August 31, 2014 "Why Are You Snoring?"

Ashlynn and Zade sent Saturday night with us.  Ashlynn was still tired from all of the cheerleading Friday night.  About ten p.m. she decided she "wanted her momma.  I miss my momma."
      "I don't like all these lights."
     "What's that noise?"

It was just about a meltdown.  Of course Zade heard her so he "wanted his momma", too.

They both calmed down and went to sleep.  Poppy Glen ended up on the sofa bed; Zade was on twin air mattress; and Ashlynn was with me....for a while.

Zade came in and said he had a bad dream.  He crawled into bed with us. Sometime later he poked me on the shoulder and said "why are you snoring?"  I told him I didn't know I was.  I guess it was loud enough to awaken him.  He went back to his bed.  

They both were up by 7 a.m.  Glen slept through it all!  :}

We went to church, then enjoyed lunch at Panera's.  

Darin/Sarah + family had evening plans.  We have enjoyed the day of doing nothing...or as we described earlier this afternoon...."the height of laziness!"

August 29, 2014 Cheer Camp **Photos added

Ashlynn went to a mini-cheer camp this afternoon after school.  

Ashlynn in purple shirt. (taken with my phone)

She and 75 other first through fifth graders met with the junior varsity and varsity cheerleaders from Cape Girardeau High School for two hours.  They learned one cheer and one dance.  They got to keep their pom-poms, and got a t-shirt.

The mini-cheerleaders assisted the official cheer team in welcoming the team on the field, danced with the band, and performed their cheer at half time.

Ashlynn thought it was great fun, except....her feet and legs hurt!  She told her parents she wanted to be on the dance team.  They got to sit down except for when they were dancing.  The cheer leaders stood up ALL of the time!  She's no dummy!

I treated myself today to a massage.  Wow, did it feel good, and relaxed those shoulder and neck muscles.  

Glen had lab/blood work this morning, then met with the oncologist.  The report was good.  The white blood count was up a little, but not enough to be concerned about.  Thank you, Lord.  

Have a great week end.

P.S.  I tried posting a picture of cheer camp from my phone, but having problems with Yahoo.  Darin also tried sending me emails, and Yahoo did not receive them.  I will try again later.  Darin is going to work on the computer tomorrow.

August 29, 2014 Gymnastics

Don't get excited!  I didn't enroll for a gymnastics' class.

We took Ashlynn to her gymnastics' class.  Ashlynn is very flexible and has great upper arm strength.  Darin went with Zade to Cub Scouts; Sarah was returning from St. Louis (continuing education/training).

Glen went to the local RV service company to check on the refrigerator order.  It was confirmed that the RV refrigerator was ordered yesterday.  They don't have any idea how long until delivery, but we have an appointment for installation as soon as it comes in.  I just hope it is days and not weeks!

This afternoon out of the sky rumbles thunder and lightning flashed and the rain fell---over the rv park.  We went less than a mile (on our way to pick up Ashlynn and Zade) and the road surface was dry.  Rain gauge says there was .84" of rain.  Best of all, it is about 10-12 degrees cooler than last night.

August 27, 2014 Sister and Corvettes

We met Jan and Bruce for breakfast this morning.  

The Corvette Caravan was still roaming around Cape Girardeau.  Here's a few that was parking on the lot at the Mall.

The camera lens fogged up when I took it out of the a/c'd truck to the hot, humid outdoors.

Here's Jan and Bruce with their Corvette.

This is Glen admiring Bruce's Corvette.

A huge barge was tied up near the Floodwall in downtown Cape Girardeau. 

 Glen and Bruce and the Mighty Mississippi River.

Gayla and Jan.

The visit with Jan and Bruce was grand.  They are enjoying their retirement--and so are we.

August 25-26, 2014 Guess Who Came to Visit?

Monday    
I am trying to remember if we left the motor home yesterday.  I don't think so until time to visit with Darin, Sarah, Ashlynn, and Zade after school. 

Tuesday    
Hurray! my sister, Jan and hubby Bruce drove from central Missouri to Cape Girardeau.  Just for a visit!  We drove around Cape Girardeau to show them around the area.  This is Jan's first visit to Cape Girardeau.

We picked up Ashlynn and Zade who screamed with joy to see Aunt Jan and Uncle Bruce.  Ashlynn and Zade were able to show their rooms to Aunt Jan.  After Darin got home we all met Sarah at "Dexter Bar-B-Q" for dinner.

We have enjoyed visiting and catching up with Jan and Bruce.  We needed this visit.

If it had been cooler than 90 degrees at 5:30 we would have gone downtown to see the hundreds of Corvettes in town.  Cape Girardeau is an overnight stop for a Corvette Caravan, headed to Corvette Headquarters in Bowling Green, KY.  

It's breakfast time Wednesday morning with Jan and Bruce.

August 23-24, 2014 Week-End

Saturday 

For your information the state of hibernation can be attained during late summer. An air temperature of 99 degrees and 85-90 percent humidity can bring on this state!

Glen and I stayed in the coolness of the air-conditioned motor home all day with the exception of a trip to Walmart for prescription refills.

Sunday

It was only 96 degrees this afternoon.  The heat just hits you in the face when you open the door.

It was playtime with Ashlynn and Zade and Sarah and Darah this afternoon and evening.  Zade begged to go out to play pitch and catch, but everyone said "No!".  

We played Uno, Ashlynn had a pedicure, Zade played video baseball.  

It was a great afternoon.

August 22, 2014 Going to Plan C

After much measuring, discussion, looking at residential refrigerators, Glen discovered this afternoon that a residential refrigerator will not fit into the space of the present refrigerator.  Because the present refrig is in the slide-out room of the MH, there isn't room to enlarge the space to fit a residential.  Darn it.

Options left: 
   A.  repair this refrigerator--it will still be ten years old with old parts, and be smelly.
   B.  replace this refrigerator with the current model of the same type--everything will be new, there will be a warranty, and it will fit and not be smelly.

Final Decision--buy a new RV refrigerator.  Glen is talking to local RV dealer/shop about a schedule.  Hopefully won't be too long.

August 21, 2014 The End of the Alaska Saga

Since the saga of going to-being in-and leaving Alaska has come to an end, and; since we are parked in one place for a month, the daily entries are going to slow down; and, since temperatures are in the upper 90's with heat index at 105 degrees, I am going to hibernate!  I don't appreciate heat and high humidity!

I know you don't really care that we slept late, shopped for refrigerators, made two trips to the local RV dealer/service shop, picked up Ashlynn and Zade after school, and ended the day with a trip to Walmart.

BTW regular unleaded gas tonight at the local Walmart with appropriate credit card was $3.00/9 per gallon.  What a difference from Canada, Alaska, and western states.  

Just check back once in a while.  If something is decided about the refrigerator--our all-consuming project at the moment---I will post.  There is a place to log into on the blog page to be notified by email when a blog is posted.  You might find that helpful to have a reminder when something is posted.

Another thought:  you can let us know what is happening in your life!

August 20, 2014 Grandchildren ! (The Landing Point RV Park, Cape Girardeau, MO)

I was so excited to see Ashlynn and Zade that I forgot the camera!

They are going to a different After-School program this school year.  We hadn't been there yet.  We rode with Darin to pick them up, BUT, he didn't tell them we were in the Jeep.  He did tell them there was a surprise in the Jeep for them.

Surprise!  It was Grammi and Poppi!  Ashlynn told me I was better than a puppy!  I told her I was honored she felt I was better than a puppy!

We did stop at a RV and Bus Service shop this morning in O'Fallon MO.  Bottom line, we weren't impressed with the staff or with the discussion.  We felt they didn't want to work with us on what we wanted.  We will figure out a Plan B.  We know what we want; the question will be where to get that done.

We are missing the temps that we had in the mountains - both Canadian and Alaskan--that we had all summer!  It was 97 degrees this afternoon.  We will be hibernating as long as it is this hot!  

August 19, 2014 On the Road Again! (Cottonwood RV Park, Columbia, MO)

We left Sioux Falls SD this morning early - for us- 7:30 a.m..  The route then went through Nebraska, Iowa, and finally "Welcome to Missouri!"

It was May 30 when we left Missouri, heading to Alaska.

We are stopped at a great RV park in Columbia, MO.  It will be a fairly short hop to O'Fallon Missouri, where we will stop at a RV Service company.  Unless the RV Service company tells us they can work on the refrigerator Wednesday afternoon or Thursday, we will go on to Cape Girardeau.  

Can't wait to see Ashlynn and Zade and their parents.

August 18, 2014 Windshield Driving (Driveway of friends, Sioux Falls, SD)

Glens calls days like today---"windshield driving"----set the cruise control, watch out the windshield, and click off the miles.  That's today.

We stayed on interstate all day, speed limit 75 mph (cruise control at 70 mph), and click off those miles.

Friends Jim and Dee arrived in Sioux Falls last evening.  They are parked at Dee's daughter's home.  We were invited to park here also.  It's a very nice parking site!  Beautiful green grass, landscaped flower beds, and a paved driveway--the best ever kind of sites..

Jim and Dee gave us a tour of Sioux Falls tonight after dinner.  The "falls" in Sioux Falls are on the Big Sioux River.  There are numerous red granite rocks of various sizes that causes the river to "fall."  The area has been revitalized in the past five years, Dee tells us.  The city planners have done an excellent job of highlighting the beauty of the river.

We will be back on the interstate tomorrow. Glen has spoken to a RV service shop that is familiar with RV refrigerators and know how to replace them.  They will look at our RV when we get there, hopefully Wednesday midday.

School started today for our daughter and her family.  Landon is a senior; Brady is eleventh grade --going to high school in the morning and college in the afternoon; Natalie is tenth grade; and Tanner ninth grade.  And...Trisha teaches seventh.  That is one busy household!

August 17, 20143 Sticker Price (Walmart Parking Lot, Bismarck, North Dakota)

It has been a shock, sticker shock, to pay for a meal and it be less than $25-40 (lol).  Taco Bell was less than $12 tonight.  Taco Bell was in walking distance of the motor home and it was about to rain.  

Eating out in Canada and Alaska is sticker shock the other way!  I guess just because most food is either shipped in or flown in Alaska thinks high prices are okay!  

Today we drove south from Williston to I-94, then west to Bismarck.

We did a driving tour through Roosevelt National Park.  The national park is also known as "North Dakota's Badlands."  A ranger told us the "badlands" run north all the way to Saskatchewan.  

The Badlands in South Dakota is more colorful.  The Badlands in Roosevelt NP are still very impressive geology.  If a traveler is traveling to the northwest I would recommend going north through Roosevelt National Park, then west on Highway 2 through Montana.

 North Dakota's Badlands

A herd of Plains' Bison 

 More of the Badlands with a lone bison.

 An oxbow in the Little Missouri River in the national park.

The Badlands.

 A field of sunflowers!

Salem Sue, world's largest Holstein cow, New Salem, North Dakota

The drive from the Williston to near Bismarck has been taken over by the newest "fracking" exploration.  Two miles below the surface of western North Dakota -  a formation called the Bakken,  is rich with oil reserves.  Until recently the oil was not extractable.  A new and controversial technique - hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" ha allowed oil companies to more than quadruple their daily oil production in the last five years. 

"The land areas of three national parks in ND combined makes up less than 1% of the area known as the Bakken Oil Field.  These tiny islands of natural landscape are being surrounded by development.  New wells are going in every month; many can be seen from inside the park boundaries.  Each new well means another drill rig, well pad, pumpjack, debris pit, flare pit, storage tanks, and access road on the landscape.  Each new well requires 2000 "trucking events" to complete its setup and to begin pumping oil.  Noise and dust from heavy truck traffic and pumping equipment is constant.  Numerous flares can be seen in the formerly dark night sky as excess natural gas burned off.  The oil boom begs a difficult question:  how can we develop our resources while still protecting our parks and wildlife?!  (Visitor Guide, National Park Sites of North Dakota, page 16)   

Glen and I had much discussion about the area and the difficult question mentioned in the quote. Obviously we are a supporter of national parks and the many acres protected by the government.  But, what about "progress"?

August 16, 2014 Out of Montana, Into North Dakota (Walmart Parking lot, Williston, N.D.)

Driving across Montana on Highway 2 was a pleasure.  The last 10 miles or so of Highway 2 in Montana was rough, but that was all.

Highway 2 is mostly straight, through the high plains, with very little traffic.  We saw only cattle, thousands of thousands of acres of wheat, both combined and still standing in the field.  The fields were endless, the skies were blue with an occasional high white fluffy cloud.  On the horizon on the south side of the highway there was many high ridges formed by erosion.

We are heading south tomorrow on Highway 85 toward Roosevelt National Park.  Theodore Roosevelt visited this area and ended up owning parts of two ranches.  There will be pictures tomorrow.

By the way we are back in the Central Time Zone!  And, the satellite is working.  There is cell service, and WIFI is working.

August 15, 2014 "Going to the Sun" Road, Glacier National Park

Mark the "Going to the Sun Road" off of the wish list!  We made it today.

We started from the east gate, drove the 49 mile road, and back.  Big deal, you might say.
Yes, it is a Big Deal.  The road is two lane; vehicles are limited to 21-feet in length or less, and 8-feet in width or less including mirrors.

Vehicles on the inside hug the rocky outcroppings of the mountain.  Vehicles coming up the mountain like to crowd or go over the yellow line because the stone walls on the outside edge of the road are only 24" tall.

The reason for doing this crazy drive is the beautiful scenery: mountains, bubbly streams, tall trees, glacier, snow banks.

 Lake St. Mary

Rugged mountain top

The camera doesn't show the distance, the textures, the height

 Oh, yes, it rained on the return trip, from the west gate back to the summit

 The clouds were low

 Some of the stone work around the edges of the road.  How would you like to be the stonemason working on this project?

 Ground squirrel.

The day was made better with Marcella and Jeff with us.

After a so-so dinner at the Two Sisters, 5 miles north of here, we enjoyed the fellowship of Farkel, and spades.  

Jeff and Marcella are heading south in the morning toward Yellowstone, and eventually the Grand Canyon.

We will go a few miles to the south and then east on Highway 2 across Montana.

August 14, 2014 Pictures from the Ferry Ride

 These two beautiful bald eagles were on sentry duty when we left Haines.

 The ferry "Mananuska" will take us from Haines to Prince Rupert, BC

 Glen driving the motorhome onto the ferry.

 Our stateroom on the ferry.

 The top deck of the ferry.  People staked out their recliner for the journey.  

 Oceanside RV Park in Haines as seen from the ferry.

Lighthouse #1 seen on the Inside Passage during the ferry ride.

 Lighthouse #2.

The Mendanhall Glacier near Juneau.

 Sunset at the end of Thursday, August 7.

 Lighthouse #3.

 Close quarters in the belly of the ferry.  That's our MH on the right.  Jim/Dee's beige/maroon in front.

Jim/Dee's MH next to our pick up. 
  

 There was enough space to walk between.

 Shipping containers stacked for loading onto a ship.  Notice pick up and boat/trailer on the very top.

One of many totem poles on display in Ketchikan.  This one was in the Forest Service Visitor's Center.

Lighthouse #4