on the south. Whenever I think of California I have always thought of everything below San Fransisco as warm and sunny. Well this…

  • Parks - Places

    Beach Antics

    We have settled in to our camp hosting job here at Sunset Beach State Park. Now we are looking for things to do! One of the first things was to go hale watching. The boat we took was out out of Santa Cruz – 30 minutes north of us. The…

  • Camping Hints - Parks

    Camp Hosting

    This winter the price of gasoline caught up with us and we decided to limit our travel. We had talked about camp hosting and I did some investigating. We signed up on Volunteer.gov, and several state camp hosting pages. For the uninitiated camp hosting is trading volunteer work for a…

  • Renovations

    Painting The Basement

    The lower storage areas of a class A motor home are called the basement. It provides storage for anything that needs outside access, or won’t fit inside. It also provides access for emptying the waste tanks. We have craft supplies, tools, and extra kitchen items in ours. Our motor home…

  • Camping Hints - Parks

    Quartzsite Housing

    We have been in Quartzsite, Arizona since the middle of October. Quartzsite is a desert community of about three thousand full-time residents. In the winter it balloons to over two hundred thousand as RVs swarm in to stay in the desert. Services are minimal and dust is everywhere. We have…

  • Family - Places

    Visiting Those We Love

    One of the wonderful benefits of being a full time traveler is the ability to see the people we care about who we wouldn’t normally get to see. I have had the chance to visit cousins in Nashville, my daughter in Chico, California, a dear friend in Pennsylvania. Kate has…

  • Parks - Places

    Arches National Park

    We spent a week on MOAB, Utah – close to both Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. It is an extraordinary area. Millions of years ago it was ocean and eroded the land in such beautiful ways. Nothing more to say about it other than enjoy the photos.

  • Family

    And We’re off

    We left South Dakota on October 1st and started our way south. One of our last activities in Spearfish was a drive up the canyon with Kate’s mom to see the colors. Lovely trip and we even saw a couple of the mountain goats. Spearfish Canyon – the colors were…

  • Family

    Quiet South Dakota Summer

    It’s almost October and almost time to leave South Dakota for the southwest. We are heading out sometime the last week of September. We spent several weeks this summer at Kate’s daughter’s farm in Hermosa. Carianna and Neil have a great little piece of land, I think somewhere around 40…

  • Family

    New Member of the family

    We added to our family – meet Gracie. Daphne had met several dogs along the way and grown fond of them. She would be sad when they left so we thought a permanent friend was in order. Gracie has the same parents as Daphne – she is just a year…

  • Family - Places

    More Maine

    We stayed in Sidney Maine – about halfway between Augusta and Waterville. Kate had in her mind that we were about halfway into the state – especially since I had been talking about going all the way north. At a breakfast place they had a large map of the state…

  • Family

    Let’s visit Maine

    Kate has never been to the northeast so this has been quite a trip for her. We have spent most of the time seeing the coastal areas – Portland, Cundys Harbor, Camden, Rockland, Belfast, Round Pond among them. Lot’s of rocks and seaweed and water. It’s been interesting for me…

  • Family - Places

    The Great state of Mass A Choo Setts

    That’s a M*A*S*H reference to anyone curious. We have had exceptional weather so far. This time of year can be so iffy that we feel very lucky. The most important – and the most fun part of being in Massachusetts has been visiting with relatives. Chuck and Ellen and their…

  • Family - Places

    Nashville!

    What a great time! I got a chance to see cousins that I have’t visited with in a few decades – I got to see the Parthenon – and lots more! We mooch-docked at my cousin Bev’s driveway. I was our first time using the solar in a not-sunny spot.…

  • Family - Places

    Back to New England

    I haven’t been in New England for several years – and Kate has never been. I spent all of my life in Northern New England so it has been interesting to see it with fresh eyes – and tourist eyes. We spent a few weeks in eastern Pennsylvania – see…

  • Places

    Pennsylvania Dutch

    This is the farthest east we’ve been so far! We are staying in the middle of the Pennsylvania Dutch area. It sure is green and beautiful. So different from the desert that we left a few weeks ago. Lots of driving – something may only be 10 miles away but…

  • Places

    Fun in Tucson & Phoenix

    We spent 2 weeks in Mesa in the Tonto National Forest. $6.00 for a 6 month permit to use the forest. One can camp for 2 weeks then you have to move. Camper in Tucson – at a Boondockers Welcome home Starry Night While in Tucson we went to the…

  • Family - Places

    Tennessee

    The first part of April we started our long and slow trip east. As most of you know, I haven’t been east since I left a few years ago. Kate has never been to New England so it will be exciting. On our way to Tennessee we stopped in Colbert,…

  • Family - Places

    Los Algadonas

    Day trip to Mexican border town. We were chatting with some new friends and they had not been to the border town before so we made a date to go and be tourists. We had been several times for very successful dental work but this was just to look around.…

  • Places - Renovations

    Let it Rain!

    When I bought this camper I knew almost nothing – all right nothing – about evaluating the quality and needs of an RV. I walked around it, I looked at the appliances – good lord I didn’t even drive it! Needless to say I have been busy over the years…

  • Parks - Places

    Watching Our Food

    Kate and I are staying at an RV park just outside of Yuma, Arizona. All around us are fields being cultivated. It has been fascinating to watch the different activities. Last week we went across the street to watch lettuce being picked. It was quite amazing! Lettuce field ready for…

  • Camping Hints - Places

    KOFA National Wildlife Refuge

    Our travels have been slowed as we hunker down amid the national Covid-19 pandemic. We do find a few places to visit though. KOFA National Wildlife Refuge is south of Quartzsite, about an hour from where we are in Yuma. We went in search of rocks that Kate can paint.…

  • Family - Places

    Stinson Beach

    Elizabeth know such great places to visit. She guided us to Stinson Beach, across the bay from SF and facing the Pacific just in time for sunset. The weather was perfect – the waves just right. It was an incoming tide and we wanted to be as close to the…

  • Places

    Rice-a-Roni

    The San Fransisco treat and what a treat it was. We were so lucky. We met some new friends in Arizona – Margie and Gary. They live just outside of San Fransisco and invited us to stay in the driveway for a couple of weeks. They also showed us around…

  • Family - Places

    Lock em up!

    Alcatraz has been on my list for several decades. I end up in the area for a few days and there is a two week waiting list for tickets. Absolutely worth it! The day we (Kate, Elizabeth, and I) went was a beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky…

  • Family - Parks - Places

    That’s some wood you have there!

    We had such a great rime in California. One of the highlights was definitely seeing my daughter Elizabeth. She lives in northern California and it was great to spend time with her. We visited two different great tree areas – Muir Woods and Sequoia National Park. They were amazing! It…

  • Family

    Funnies

    People who know me know that I have a quirky (being nice) sense of humor. Below are some of the things I have seen that I found funny. I took all of these pictures. As always, click for the larger view. How did they know where the second one would…

  • Uncategorized

    Zion

    In late April we found ourselves close to Zion National Park. Covid had closed most everything but the road through most of Zion NP was open so off we went! We were able to see a lot of it, but the road into the park itself was closed. As always…

  • Parks

    Bubble Bubble Toil & Trouble

    Yesterday was cloudy and we were a little stir crazy so the three of us piled in the car and went to see the volcano. Lassen National Park is a wonderful volcano located between Red Bluff and Mt. Shasta in California. It was in the mid 70’s at the campground…

  • Places

    Frolicking

    We’ve made it to the west coast! We were offered 3 nights free at a park in Birch Bay Washington on Puget Sound. It’s been fun here although I wish the hot tubs were open… Daphne and Kate went to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time. We weren’t…

  • Family - Places

    Montana

    Family & the Glacier National park We visited some of Kate’s relatives in Butte, Montana. In all we spent about 2 weeks in Montana – a few days in Butte and three days at the Park. No photos of relatives – just like me – but the scenery was wonderful!…

  • Family

    Custer County Fair

    Nothing beats a real family fair! Kate’s daughter and her kids are all horse riders so they are very active in the fair. The first night was a ranch rodeo. Lots of good fun and beer. Followed by a live band! This girl popped up all over the place. I’m…

  • Parks

    Custer State Park

    I’ve been in the Black Hills area all summer and have done lots of things but haven’t posted them. I have very mixed feelings about this area. This whole region really belongs to the Native Americans. They consider the Black Hills to be sacred. Early on Congress signed a treaty…