Dreams Come True

Christmas Special

2011-12-23T21:32:00.001-06:00

We watched the Christmas Special on PBS, Christmas In Yellowstone, Wednesday night. What a beautiful show. If it repeats I highly recommend it. While we were watching the show Lucy our kitty got pretty engrossed in the animals.

We have tried to teach her not to sit so close to the TV, it is bad for your eyes, she didn’t listen.

Christmas is very special to us. I believe it is a time for many things, forgiveness being one. Forgive everyone everything, I know that is a hard thing for many people to do, but imagine if we all could just do that one thing, wouldn’t your life be better, it is much easier to love and be loved, then it is to hate or be angry. Try to forgive someone this Christmas.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Lights

2011-12-23T21:13:00.001-06:00

Nothing I like better then looking at looking at Christmas lights. People told us about the Mormon Temple on Main Street in Mesa. I just figured a few lights, but no 7 million lights, WOW.

After the Mormon Temple we stopped at a church in Mesa, they had a few lights, but nothing like the Temple.

Did I tell you I love Christmas lights.

We put up a tree in the motorhome and decorated the outside this year.

Fiesta Of Lights Parade Phoenix

2011-12-04T10:53:00.001-06:00

Dec 4 2011

Last night we got our winter coats, hat and mittens out to drive 40 miles in the rain to see a Christmas parade. In MN it would have been snow, so guess we are thankful it wasn’t 20 below zero.

It’s not all sunshine and sunsets down here in the desert. Not sure what the total rain fall was but sure it was over an inch. This was not one of those nice light warm rains, I know I saw some flurries mixed in with the rain.

Up until the last few days we have had perfect weather in the 70s low 80s and lots of sunshine.

We had a nice thanksgiving with friends here in the park, with a turkey and all the trimmings.

finally we found the sun.

A Cinderella story

Floats were made from cars to semis with many tractors.

We may have been popsicles when we got home, but it sure was fun. Love a parade.

Santa Fe To Apache Junction

2011-11-18T15:02:00.001-06:00

We made it to Apache Junction last Friday, and the weather has been perfect. We did run into a little snow in Kansas and New Mexico.

The temp. dropped below freezing just about every night.

We made a few more stops on the way. Santa Fe is a town we have always wanted to visit, so this year we put it on our list, so glad we did.

Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the United State. It’s a beautiful town, loved all the adobe buildings. The old town has so much shopping, Mike almost went nuts. He really likes to shop, you will find him standing outside waiting patiently for me.

The Museum Of Contempory Native Arts.

The Cathedral Basilica Of St. Francis Of Assisi. The New bronze doors were installed in 1986 on for the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral. They contain twenty bronze panels depicting scenes or events in the history of the faith in Santa Fe.

When we were done downtown we walked to The Cross Of The Martyrs, which is just about a 15 minute walk. During the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, 21 Franciscan fries died in a fight between the natives and the Spanish. A single white cross sits on a terraced hill overlooking Santa Fe to honor those men.

Every year on our way south we stop to see my sister in Albuquerque, always a nice visit. Albuquerque is another favorite New Mexico City. I just love the old town with all the shops.

Just been hanging out here. Mike does his 3 mile walk and I go to the pool for 40 min. of water aerobics every morning.

Word From The Blue (Mike)

2011-11-08T07:59:00.000-06:00

Monday November 7th 2011

After spending 3 days in Pender NE, we finally got down to business. The picture is of our tow bar completely rebuilt and ready to go to work. They replaced the ball swivel, new boots on the slides, and replaced and tightened all the nuts and bolts. I also got another set of locking pins with the same keys as my other set.

I talked to Mike the service manager about the repairs I did to the base plate. He promptly chewed me out for not having them do the repairs.

We went over the repairs done to the tow bar, and asked for the bill, and was told there would be no charge. Lets see, 3 days full service camping, repair of 3 year old tow bar, and a set of locking pins, no charge. I sure do like a company that stands behind it’s product, something not seen very often in the RV industry.

Blue Ox will be getting all my future towing business and a big recommendation to anyone that asks. Thank you Blue Ox.

We left Pender, NE and have started making our way to AZ, made it as far as Alma NE, and park in Bugbees restaurant for dinner, Sandy had roast beef and I had the last chicken pot pie. Mine was very good, Sandy's not so much. We are parked here for the night.

Wind, Quilts, Craft Show, and Donkeys

2011-11-06T06:54:00.000-06:00

Pender NE

Saturday November 5, 2011

Pender NE is home of Blue Ox tow bars, which is what we have on the back of the MH to tow our truck. Mike has had some issues with the tow bar so we are here to have it worked on. Blue Ox has a very nice RV park, with full hook-ups, right next to the factory and service department. Monday morning they will come to the MH and pick up the tow bar.

The wind gusts are so strong that Mike has to put rocks in his pockets to keep him from blowing away after all the weight he has lost. Really. He made me write that. The wind was so strong last night we went to sleep in Nebraska and woke up in Kansas.

As we drove thru town we noticed quilts painted on 4x4 or 3x3 foot plywood pieces mounted on post in yards or attached to garages.

The barn quilt project was started by a few women from town who took a driving trip through Iowa and saw quilts painted on the side of barns, and thought they could do something similar. The quilts were done for the 125th anniversary of Pender. They have over 200 quilts in yards in and out of town.

For a small town with a population of about 1100, they have a lot going on. There was a very nice craft show at the VFW, that we checked out.

Pender is a farming community and seems to be thriving. We saw very few empty store fronts driving through town.

We saw this fella across the street from the RV park. I’m not sure what the difference is between a donkey or a mule, but I think this is a donkey.

Our Second Day in West Bend Iowa

2011-11-05T13:05:00.001-05:00

We had to walk thru the Grotto one more time before taking off on Friday.

Another shot of the Grotto

The RV park next to the Grotto. Just $15.00 a night with electricity.

Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church adjoining the Grotto…. The Christmas Chapel in the Church.

The alter and stained glass windows.

Friday afternoon we are off to Pender NE to have some work done our Blue Ox tow bar. Mike has an appointment set up on Monday morning.

On The Road Again

2011-11-03T20:45:00.001-05:00

After spending the summer at the lake in northern MN, and a few weeks visiting family and friends, we are headed to AZ.

We will be stopping to do some tourist stuff on our way. Our first stop is the Grotto of Redemption, located in West Bend Iowa. It is a collection of nine grottos depicting scenes from the life of Jesus. Made of of rocks and minerals, this grotto was built by Father Paul Dobberstein and took 42 years to complete. Believed to be the largest grotto in the world, it is also the world's most comprehensive man-made collection of rocks and minerals.

Father Paul Dobberstein was a German Immigrant ordained in 1897. He became ill and promised to build a shrine to the Virgin Mary if she interceded for him. After his recovery he started stock piling rocks and precious stones from around the world. Construction of the Grotto begun in 1912.

The Main Entrance to the Grott0

We are spending the night in the campground adjoined to the Grotto. Not sure what our next stop will be, but Mike always seems to find new places to visit.

In Minnesota

2010-10-20T11:01:00.001-05:00

We had an uneventful trip home. Stopped in PA and had dinner with good friends Ron and Linda Fleeger. Always a good time visiting with them.

The fall colors were in full bloom.

We’ve been home for a week, seems like a month. We have been busy with dad’s estate, getting the house ready to sell. Him and mom lived in the house for over 30 years and accumulated lots of stuff, Mom was a collector of many things. we have a plumber and a contractor doing some needed work on the house to get it ready to go on the market this coming Monday. It is priced to sell, hopefully it will go fast.

Mike and I both had Doc and Dentist appointments this past week, and into next week. I was having some pain on my side when in NY, went to the doctor last Wed and found out I have gallstones. The gallbladder will be removed this Friday. The Doc says it’s a simple 30 minute procedure, in and out the same day. I will let you know how simple it was. Pretty sure it won’t be pain free. Mike says that's why they have pain meds, bring them on.

The David Lettermen Show

2010-10-11T09:22:00.000-05:00

Thursday October, 7th 2010

We drove to a train station in Hoboken NJ and took the train from there to Penn station. From Penn Station we took a cab to the Ed Sullivan Theater, only $5.40 plus tip for the cab.

The first place we stopped was Hello Deli for lunch.

Mike and owner of the Deli Rupert.

We had instructions to be at the Ed Sullivan Theater by 2pm. We waited in line one for maybe 30 minutes. Showed our drivers license to the person in charge of our line. Our license was checked again as we went thru the door to get our tickets. Our License was checked again as we waited in line to get our tickets. We picked up the tickets and were told to come back at 3:45 and wait in the red line. Another half hour standing in line. About 4:15 we entered the theater for the second time, and was seated in the balcony.

It takes one hour to the tape the show and it’s just like watching it on TV.

The first guest was Steven Colbert, he hosts the Colbert Report on TV.

The second guest was Johnny Knoxville, from the Jackass movies. We really did not know who he was, or anything about his movies.

The band at the end of the show was not someone we had heard of. That’s all I will say about the band.

After the show we walked from 53rd street to 43rd street for dinner at Tony’s Di Napoli. Mike had made reservation when we heard we had the tickets to Lettermen.

A couple from Queens was seated next to us and we had a just the best time visiting with them. They were in town to see a Broadway play.

We had to stop at the M&M store on Broadway. We also stopped at the Hershey store. I was good we bought no chocolate.

Time Square.

We took a cab back to Penn station and the train to Hoboken. We got back to the RV park about 11:00. It was another long day.

We are leaving New York Friday and heading back to Minnesota. We hope to home on Tuesday.

Pay no attention to my spelling and punctuation because as you read these stories you will find that I didn’t read them before publishing.

West Point US Military Academy

2010-10-10T15:22:00.001-05:00

Tuesday October 5th 2010

Our last day with the tour group. There is 100 of us on two buses. We didn’t get to know everyone, but the people we got to know were tons of fun.

West Point, the nation's oldest and foremost military college -- which celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2002 and is the oldest continually used military post in the U.S, has produced some of the greatest generals and leaders this country has known, including Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Douglas MacArthur, George Patton, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. (Edgar Allan Poe, however, dropped out!) West Point is one of the nation's most esteemed and rigorous science and engineering colleges. The most popular attraction in the entire Hudson Valley.

As you can tell from the pictures it is still raining.

The picture on the right is the place they hold concerts on Sunday afternoons, during the summer.

West Point Museum is the Nation’s oldest and largest military museum with collections encompassing all aspects of military history.

Cadet Chapel completed in 1910 is constructed from blue and gray granite.

We had lunch at the famous West Point Club.

I tried to get pictures of the group.

After lunch we had a cruise up the Hudson River, departing for Newburgh Landing in Newburgh New York.

Our ship was called the Pride of the Hudson, and has seating for 130. The two hour tour, in the rain, was narrated.

They only picture we took was in side the ship.

That’s the end of our guided tours.

Will we do another tour? Probably not. This was our first guided tour, all the traveling we’ve done has always been on our own. We did get to a lot of places and saw many sites, but when you are moving 50 – 100 people at a time it is slow going. We especially enjoyed the time on our own. Don’t get me wrong it was a very good group of people and we had a very good time, we just like doing things in a much smaller group.

Our Bus driver Bin and our guide Traci were the best. Driving a huge tour bus in New York City is not an easy job. Keeping 50 people together can’t be easy either. Everyone going in different directions. How did she do it?

Wednesday we are taking a day off from site seeing. Cleaning the MH and doing the laundry are on the agenda. Thursday is the tapping of the Lettermen Show.

the Hudson

Day Three New York City

2010-10-10T14:29:00.001-05:00

Monday October 4th 2010

Up early again, 4:30am. Breakfast is catered every morning, but who can eat at 6am. I just grab a bagel and put it in my back pack for later.

Today started by driving by some more landmarks. First was Yankee Stadium, then the Brooklyn Bridge.

The Empire State Building.

We didn’t have the opportunity to go to the top of the Empire State Building but I did go to the top when I was a teenager.

The Bull on Wall Street

This was taken from the bus window, a drive by, it was raining pretty good as it has must of our time here in New York.

Grand Central Terminal

Rockefeller Plaza, the ice rink. They were getting it ready to flood, but with all the rain maybe it will be done by Mother Nature.

I remember as a teenage walking around China Town and I loved, it was very exciting and still is.

I don’t remember seeing a dollar store back in the 60s.

We spent time on our own in China Town and Little Italy. We ate lunch at a nice Italian restaurant, the food was very tasty. I would certainly eat here again.

After lunch we toured St. Patrick's Cathedral.

We saw so much I can’t remember where this was taken, but it sure is a nice picture.

Why is there no standing on this street. I found out you can not pull your car, cab or bus over here, not for any reason.

This was our last day in the city with the tour. Mike and I will be back on Thursday for the Letterman show.

Day Two In New York City

2010-10-06T13:44:00.001-05:00

Saturday October 2nd 2010

We woke to what we think was sunshine, not having seen it for sometime I was just not sure. We did get to sleep in, the bus was not leaving until noon today. Traffic into the city was not bad at all.

We spent much of our time driving by famous landmarks and getting the history of the city and some of the buildings. Our guide Traci is a history major and very knowledgeable. She has been doing tours of City for 16 years.

Our first stop was Central Park West. Being Saturday the park was busy.

Views of the City from the Park.

The Band shell.

Bethesda Fountain in Central Park.

A lot of entertainment goes on in the park, most of it very good. We were lucky to catch this performance by some talented young men.

We visited Strawberry fields in central park a tribute to John Lennon. The tour bus drove by the Dakota Hotel were we saw the archway were John was shot.

Cathedral of Saint John the Divine Once a year they hold the blessing of the animals at this church and Sunday Oct 3rd is the date this year. We were here on Saturday and they were setting up for the event.

The alter of St. John the Divine.

Our next stop was time square. We had a couple of hours on our own in time square and for dinner before the Broadway play the Lion King. We stopped at Sardi’s and was able to get a table. Sardi’s is a restaurant in New York City's theater district at 234 West 44th Street in Manhattan. Known for the hundreds of caricatures of show-business celebrities that adorn its walls, Sardi's opened at its current location on March 5, 1927.

We were seated next to a couple from Alabama celebrating a 72nd birthday and a mother and daughter from London on holiday for the weekend.

What a great time we had talking with our new friends. It was a wonderful dinner and the food was excellent.

Under the marquee for Lion King and looking down at time square from inside the theater.

It was after 1am when we arrived back at the RV park. No getting up at some horrible time on Sunday morning, we had the day off from touring.

David Lettermen Show

2010-10-04T18:54:00.001-05:00

A few months back when we knew we were going to be in New York we emailed the Lettermen show for tickets. We never heard anything back so just assumed we weren’t going. Well today they called and we got the tickets for Thursday nights tapping, after I answered a trivia question correctly.

Our First Day In New York City

2010-10-03T16:47:00.001-05:00

Friday Oct 1st 2010

We had to get up at 4:15 am, I didn’t know my alarm clock could be set for that early. Breakfast was being served at 5:15 and we had to be on our bus to the city by 6:15 for our normally 2 hour drive. With the rain and the traffic it was a 3 drive. Lucky me I slept for most of the drive into the City.

It was a miserable day for site seeing, but we made the best of it. With raincoats and umbrellas in hand off we went. Our first stop was the battery to catch a Ferry to the Statue of Liberty, unfortunately we stopped only long enough to let other passengers off. We were going to Ellis Island where more then twelve million immigrants entered the United States between 1892 and 1954. In 1965 Ellis Island became part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.

Anne Moore, the first immigrant processed thru Ellis Island on January 1st 1882

The luggage room on the first floor of the main building is where newly arrived immigrants left their belongings on their way to the registry room on the second floor.

Ellis Island

After the island we took the ferry back to Battery Park. We stopped in Manhattan for lunch at the Winter Garden, a large complex with many restaurants, retail stores and offices. I think it was called Winter Garden, I know it was Garden something.

After lunch we all met at the bottom of a few steps. As we climbed the steps you could see out this large window a construction site, it was Ground Zero, where the twin towers went down.

No words are necessary.

Rockerfeller Plaza was the next stop.

The Chandelier in the lobby of Rockefeller plaza.

We had tickets to go to the observation deck on the 60th something floor. The view was so spectacular of central park and the Empire State Building. It would have been nice if we had a little sun.

What a fantastic experience. The lift ride to the top of the building is brilliant. During the ride the ceiling is exposed to show the lift shaft and how fast the lift accelerates to it’s destination. Of course Mike got pictures.

Radio City Music Hall across from Rockefeller center. I visited all the attractions back in 1964, boy how things change in such a short time.

We arrived back at the RV park at 6:30 with dinner waiting for us. No cooking that was nice.

What a day!

Hyde Park New York

2010-10-03T14:59:00.001-05:00

Wednesday Sept, 29th 2010

Our first sunny day in New York and some site seeing was on our agenda.

The Hudson River Valley region settlement began around 1742. The name of the area was changed to Hyde Park in 1810.

Hyde Park is the hometown of Franklin D. Roosevelt, (1882-1945) the 32nd President of the United States (1933-1945).

His Estate Springwood is now the home of the FDR National Historic site. Also on the site are his Presidential Library and Museum. Roosevelt used this residence through out his life, the house is now a open for tours.

FDR’s desk that was in the oval offices is now on display in the library and museum.

The grave of Franklin and Eleanor in the rose garden of Summerwood estate.

Mike wanted to talk politics with the Roosevelt's for a time. I went off and did a little exploring of the house and gardens. I was not in the mood to get into a discussion on the worlds problems, not on a beautiful sunny day.

The front and back entrances to the mansions The furnishings are all original to the property.

Roosevelt was born in the master bedroom on the second floor. After marring Eleanor in 1905 the couple moved in with his mother Sarah.

Sarah called this her music room. It also was called the Dresden Room because of the large Candelabra, mantle clock, and hearth cat, which James Roosevelt purchased in Dresden Germany.

The Vanderbilt mansion is also on the Hudson River, just down the street from the Roosevelt Mansion. This is just one of forty mansions the Vanderbilt family built. Like most of the prominent familys, the Vanderbilts used their retreat only for a few weeks in spring and fall, and for an occasional weekend in Winter.

The front and side views of the Vanderbilt Mansion. The mansion contains 54 rooms, 14 bathrooms, 10 guest rooms, and several servant rooms.

The view from the back terrance of the Hudson river.

We followed a path down to the river for some relaxing time before heading back to the RV park. The view was unbelievable.

It was a grand day.

Visiting My Aunt Rose

2010-09-29T20:17:00.001-05:00

Tuesday Sept. 28th 2010

We are drowning here in New York. We arrived in New York on Sunday in the rain and it is still raining.

Monday we did the laundry and Tuesday we visited my Aunt Rose, my mothers last living sister. My mother came from a family of seven girls, she was the youngest. My mother passed away when she was only 37 and her oldest sister also died at the young age of 37.

I lived with my Aunt Rose in Marlboro New York when I was 15-16. It was the best time of my life. My aunt lived only 50 miles north of New York City, on the Hudson River.

The New York Worlds fair was in progress at this time and we spent many days at the fair. My Aunt had no problem driving into the city so we went everyplace, the Empire State Building, Radio City Music Hall, Statue of Liberty, Time Square, Broadway plays, off Broadway Plays, China Town, concerts at West Point on Sunday Evenings and so many more places.

My Aunt is now 89 and still driving to the city. She has always traveled the world, my Uncle worked for TWA airlines so my Aunt and cousins could fly anyplace in the world and they did. She still travels with her grandchildren to many countries.

When Mike and I drove up to my aunt’s house it seemed so small. I was sure it was a much bigger home, I thought it was a mansion when I was a kid. We spent the day with her and had a wonderful visit.

My Aunt Rose and I.

Aunt Rose and her bird Babe. Babe is a talker he has a large vocabulary, I have never heard a bird talk to much. Babe also fetches a small ball when you throw it.

Babe giving me a kiss. We had a the best time with babe.

I hope to see Aunt Rose at least one more time before we head home.

We Are Back On The East Coast

2010-09-26T18:06:00.001-05:00

Sept 26th 2010

We left Minnesota on Thursday 23rd. About 2 miles from the house we are going down hill and it feels like someone rear-ended us. Mike stops the MH and we get out and our car is partially under the MH. The hitch was not put on properly. I guess we had other things on our mind. Our neighbor Sandy Weis was driving by and stopped to help us. No damage to the car and minimal to the MH, thank God.

Sunday I finally got the camera out and got some pictures of the fall colors in PA and New York.

Another week and the colors should be peeking.

We arrived at our destination Sunday about 3pm, American Family Campground. From here we will be taking a bus to New York city every morning starting on Thursday.

Flying Home

2010-09-06T09:46:00.001-05:00

Monday Sept. 6th

I will be flying home on Wed. My dad is not doing to good. He has bone cancer and it is getting pretty painful, and the meds don’t seem to helping much.

Not sure if I will be posting an blog for awhile.

Day 3 On Prince Edward Island

2010-09-06T09:41:00.000-05:00

Saturday August 28th

Today we toured the eastern coast of the Island. The drive brings you to fishing villages and past potato farms and lighthouses. PEI is basically and agricultural province.

Cape Bear Lighthouse and Marconi Station. Here is where the first distress signal was heard as the Titanic sank off Newfoundland.

We stopped at a small farmers market on the coast and bought lunch, found a beach to enjoy.

Such beauty everywhere you look, but pay attention the roads do end abruptly.

Wood Island Lighthouse was built in 1876 and is the second oldest lighthouse with a square tower.

Wood Island Ferry terminal. The Ferry runs from Wood Island to Caribou, Nova Scotia, It’s a 75 minute trip.

We were lucky to be here when the ferry was coming in.

Mike order tickets to the Musical Anne And Gilbert in Summerside PEI, for my birthday on Sunday. What a guy, just love him.

Anne Of Green Gables

2010-09-06T09:39:00.001-05:00

Thursday August 27th

You can not go to PEI without visiting the site of Anne Of Green Gables. A fictional story about a real place. Author Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote the series of books starting in 1908. I think every young girl has read the books or seen the mini series, I know I have and my daughters and granddaughters have all enjoyed the them.

The birthplace of Lucy Maud Montgomery, New London PEI.

I’m not sure what the flowers are, but they are all over the island.

The house of Green Gables. I believe I read someplace it was owned by cousins of Lucy’s grandfather, so she spent time here in her youth.

The house has been restored to the time period.

The barn and some of the gardens.

Prince Edward Island

2010-09-06T09:33:00.000-05:00

Wednesday August 25th

Mike took pictures of the sunset our last night on Murray Beach New Brunswick. It was a brilliant sunset. Nothing better then sitting on the beach and watching the sun go down.

Wednesday morning we crossed the confederation bridge onto Prince Edward Island.

The bridge is 8 miles long, one lane each direction. You don’t pay a toll going onto PEI island, but be prepared to pay coming off. With our MH and truck I think it will be about $80.00 we will see next week when we leave.

When entering PEI you go thru Gateway Village, which is just a big welcome center. A few small restaurants and some street entertainment. We stopped and watched some Celtic dancers.

We stopped in Kensington at a old train station converted to a pub, Island Stone Pub. We had a light lunch and a few glasses of wine.

The entertainment was very enjoyable, I forgot his name but he was from Summerside PEI.

We spent the night at Cabot Beach Provincial Park.

Another wonderful day.

Fundy Trail

2010-08-27T13:56:00.000-05:00

St. Martins is the gateway to Fundy Tail, walk it, bike it, or drive it, the beauty is breathtaking. The trail is only 8 miles long, but there is so much to see it takes a couple of hours to complete. Switch backs and grades at 16% make it pretty exciting drive.

The view from the first place we pulled off the road.

The trail to the waterfalls.

Suspension bridge over the Salmon River. A sign by the bridge states the capacity is should not exceed 10 people.

The end of our drive. I gave you the high lights of our trip on The Fundy Trail. The people of New Brunswick call the trail one of the major wonders of the world, and I agree with them.

Our last night in New Brunswick was spent at Murray Beach Provincial Park. As you can see another beautiful park and campground.

In the morning we left for Prince Edward Island.

New River Beach, Black Harbor and Ministers Island NB

2010-08-26T13:12:00.000-05:00

We spent a few days at New River Provincial Park. The beach was just across the road. We spent time enjoying the sand and surf.

Mike in his usual beach attire. The only person on the beach in jeans. Mike’s legs have never seen the sun, and never will according to him.

Our campsite at New River.

Low tide in the first picture and high tide in the second. The tides here are unbelievable.

From New River we took a few side trips, one of these trips took us to Black Harbor NB.

Black Harbor village has approximately 1200 residents. It is situated at the edge of Passamaquoddy Bay in the south west corner of Fundy. It is known mainly for the home of the Connors Bros, the largest sardine packing plant in the world . It is also the main departure/ arrival point for the island of Grand Manan.

When you first drive into to town the first thing you notice is the odor from the sardine factory, a very strong smell.

Our next adventure was the Van Horne Estate on Ministers Island. Ministers Island is a 500 acre tidal island and, national provincial historic site.

We drove across the ocean floor on “the bar” at low tide to the island. The bar is a natural road that’s been in place for thousands of years. If the tide is high you can take a 10 minute shuttle boat. You do have to know your tide schedules before going.

Yep, that’s the road, I was a little apprehensive at first, then I just shut my eyes and hoped we didn't get stuck. This is one of the things I could have passed on seeing.

William Van Horne wealthy from building the Canadian coast-to-coast railway, built his summer cottage and model farm here in the mid 1890s.

We made it off the island before high tide.

St. Martins And The Fundy Trial

2010-08-26T11:51:00.000-05:00

Saturday August 21st

St Martins is a village with red cliffs and sea caves where the highest tides in the world sweep in and out. As the tide goes out you can walk the ocean floor into the sea caves.

The beach by the sea caves is known for the green rocks, I picked up a few not sure what I will do with them but they are pretty.

St Martins has a couple of covered bridges.

I was able to get these pictures while driving the truck. Mike said he could make it thru.

We stayed at Century Farms family Campground in St. Martins. Our site was just a few feet from the ocean.

Taken from the window of the MH

Lucy’s favorite spot to sleep, occasionally she sleeps so sound she falls off.

St. George ad St. Johns New Brunswick

2010-08-22T11:54:00.000-05:00

August 21st and 22nd

Most days we travel 60 miles or less and then staying for a couple of nights. There is so much to see along the coast of New Brunswick. Some days we drive 50 miles to go 25 miles, ops wrong turn again.

St. George has the third most photographed falls in Canada.

The St. George fishway is where the Atlantic Salmon come to spawn each year. On the left side of the photo is the ladder pools in which the salmon swim up to spawn.

Every town on the coast has something to see and St. Johns is no different.

The water flows in reverse when the tide comes in.

New Brunswick has many covered bridges this one is in St. Johns.

St Stephen New Brunswick, Canada’s Chocolate Town

2010-08-20T10:40:00.001-05:00

The chocolate Museum is a must for chocoholics. All you can eat chocolates as your touring the museum. The museum displays the history of Ganong Bros. candy makers in St. Stephen since 1873. It would have been fun to do a factory tour, but they no longer have them due to peanut allergies.

Mike was in heaven all the chocolates you want and very good chocolates.

We will be staying 4 nights at New River Provincial Park just south of St. John. The Canadian Provincial Parks camp sites are very wooded and large. Nothing nicer then a camp fire in the evening.

Across the street from the campground is a beautiful beech on the ocean. We spent a full day reading and having a picnic lunch. Also doing one of favorite things, people watching.

Mike once again in his beech attire. You can tell water is his thing.

The day was a little overcast, but plenty warm with a nice breeze coming off the ocean.

The two photos were taken from the same spot six hours apart. The tide is unbelievable in this area.

We will be following highway one up the fundy coast for the next week or so.

Another Perfect day.

Campobello Island New Brunswick

2010-08-20T10:13:00.001-05:00

The FDR bridge going to Campobello Island New Brunswick, from Lubec Maine.

James Roosevelt, his wife Sara, and one year old Franklin D. Roosevelt first visited Campobello Island in 1883. That same years James purchased a summer cottage and became summer residents. The site of James’ cottage no longer standing was just north of FDR cottage.

From 1883 until he was stricken with polio in 1921 FDR spent most of his summers on the beautiful island.

Sara purchased the Kuhn cottage in 1909 that would become Franklin’s and Eleanor's summer home for many years. The house has 34 rooms total, which includes 18 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms.

In the late 1800’s wealthy American families stayed at the resort hotels, on Campobello. Many built summer cottages. Today four of these cottages are owned by the Park Commission.

The oval window looking over Passamaquoddy Bay is original to the Hubbard cottage.

The Island is now known as the Roosevelt Campobello International Park.

The Mulholland Point Lighthouse was built in 1885 to guide the many small freighter through the narrow Lubec Channel.

Lubec Maine from the Island.

We were having a glass of wine on a patio in Lubec watching the harbor seals coming in for the evening.

Prospect Bay And Eastport Maine and Mustard

2010-08-15T19:07:00.001-05:00

We have spent the last four nights in Cobscook State Park right off Highway 1, which follows the coast of Maine. We are working our way up to New Brunswick.

From the park we are able to visit many of the small fishing villages along the coast.

I want to be this mans best friend, He’s unloading his catch of lobster.

No fancy sailing or motor boats in the small fishing harbors, all working boats.

Everywhere there are lobster traps.

Eastport, Maine is a small village consisting entirely of islands, and home to Raye’s Mustard Mill.

The sign on the side of building reads Sundown Casket Company. I wanted Mike to check it out, maybe they were making a casket. He said If I wanted to know what was going on inside I would have to do it myself. That was not going to happen. Maybe they are making caskets maybe not.

The woody was parked outside the casket company.

Eastport had a busy harbor with all the boats and fishermen on the pier. They are fishing for mackerel.

Ray’s Mustard Mill is located in Eastport and is the last remaining traditional stone ground mustard mill.

Four generations of the Raye family have been grinding mustard on the coast of Maine since 1900.

They have won many national awards for there mustards. The Food network featured them this month on one of their shows. Opps forgot.

Another great day.

Arcadia National Park and Bar Harbor

2010-08-15T10:18:00.001-05:00

Monday August 9th

On our way to Arcadia National Park we stopped for lobster at Young's Lobster Pound, on the wharf in Belfast Maine. The lobster was so fresh just caught less then an hour before it was prepared.

Young’s is a wholesale lobster business that happens to prepare lunches for the public. Thank you Bob and Molly Pinner for telling us about Young’s, it was the best lobster we have had.

We got up early we thought. Headed to Mount Desert Island in Arcadia National Park. 10,000 people got up before us and had the same idea. The one place we were able to stop was Cadillac Mountain, every other place was full, no parking places left.

Cadillac Mountain is the highest point on the Atlantic Coast at 1528 feet. If you stood here at dawn you would be the first person in the country to to the sunrise.

The bridge heading to Arcadia National Park, which is the 10th most visited national park.

After our tour of Arcadia we headed to Bar Harbor, another tourist town. Never imagined the town would be so over run with people. More crowed then Camden and Rockland. I did not know that cruise ships stopped in Bar Harbor. You know how many people are on the big ships, thousands.

We did manage to have a glass of wine on the harbor, and watch to ships come and go. Another perfect day.

Camden Maine

2010-08-12T19:32:00.001-05:00

Sunday August 8th

So far most of our time has been spent in Rockland Maine. The town of Camden is only a mile from the state park we staying at, we decided to have breakfast in town Sunday morning.

These are not your quite coastal towns they are small towns with lots and lots of tourist. More then you can imagine. Don’t get me wrong the towns are wonderful just so crowded you can hardly move. We got up early, but not early enough, parking was difficult to say the least, but we managed to find a place within a reasonable distance.

We got lucky we got a seat on the patio of Mariner’s Grill. I had the best lobster omelet I ever tasted, of course it is the first one I’ve had, it was so good.

The views from the patio were not bad either.

This little fellow wanted to have breakfast with us, but he was having a bad hair day.

The pictures just do not do the town justice.

After breakfast we drove to the Rockland Maine lighthouse and breakwater. We were told it was a must see, but no one mentioned it was a mile walk each direction on uneven granite boulders. Not complaining it was well worth the walk.

You watched where you were stepping at all times, the cracks would swallow a small child or break the ankle of an old lady.

An old picture of the lighthouse.

A new picture taken from the front.

The Maine Event

2010-08-12T19:10:00.001-05:00

Saturday August 7th

While in the Camden, Rockland area we stayed at Camden Hills State Park. There are over 30 miles of hiking trails most are easy hikes. We drove to the summit of Mt. Battie which is located inside the park. The views of Camden and the Atlantic ocean were breath taking.

You are able to climb to the top of the tower for ever more spectacular views of the are.

In the evening we went back to the lobster festival for the Clint Black concert.

The seating area before the concert.

The seating area tickets were $35.00 which I didn’t think were to bad. It was first come first in. We paid $8.00 for general admission to the festival grounds and you could find a place to sit or stand. We found a balcony of the bar across the street from the concert, perfect seats.

We enjoyed the concert very much, had a lot of fun and laughs.

You know Mike, he has to makes new friends were ever we go. Kathy a native Mainer.

Rockland Maine Lobster Festival

2010-08-06T18:15:00.001-05:00

Mike has been waiting weeks to sink his teeth into some fresh Maine Lobster, and today was the day. For 63 years the town Of Rockland has been hosting the lobster Festival. Not only is their lobster served from 10 in the morning until 10 at night, there is a ton of other activities. Parade, cooking contest, Coast Guard tours, Navy ship tours, Pancake breakfast, lobster crate race, just to name a few.

The steamer in the second picture will cook 1600 pounds of lobster at a time. Fresh Maine lobster, just out of the cold Maine waters, are cooked here for feasting in the eating tent.

Wait that’s no lobster, he’s part of the dynamic dead fish display.

The festival is held at the harbor. Lots of boats were pulling in all day. Mike wanted to rent us a boat, he thought it would be just the right size for me to row around.

Black Beard showed up in the eating tent and raised a little havoc. King Neptune with his royal followers.

Before leaving the festival we had to stop and have something to quench our thirst.

Saturday nights entertainment is Clint Black at 8pm, we plan to attend if I can stay up that late.

Having just a great time.

Hanging Out In Northern Maine

2010-08-03T13:54:00.001-05:00

Tuesday August 3rd, 2010

Full service gas stations what an oddity. This is the first time in our travels that we have run into nothing but full service gas stations. Fill-err-up, check the oil, wash the windows, and kick the tires, all for $2.91 a gallon. Less then $4 something we paid for gas in Canada.

We are hanging out for a few days in Bangor Maine, doing laundry, shopping, and getting hair cuts. Just the normal everyday stuff.

It’s funny how little things in life can make your day. Being on the road so much and stopping at laundry mats, we have become a little fussy as to where we will wash our clothes. some laundries are dirtier then my clothes and only half the machines work, I have walked out of many with just one look inside. The Laundry Basket in Bangor Maine is the nicest and cleanest laundry we have in. Mike liked it, it had a big screen TV hanging on the wall.

One more day in Bangor and we head south to Camden Maine. We have reservation at the State Park for 4 nights.

Back In The States and A Fair

2010-08-01T16:58:00.001-05:00

Friday July 30, 2010

We reentered the states thru Fort Kent Maine. The border patrol was not as happy to see us as we were to see them. Exit the vehicle and take any pets with you, go to the office. Well that was a surprise and a first for us. They asked us a lot of questions, mostly do you have fire arms, or did you purchase anything in Canada that you want to declare. Over and over they asked these 2 questions among others. They checked the MH and truck inside and out, but were very nice about it. We felt they were doing their job keeping us safe.

We drove about 40 miles into Maine and stopped at a Wal-Mart in Presque Isle for the night.

We had planned on staying only one night, but then we saw a flyer for the Northern Main Fair in town. International tractor and truck pulling were on the list of events. Mike thought it was time I see a tractor pull, what A guy, he’s always thinking of me.

The object of this event was to pull a wagon with a weight as far as you can. I don’t believe speed had anything to do with it. Big supped up tractors, little yard tractors, old trackers and new ones they all participated.

After all the excitement I was hungry for some fair food. I had a corn dog and Mike went off on his own and had a Scottish Egg, what is a Scottish egg, and are you sure you want to try it.

The midway.

A hard boiled egg with pork sausage around it and deep fried. Not so good.

After we ate went to check out the animal barns.

What the heck is this, and do I need one.

They had a free show with Bengal Tigers. I hate to see animals like this caged, I just think it is very inhumane. Maybe when they are home they have a really big area to run in. Okay my little rant.

And that was our day.

Our Last Day In Quebec

2010-07-31T20:26:00.001-05:00

Thursday July 29th 2010

We tried to make the most of our last day in Québec. Back to the old town for more sight seeing and fun.

Mike made some new friends among the street entertainers.

A little clowning around.

The Citadelle Royal 22nd Regiment Museum inside the walls of the Old City. Military traditions are maintained through military ceremonies held on the grounds.

Our ferry ride across the St. Lawrence River.

That’s our little black pickup on left. It cut about 25 miles off our drive time by taking the ferry. The cost was only $8.00 for the truck and Mike and me.

That evening we went to the Island of Orleans to watch the fireworks competition being held out side the city. It was about an hour of the most amazing display we have ever seen. It ended up being a late night and we are leaving for the states in the morning.

We loved our time in Canada, we saw a lot of Canadian history in the old cities. Met some of the most friendly people we have in all our travels. Life just keeps getting better.

As you can tell I posted a few blogs today. I have internet again.

Our Second Day Quebec City

2010-07-31T19:49:00.001-05:00

Wednesday July 28th 2010

Québec City is my favorite city by far. The old part of the city is so European. We started at the parliament building just outside the walls of the Old City

We had a little rain our first day, but it didn’t dampen our fun at all.

This little cafe was built in 1677.

Hotel Chateau Frontenac standing high on the bluff over looking the St. Lawrence river.

We visited the churches our first day. Notre Dame of Quebec City.

We had found a parking spot just outside the city, paid $3.00 for 3 hours not to bad.

We had a light dinner before leaving the city, a bottle of wine and some French onion soup. Both were excellent.

St Michel, Quebec

2010-07-31T18:57:00.001-05:00

Tuesday July 27tj

It was 195 miles from Montreal to Quebec. It rained and was cloudy most of the day. By the time we arrived at the campground the rain stopped and the sun came out for a few minutes, enough to just tease us.

We stayed at a campground near St. Michel a small village on the St. Lawrence River, about 35 miles east of Quebec city.

We spent three nights at the campground. Our first night we met 2 couples from British Columbia, we had happy hour together, so much fun and lots of laughs.

Our Last Day In Montreal

2010-07-31T18:06:00.001-05:00

Monday July 26, 2010

We had one last thing to see, Olympic Park, built when the 1976 Summer Olympic Games were held in Montreal. It still serves as a show place today.

The landmark tower on the main stadium is 575 feet, is the world’s largest inclined tower.

The Olympic pools are located under the tower. The second picture is now the Bio Dome.

The Upper pool and the Olympic village, where the athletes stayed.

It’s late and I need lunch. We stopped at a small restaurant to eat. We had heard so much about Poutine a French Canadian dish, Mike thought he would try it. Everybody just raved about how good it was and how you would just love it. Well it was okay, nothing that great. We probably will never order it again, but glad we did.

French fries, gravy and mozzarella cheese curds.

We leave in the morning for Quebec city.

Montreal, Ontario

2010-07-31T17:18:00.001-05:00

Saturday July 24th 2010

We slept late so didn’t get started until around 11am. Ours plans were to visit a few churches and Little Italy.

After we paid our $17.00 dollars to park we headed off walking to our first stop, Basilica Marie-Reine-Du-Monde Cathedral.

The third largest church in Quebec, work was started in 1875 and finished in 1894. The church was build on a smaller scale to replicate St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Just a few blocks away is St. George's Anglican Church built in 1870.

A little history on St. George’s Church.

Across the street form the church is Windsor Station. At one time it was the hub of Canada’s railway system.

Mike checking his map to see were we are going next. You can pick out the tourists they all have maps in hand.

St. Johns Oratory Of Mount Royal, the largest church in Canada. Built in 1904, and added onto many times.

The steps going to the church were unbelievable, if you look to the left and right of the church you will see more steps.

And then there were more steps. Once we made it to the top we found the escalators, sure was happy to see them. Much easier coming down.

The votive Chapel, had to have at least 20 votive stations in the Chapel.

Notre Dame College is across the street from the Church.

As you can tell we enjoy all the beautiful churches in the old cities, so much history and architecture, and nothing wrong with trying to get on His good side, a prayer here a prayer there.

I was getting hungry and saw enough churches for the day. We really did see other things.

Lunch was in Little Italy a really nice neighborhood in Montreal.

The wedding party dancing in the streets of Little Italy.

We had a late lunch did a little shopping at the farmers market and headed home. What a great day, the best ever. They all seem to be the best.

Montreal, Canada

2010-07-29T12:08:00.001-05:00

Thursday July 22, 2010

This is were speaking French would come in handy. All of Québec speaks French, and my high school French does not get us beyond hello, goodbye, and thank you. Most everyone does speak some English.

We are staying at a very nice Passport America campground about 15 miles from downtown Montreal.

Friday we headed to Montreal with our GPS in hand. There were so many detours that it was hard to follow the GPS, but we found what we wanted. It was $20.00 to park for 3 hours or more. Boy this is an expensive country. We started in the old part of Montreal and you can do a walking tour with a map of the city.

Our first stop was the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal, one of the most beautiful churches we have been in. Celine Dion was married in this church back in the 90’s.

It was $5.00 a person to go thru the church. Never had to pay to see a church, that was a first, but it was well worth it.

The main alter and a side alter. There is also a back Alter that is used as the wedding chapel.

The wedding chapel, you have to be a pretty famous person to get married in the main church.

The pipe organ is 5th largest in the world ( I think, see I need my internet). Maybe I should take notes.

The next church also was Catholic, but forgot the name.

We have been to many churches in Europe and the churches here in Montreal are very close to being as magnificent.

After going thru about 6 churches we needed a rest and a glass of wine. Had to sit and do a little people watching also. It rained on and off all day, but never a down pour. We got a little wet and neither of us melted.

Onto China Town.

China Town was a busy place, we didn’t spend to much time here.

Mike resting by a fountain. The Royal Bank Building.

One more glass of wine before heading back to the MH.

We spent the day just walking around this area of town, Saturday we will find another area to explore.

Two Days Of Rest In Prescott Ontario

2010-07-26T14:58:00.001-05:00

We left Ottawa on Tuesday the 20th drove 54 miles to Prescott Ontario. Checked into a beautiful campground for 2 nights, wow, electricity, sewer and water, all in one place. We are just going to veg for a couple of days before heading to Montreal.

The campground is on the St. Lawrence River, just across from Ogdensburg NY. The campground had Wi-Fi for a charge and I posted to the blog the first few days of trip. Hopefully we will find an internet cafe or someplace with Wi-fi so I can upload the next couple of blogs I have written.

The bridge going over the St. Lawrence River to NY. This is the view we had from our MH.

The campground had a resident black squirrel, he new Stormy and Lucy were in the MH, he spent a lot of time outside the window teasing them. Drove them absolutely crazy.

Lucy has a favorite toy, a stuff Mini Mouse dressed in a hula skirt. She fights with it all the time.

Only once did we leave the campground, had to go into town and get wine and beer. A case of beer was $48.00, that will be the last case we buy in Canada. The wine was $12.00, $7.00 more then I pay for the same thing in the states. They really add on the tax to liquor in Canada. When we were in Ottawa we stopped at a little outdoor cafe for a drink, Mike had 2 beers and I had 2 glasses of the cheapest wine they had, the bill came to $30.00.

The weather has been hot and unstable. Ran into many thunderstorms toward the evenings. Late Tuesday afternoon we had hail the size of half dollars pound us for a few minutes, and the rain was torrential. The MH has a little problem during the heavy rain storms, seems to spring a few leaks. That’s okay one more thing for Mike to do. I would hate for him to run out of projects.

We met a wonderful couple from Ontario, they were visiting relatives in the area. Early Tuesday afternoon they invited us over for a glass of his home made wine. It was really good, usually home made wine is just to sweet for me, but this was wonderful. We got to meet their 5 cats. Wow 5 cats in a MH that has to be a little crowded. They do own a house and just travel occasionally, the cats seem to enjoy it.

We had a nice rest and now we back on the road.

Two Nights Spent In Ottawa

2010-07-26T14:56:00.001-05:00

We left North Bay Sunday the 18th and drove 217 miles to Ottawa. Found our Wal-Mart and set up for our stay.

I have to say they had the most friendly people in the parking lot. At least 6 came to talk to us to see if we needed anything or help finding something. We did get directions to take the city bus down town. I can not say enough nice things about the people in Ottawa, in fact all of Canada.

We started our day early, caught the bus just two blocks from the Wal-mart. Headed down town in the rain. It rained off and on most of the day, that did not stop us.

Our first stop was the Parliament Hill, which is close to the shores of the Ottawa River. The hill houses several federal departments, museums, courts of law and other national institutions, the most important is the Parliament. Built in 1866 in a neo-Gothic architectural style.

Sorry no pictures I’m still having problems with google.

The Parliament Building and the Confederation Building.

We had an English speaking tour of the Parliament building, it is as exquisite on the inside as it is on the outside. The government was not in session, so we were able to view the house and the senate rooms.

The House is green and the Senate is red.

The locks along the Ottawa River.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

ByWard Market is in one of the historical districts. Open year-round this area has outdoor patios and terraces, street musicians, and open-air vendors.

We saw 90 percent of Ottawa by just walking, pretty much everything is in a small area of town. The rest we hopped on a tour bus for a 2 hour tour and saw places on the out skirts of town.

Residence of the British High Commissioner To Canada.

The Mounties Training Headquarters.

Before we left downtown we stopped in a pub for a glass of wine and met a couple for Ohio. Had a very nice visit, we may run into them again they are traveling the same route we are.

It was a long day, but we sure loved Ottawa.

Touring Canada

2010-07-21T09:32:00.001-05:00

We departed Minnesota on Thursday the 15th. Mike drove 320 miles to Iron Mountain Michigan. We spent the night in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Not much happening in Iron Mountain.

Friday morning we headed out and drove 240 miles to Sault Ste. Marie Michigan. Spent the night in a casino campground with full hook ups for $10.00 a night. We did go in a play the slots, each of us doing are usual $10.00, so it actually cost us $30.00 for the night. Try to save some money and into the machine it goes.

Saturday we entered Canada at Sault Ste. Marie. The border crossing was uneventful, They looked at our passports and asked two questions, do you alcohol or tobacco with you. Yes to alcohol and no to tobacco, and we were on our way.

We drove 290 miles to North Bay Ontario and once again spent the night at the Hilton Wal-Mart. Just before sunset we unhitched the truck and drove to the bay. They have a beautiful lake walk with a harbor and a couple of beaches. Seems to be the popular place to be at sunset on a Saturday night.

The flowers were amazing they were along the walk for about a mile.

The sunset was not much, but the walk was great.

Our Summer Has Been Great

2010-07-16T19:53:00.001-05:00

Sault Ste. Marie

We spent 6 weeks at the lake, it was really hard to leave, now we are on our way to the east coast. Saturday we will enter Canada, plan on spending some time in Montreal. Then onto the lobster fest in Maine.

I have a new kitty, Lucy. Cute as a bugs ear. She is half sister to TT, they have the same mother.

I’m having problems posting pictures to the blog I will try to have some soon.

At The Lake and TT

2010-05-23T14:05:00.001-05:00

Grand Rapids MN.

Wednesday we left family and friends and headed for one of my favorite places in the world, Big Balsam Camp and Resort. As you remember from my blogs last year I have been coming here since I was 5 years old with my family.

My kids and grandkids now spend part of the summer here fishing, hiking swimming and just having a good time. My dad did spend Memorial weekend with us a few years ago, it had been some time since he was here. Many of our friends and their kids and grandkids also come for long weekends. This coming holiday weekend will be one of those times, should be about 20 to 25 of us, and pretty sure we will be having a good time.

When we returned home from our winter travels our cat TT was rediscovering his yard and one night he didn’t return. Mike spent some time looking for him and found TT in the field next to the house. We think it was a dog that got him. He is so missed. TT was one of the best cats we had. No offense Stormy your a good cat too, just a little witchy.

Back To Blogging

2010-05-17T15:48:00.001-05:00

I have no excuse just was taking a brake from the computer for a couple of weeks, and besides I had nothing to blog about.

We are back in MN, the weather has been cold and rainy. This week is going to be warm and sunny, so says the weatherman. Sometimes they get the forecast right.

Been visiting with my Dad, the kids and grandkids. Everyone is doing good.

Our son Rich and is wife will be moving to Salt Lake City Utah in June. He will be working for the same company and have the same position. The company will be closing the end of the year here in MN, he wanted to get a jump on the move.

Granddaughter Elizabeth is graduating from high school in June. She will be attending St. Thomas College in the fall. Ryan, Lizzy brother is our oldest grandchild, he is working for a landscape company and loving it.

Granddaughter Amanda just finished her second year at the University Of Minnesota. Her brother Matt our youngest grandchild will be going into the 10th grade this fall.

Our daughters and their husbands are doing a great job raising our grandchildren, we are so proud of all our kids and grandkids.

We will be spending part of the summer at the lake again this summer, Mike is looking forward to catching the big one.

Animals In The Black Hills

2010-04-22T20:58:00.001-05:00

The opportunities to photograph the wild life was abundant. I wish I could have gotten pictures of all the animals we saw, but when your in a moving vehicle you just can’t do it.

White tail deer playing in the campground.

Mountain Goats near Mount Rushmore.

White tail deer along the road.

Buffalo near Wind Cave.

More animals in the campgrounds, oops that’s Mike.

Keeping up with the theme for the day we stopped at the Mangy Moose, in Custer, for lunch. I was not sure this was a place I wanted to eat, but the food was fabulous. I had a Green Chile Burger that was to die for.

Mount Rushmore And Needles Highway

2010-04-22T19:06:00.001-05:00

Tuesday April 20th 2010

We had nothing planned for the day just get in the car and drive. We saw the sign for Needles Highway so we went in that direction.

What a ride, according to the brochure it is one of the most scenic drives in the US, and I would say that’s pretty darn true. If it had been a sunny day it would have added to the beauty. In many areas there was still snow on the ground

Hole in the wall picnic area, still ice on the stream and some snow.

The eye of needle, and the road leading to it.

You definitely do not want to drive a large vehicle on this highway, the tunnels are very small.

No MH was going to fit in the tunnels here. Onto Mount Rushmore and more switchbacks and scenic views.

Avenue Of Flags leading to the the faces.

Gutzon Borglum sculptor of the presidents.

90% of the work on the faces was done by blasting. Borglum worked on the sculpture for fourteen years, until his death in 1941.

Crazy Horse monument was just a few miles from Mount Rushmore so we stopped for a few minutes, it was raining pretty hard when we arrived.

The monument is 641 feet long and 563 feet high, very impressive.

Crazy Horse memorial houses the Indian Museum of North America, and they have a display of beaded work that is amazing. As you all know one of my hobbies is beading, this was so nice to see some beautiful work done by the Indians many year ago.

Black Hills South Dakota

2010-04-21T20:36:00.001-05:00

Monday April 19th 2010

On our way back to MN we are stopping in the Black Hills. Mike has never been and it’s been over 35 year the last time I was.

Our first stop was Custer State Park, were we will be staying the next few days. As we entered the park the first things we saw was a couple of buffalo.

A few minutes after we arrived it started to rain and did it let loose. It has rained for the last 10 days not all day rain but always some. Maybe it will be drier in SD.

State Game Lodge, which is just down the road from the campground we are staying.

The buffalo came to visit us at our campsite in the evening.

Boerne TX To Custer State Park SD

2010-04-20T21:36:00.001-05:00

After 4 days and 3 nights and over 1300 miles we are in South Dakota. Our first night on the road was spent at a Wal-Mart in Decatur TX, the second night was at a Wal-Mart parking lot in Dumas TX. We splurged the third night and spent it on the streets in Holyoke CO.

The city park in Holyoke was a welcome change for the parking lots. Our route was not on freeways but the less traveled roads and no RV or camp grounds. With the new MH it is a breeze to stop anyplace.

San Antonio TX

2010-04-20T21:13:00.001-05:00

Wednesday April 14th 2010

Our first stop in San Antonio was the Alamo. The Alamo, originally was known as Mission San Antonio de Valero, is a former Roman Catholic mission and fortress compound, site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836, and now a museum.

The Battle of the Alamo went on for 13 days, before the Mexican Army, led by Santa Anna, defeated the defenders of the Alamo. Three of the most well known defenders were, Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and the commander of the Alamo William Travis.

The grounds of the Alamo.

In the tomb are the remains of Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and William Travis. The tomb is in the Cathedral San Fernando.

San Fernando began March 9, 1731 when fifteen families arrived from the Canary Islands at the Presidio of San Antonio and were welcomed by Captain Juan Antonio de Almazan in the name of King Phillip V of Spain.

The rest of day was spent on the River Walk. The River Walk was built to stop the flooding in San Antonio in 1939. The work was done thru the Work Progress Administration (WPA) for a cost of $450,000. What a magnificent attraction for the downtown area. Twenty bridges and I’m not sure how long the walkways are, has to be a few miles.

We stopped at the Irish Pub for lunch and a glass of wine after our boat ride down the river.

We did some walking around the down town to see some of the old buildings. It was a great day in San Antonio, we hope to return and see more of the city.

All Class Rally Boerne TX

2010-04-17T15:21:00.001-05:00

We arrived at our destination, Boerne TX. Sunday afternoon. More rain and clouds are predicted for the week. Boerne is just 25 miles north of San Antonio, a place we plan to visit while at the rally.

A total of 25 rigs showed up and participated in this years all class rally. Lots of food and fun were had by all. We got reacquainted with old friends and met many new ones. We all shared many stories and had a great time catching up. We shared many meals together, so much good food.

The Hungary Horse Restaurant Monday evening.

One of the many meals we shared in the club house.

A few of the class members got together and put on a little skit. Just click on the link youtube video. The RGV Troupe presents Crazy Fulltimers. Yawl will love it,(like my Texas accent). Never laughed so hard, they really did a great job.

You have to watch the video.

A jam session with more of the class members.

A huge thanks to Norah Glover, Molly Pinner and Linda Fleeger for organizing and executing the rally. They all did a wonderful job, lots of time and effort goes into planning a rally.

Leaving Van Horne TX

2010-04-17T14:08:00.001-05:00

Saturday April 10th 2010

We got up early and on the road before 9am. That may not be early for many of you but for us these days it is plenty early. We have really gotten into relaxing and taken it easy. Mike relaxes more then I do, but I try.

I did a little driving today, my first attempt behind the wheel of the new MH. Mike was white knuckling it the whole time. He pretty much likes to be the one doing the driving. I just wanted a little practice just in case.

So many wild flowers along the roads, I’ve never seen anything like it. The colors of phenomenal. The bluebonnets are everywhere, they are the Texas state flower.

The pictures are not that great, it has been cloudy and raining since we left AZ.

TTs favorite spot when we are traveling. Had to throw a cat picture in, it’s been awhile.

We stopped for gas and saw the two car haulers with some pretty nice old cars on them.

Made it to Ozona TX today early in the afternoon so we spent a little time checking out the town. I love towns that have the town square with the gazebo in the center and the court house and other government buildings around it.

Ozona is the only town in Crockett County TX, hence the statue of Davy Crockett.

We ate dinner in the park. Lucky us the sun came out for a few hours in the evening. After dinner and walked around the town some.

This is a true drive-thru, never saw a drive-thru like this, pretty interesting. The Ice House is a liquor store, with beer coolers on both sides, you do have to get out of your car to get what you want, but if it’s raining you stay dry. Not sure what the building was before it became a liquor store.

We spent the night in the visitor center parking lot, no RV parks in town.

Benson AZ

2010-04-09T20:59:00.001-05:00

We left Apache Junction Tuesday April 6th and headed east to Benson AZ for a few days. The Saguaro SKP park we stay at in Benson has a woodworking shop that Mike loves. He is doing some finishing and trim work on the MH. I wanted to catch up on the laundry, and cleaning some of the dirt and dust that has accumulated in the MH.

Today Friday April 9th we departed Benson and are headed toward San Antonio TX, 820 miles. The trip should take us at least 3 days, depends if we see something interesting on the way.

We drove 400 miles and saw a few wildflowers along the freeway near Las Cruces NM. We were going 60 mph when I shot the pictures thru the windshield of the MH. The Joshua Trees were blooming along the freeway near El Paso TX.

We are spending the night in a parking lot in Van Horn TX along highway 10.

Our first Earth Quake

2010-04-05T20:17:00.001-05:00

We are once again in Apache Junction. I had a doctor appointment at the Mayo for more blood work. We had wonderful news, my liver function is back to normal, the doctor was very pleased, and Mike and I were ecstatic. The MH went in for some warranty work last Friday, all the problems were addressed.

Easter Sunday we had dinner in the RV park with 50 other guests. The park supplied the ham and everyone brought a dish to share. Charles and Nancy are in the same park we are and we spent some time with them on Sunday.

The late afternoon Mike and I were napping when the earth quake hit Mexico. It was felt here in the park by everyone but Mike and I. We missed our first earth quake. I guess that’s a good thing.

We have a resident owl in the park.

He usually stays hidden until dark, but Mike got lucky and spotted him before dusk.

After dark hootie took to the skies, landed on this light in front of our MH.

A blooming Saguaro cactus. We have been looking for a blooming Saguaro for years in AZ, and this is the first one we found. The people whose yard it is in said this is the first time all the arms have blooms on them.

Some of the flowers here in the park. We are so lucky to see so many things blooming this year.

Our second day back in Apache Junction we went to a baseball game, the Chicago Cubs And LA Angles. The Cubs lost big time.

Joshua Tree National Park CA

2010-04-02T18:45:00.001-05:00

As we were leaving the coast I snapped some pictures of the road ahead of us.

It is a shock leaving lush green southern California and entering the desert again. I personally love the dessert and this year it is going to be very colorful with all the rain southern AZ had this winter. Some flowers are already in bloom.

We stopped at Joshua Tree National Park in south eastern California. April is peak visitation month for the park. Each season adds its personality to the desert's character. Two deserts come together at Joshua Tree National Park. The Colorado Desert, occupying the eastern half of the park, and the higher, slightly cooler and wetter Mojave Desert is the habitat of the Joshua tree, extensive stands of which grow throughout the western half of the park.

The Joshua tree, is a giant member of the lily family, and the flower is a giant.

Many different rock formations are found in the park.

The first picture is Skull Rock and the second didn’t have a name but to me it looks like an alien.

Mike took some pictures of flowers around the MH. We are camped right outside of the National park.

The moon came up before the sun set. The sunset was unbelievable.

Leaving San Diego

2010-03-31T12:55:00.001-05:00

Friday and Saturday March 26th and 27th 2010

As much as we loved San Diego there was much more to see down the road.

We are headed to San Clemente up the coast. This is the first heavy traffic we ran into in California.

Along the Pacific Coast Highway. The higher you are on the hill the bigger your house. It was a nice drive once we got thru the traffic. We spent the night at the Wal-Mart in San Clemente, much quieter then the RV park in San Diego.

We got up early Saturday, had a full day planned. A little site seeing and then off to the beach for a afternoon of sun and relaxation.

Our first stop was San Juan Capistrano, home of the oldest building in California still in use, a Chapel built in 1782.

The miracle of the Swallows of Capistrano takes place each year at the mission on March 19th St. Joseph’s Day. The Cliff swallows fly from Goya Argentina each spring to nest in the walls of the old mission. At summers end on the day of San Juan October 23, they fly back to Goya.

Leaving San Juan we drove up the coast to Laguna Beach. Thirty-five years ago when I was here it was a small town no spot lights an artist community. I was in shock, a nice place to visit, but boy is it a tourist town now.

After leaving Laguna we headed back to San Clemente to spend the rest of the day on the beach.

I saw this license plate and had to get a picture, only in California. “FROMMYX”. Click on the Picture to enlarge.

Mike’s beach attire. We did spend the day reading, relaxing, and watching the surfers and sail boats go by.

That evening we headed back to Wal-Mart for the night. In the morning we will be leaving California and heading to Joshua Tree National Park.

Balboa Park And A Welcome Home Party For The USS Nimitz

2010-03-29T21:43:00.000-05:00

Thursday March 25th 2010

Donna, Mike and I spent the day at San Diego’s Balboa Park. Rita spent the day with her granddaughter who lives on Coronado Island.

Balboa Park is made up of more than 1000 acres and offers fifteen museums, various gardens, arts and international culture centers, as well as the San Diego Zoo.

Many of the museums along Balboa Park’s streets are housed in Spanish Colonial Revival buildings, originally built for the 1915-1919 Panama-California Exposition. It was the first time that this architectural style had been used in the US.

The conservatory and grounds, unfortunately the conservatory is closed on Thursdays. We could only walk around and admire the building from the outside.

Pictures of the Japanese Friendship Garden.

More flowers and the Bell Tower.

One of the many buildings that house the museums.

Sandwiches in the park, I don’t believe there is a more beautiful place to have a picnic lunch.

Mike took this picture of a mask in the Museum Of Man. He didn’t get any history on it, but I thought it deserved a place in the blog.

The landing capsule from Apollo 9 in the Air And Space Museum.

A Indian motorcycle in the History of Automobiles Museum.

That evening the four of us were invited to a pre-homecoming party for the USS Nimitz on the USS Midway. Rita’s granddaughter is married to a sailor aboard the Nimitz, and she invited us along.

Friday morning at 5:30 am Donna and Rita left for the actual homecoming of the Nimitz. I said my goodbyes Friday night , but Mike got and saw them off.

Another great day! Who thought you could have so many in a row. Thanks to Donna and Rita for being our personal Tour guides. And sorry about the cats, they do like to play at night, and your bed was in the middle of their runway. Hope you got some sleep.

A Day On Coronado Island CA

2010-03-29T16:15:00.000-05:00

Wednesday March 24th 2010

We spent the day shopping and site seeing on the island of Coronado.
San Diego and the surrounding area is the most amazing place. I can see why so many people live there, everything is clean and green, people seem to take pride in their town.

Our first stop was the Hotel del Coronado, rich in history and beautiful. An Historic landmark for more than 120 years.

Eleven US presidents spent time at the Del starting with Benjamin Harrison in 1891. One of the resorts most famous visitor was England's Prince of Whales in 1920. He would later become King Edward VIII. He gave up the throne in 1936 to marry Coronado divorcee Wallis Spencer Simpson.

Of course many Hollywood celebrities' have stayed at the Del. Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon made the movie some like it hot at the hotel. Others that stayed were Brad Pitt and Madonna.

What Victorian resort would be complete without a ghost? Kate Morgan checked into the resort in 1892 and never checked out. Many reports of ghostly happenings have been circulating at the Del ever since.

The chandelier and flowers in the lobby were breathtaking.

The bar off the main lobby. I just could not resist the white sand beach and the ocean.

Mike and Donna do a little relaxing while Rita and I did some shopping. I tried to spend some of Mike’s money, but couldn’t find something I really wanted, or I could afford. Also a shot the San Diego from the Island.

We drove to the island but took the fairy back to San Diego. Mike wanted to tour the USS Midway and the girls and I were going to do more shopping.

The USS Midway was Lunched on March 20th 1945. Decommissioned in San Diego on April 11th, 1992 and is now a museum.

First Kiss, in Times Square is a famous photograph by Albert Eisenstaedt that portrays an American Sailor kissing a woman in Times Square on V-J day August 14th 1945.

Peddle power, a bicycle pulling us around the pier, and our fairy ride.

We took the fairy back to Coronado Island to pick up the car and head back to the MH. Another great day in San Diego.

San Diego Wild Animal Park

2010-03-28T19:53:00.000-05:00

Tuesday March 23, 2010

We spent all day Tuesday at the Wild Animal Park. Started out with the tram ride around the park to see the large animals.

This guy was watching us as we were waiting for the tram.

The giraffes were my favorite, and I can identify them, must of the animals I have forgotten what they are, Mike was no help. Sorry.

A water buffalo with her baby. Pretty sure the baby was called a cow.

On to the birds.

The Green Winged Macaw and the Hyacinth Macaw, two beautiful birds. I think they posed for the camera.

Red-knobbed Hornbill and West African Crowned Crane.

Demoiselle Crane, enlarge the picture and check out it’s red eye. The last of the bird pictures the pink flamingo.

Mike’s sister Donna, Mike and Rita. Lunch time.

A few of my flower pictures.

The purple flowers picture would have been nicer without the no smoking sign.

This is just a small portion of the pictures we took, after looking at these you will never have to see another animal park.

We had such a good day, some much fun and many many laughs.

On To San Diego

2010-03-28T12:05:00.000-05:00

Monday March 22, 2010

Monday morning we left our desert oasis, and headed for the city of San Diego 145 mile trip. We stayed at Santa Fe RV park a Passport America park, a discount camping club we belong to. We pay half price for belonging, and even at half price it was to much. Highway 5 was in front of us and the railroad tracks were behind us. There was no sitting outside for happy hour, way to much noise.

Mike’s sister Donna and her friend Rita were spending a few days with us. Donna lives in Minnesota and Rita lives in Lake Forest CA, they have been friends since high school.

Rita is going to be our tour guide while in the area. I was in southern CA on vacation with the kids 35 years ago, and boy have things changed. Looking foward to some adventures.

The Guys Went On A Road Trip

2010-03-22T11:50:00.000-05:00

The Old Plank Road is located in Imperial County in California.

The road went from west of Yuma AZ to San Diego CA. The first planks were laid Feb. 14th 1915 and finished April 14, 1915. Crossing the plank road was both an adventure and a trail. For 10 years the road was in service. Today only fragments of the plank road remain.

Off to the dunes and checked out vehicles used for riding on them.

What a guy Mike is he even took time to take some pictures of the wild flowers blooming in the desert.

With all the rain the area has had this winter the wild flowers should give us a pretty good show in a few weeks.

On the way back to camp they ran into a car fire on Highway 8.

To keep going with the fire theme we had a small camp fire in the evening.

A perfect ending to a perfect day.

Salton Sea To The Mud Pots and Volcanoes

2010-03-21T14:17:00.001-05:00

After lunch we drove out to the Salton Sea, which is one of the world’s largest inland seas and lowest spot on earth at –226 ft. below sea level.

Bombay Beach is located on the east shore of the Salton Sea and, like many communities along its shores, has had to contend with rising and falling water levels. A berm now protects the west end of the town but a portion of the town beyond the berm is either sunken under water or is half-buried in mud. Bombay Beach is very near to the San Andreas Fault.

As you can see from the pictures the devastation from floods and hurricanes is unbelievable.

Some of the houses away from the beach area have survived over the years and are pretty unique. Many people still live in the town.

Leaving the Salton Sea we headed to the mud pots and mud volcanoes. Not a well marked spot but we found it.

Double, double toil and trouble fire burning, and cauldron bubble. A few of us ended up with mud on our clothes from the bubbling.

Mud pots and mud volcanoes are geothermal features produced when water or gas is forced upward through the soil. Mud pots can assume a variety of forms, typically being depressions or enclosed basins containing gas seeps, bubbling water or mud. Mud pots can also be water-laden and appear as bubbling muddy water. Mud volcanoes, on the other hand, are elevated cone structures composed of accumulations of mud extruded from a hole. They range from finger-sized to several feet across, though the largest in the Salton Sea area are about 3 feet high.

Mud bath anyone? You first. A person can pay big money for a mud bath at a spa and here it’s free.

If you look in the upper right hand corner of the picture on the right you can see a mud spout shooting up.

Top of a mud volcano.

What a great day and all this within a hundred miles of our campsite. More adventures to come.

Bubbling mud pot Click on this link and it will take you to YouTube were I found a video of the mud pots.

Salvation Mountain To Slab City

2010-03-21T12:33:00.001-05:00

We took a tour of the area Friday. The eight of us piled into 2 vehicles and down the road we went looking for adventure.

Our first stop was Salvation Mountain, located in the lower desert of Southern California in Imperial County just east of the Salton Sea and about a half hour from Palm Springs. I have heard about and even seen pictures of the mountain, but never expected it to be so big and, well not sure what word would describe it.

Lenard Knight is the artist who spent 20 years painting his gospel message on the mountain he built. He lives in his truck in the desert summer and winter, and has for the last 24 years. He is now 79 and gets up a 5 am to work on the mountain. What dedication.

I think Leonard will slap some paint on just about anything. The mountain is built with adobe clay and straw, and Leonard estimates he has used over 100,000 gallons of paint on the project, which has been donated by the visitors to the mountain.

Slab City was next on our tour, located next to Salvation Mountain.

Slab City is 129 feet below sea level. Located four miles east of Niland on an abandoned World War II Navy base, Camp Dunlap. Slab City isn't actually a city at all, it's more a loose community of squatters, snowbirds and nomads who've made their home on 640 acres of open desert. Some of the people live year around here with no water or electricity. Imagine living in 100 plus temps in the summer without air conditioning.

If you want to purchase some art this is the man to see.

There are no comforts out here in the desert, not sure how most of the people survive.

Not everyone is living in poverty, someone has a Jaguar car.

From here we stopped in the town of Niland for lunch

I will finish the tour in my next post.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-20T11:48:00.001-05:00

I think everyone has a bit of Irish in them on St. Paddy’s Day. I’m Irish and proud of it, and Mike has a bit of Irish but very seldom admits it, but then he is polish.

Charles and Mike installed a new water pump in the MH today, the original one stopped working. Lucky for us Mike had a spare.

Charles and Mike were just wrapping up the installation when Ken and LeeAnn showed up. They were on their way back from Long Beach CA were they spent a week with friends.

We spent some time visiting on then went on a little tour of the American Mexico border.

The fence is quit the structure. I m not really sure how long it is everything I have read gives me a different length. I know it is not one continuous structure it stops and starts many times. If you click on the fence link you can read a little more about it. Everywhere you look there are cameras on the electrical poles, microphones and lighting. Less then 5 minutes of entering the fence area 3 border patrol vehicles pulled up to to check us out, or maybe it was just break time.

This area of California has lots of sand dunes for dune buggies. You can watch them speeding around all over on the desert.

We had a great visit with Ken and LeeAnn and will see them again in Apache Junction when we return for our warranty work on the MH.

Perfect Weather And Lemon Meringue Pie

2010-03-16T20:28:00.001-05:00

The weather has been perfect here in the desert. In the 80s with only a slight breeze, just right in the shade.

Nancy made Mike’s favorite pie, her famous lemon meringue pie for desert one afternoon. Oh boy was Mike in heaven.

We are camped next to the All American Canal. Mike and I walk for an hour every morning, well just about every morning, along the canal. Mike thinks instead of going to the laundry mat I could get a couple of rocks and do the wash in the canal (I don’t think so).

North east from the hydroelectric plant the canal is done in concrete in the other direction it is all natural. As you can see there is a road that runs along the canal and that’s were we walk.

A few wild flowers are starting to bloom.

I wish I could identify the flowerers for you, but I have no idea. I should probably get a book of wildflowers in the desert so I know what I am taking pictures of.

So far this is the most wildlife we have seen in this area, other then the birds. Ants everywhere, big ants.

The first picture is looking at the MH from the direction of the canal. The second picture is our MH, Steve and Sandy’s and last is Charles and Nancy’s.

We Headed West

2010-03-14T21:55:00.001-05:00

Mike Called Robert Christ RV, about our warranty work, we were able to wait until we return to Apache Junction in April. We have a 30 day warranty on the MH and that is up the 17th or March, but Robert Christ RV was kind enough to extend it for us.

We are boondocking about 35 miles from nowhere, actually Yuma AZ is 35 miles west and El Central California is 35 miles east. We are in California at Tamarisk BLM land (bureau of land management)

Before we left the Gypsy Journal Rally we got a picture of our small group.

Sandy and Steve, Nancy and Charles, Me and Mike, Deb and Charlie. What a good time we all had. That is our MH in the back ground.

The border between Arizona and California. After going thru this stop we had the border patrol looking for illegal's and traffic was really backed up for that.

No amenities here, no electric, water just a dumpster for your trash. There is 5 MH parked in the area and we know them all. We are only a mile or so from the Mexican border.

Right behind us is a dam and hydro electric plant.

We plan on spending 10 days in this area before we leave for San Diego.

Gypsy Journal Rally

2010-03-11T18:11:00.001-06:00

Yuma AZ

Catching up with old friends and meeting new friends.

New friends Bev and Charlie Wilson. Sandy Allgire and Bev were high school friends, lost touch for many years and met once again in Quartzsite AZ last winter. We had a little get together Wednesday evening before the entertainment.

Mike and I have went to a few seminars, I took a couple of genealogy classes and Swedish weaving. Mike was more interested in the technical seminars, fire safety, RV weight safety and electrical systems. He spent his days getting knowledgeable, and I spent my days having fun.

Our evenings were spent with about 400 other people being entertained by singers and entertainers. Lots of fun was had by all.

One of the entertainers was David Bradley and well known singer and yodeler. He sang lots of cowboy songs by the old old singers, Roy Rogers era. He put on a great show. The other entertainer was Michael Hargis, another singer who did a fine job, he sang country western and pop.

Charles and Nancy showing off their dancing skills… Mike and I took a turn around the dance floor later.

The Yuma County Fair Grounds is across the street from the Marine Air Station. The plans fly over 12 to 14 hours a day. They fly so low you could almost pick them out of the sky, and noisy, you cannot hold a conversation when they are flying over. Made for some down time in the seminars.

Tonight will be our last night here, and not sure if we will be moving on to California with Steve and Sandy and Charles and Nancy or going back to Apache Junction to have more warranty work done on the MH. A few more issues popped up, the front air conditioner is not functioning and the on board generator seems to be not performing properly.

We picked up our mail today, I love it when we get our mail, nothing thrills me more. Boy I'm pretty easy.