We are home after a delightful visit with our two grandchildren in Charleston, SC. We are so proud of them. Callan, age 17 is a senior in the Charleston School of the Arts. She is an acting major and spent a month at Julliard this summer. Brock is 14 and a straight A freshman in High School. Son Jon is seeing some uptick in boat sales and we had a fun filled dinner with the him, Rosemarie and the grandkids.
We arrived home yesterday, October 16th at 1PM. Spent a very hot and humid afternoon removing a ton of stuff from the RV followed by a stupendous dinner at Joann Kidd's with the Dines as well.
For those of you who may be interested in the statistics of our summer we offer the following.

Days away from Punta Gorda   139 (4 1/2 months)
Days traveling in the RV             37
RV miles                                 9,973
Most miles in RV in one day     551
Fewest miles in one day              87
Average RV miles per day        270
Diesel gallons purchased        1237.5
Average price per gallon              3.93
RV miles per gallon                     8.06
Diesel dollars                        $4868.43
Diesel dollars per mile                  $.488
Miles put on tow car                7571
Average per day                           74
States travelled                             21
Staes visited                                 22  (We visited Alaska via cruise ship. Penny and I can now say that we have been in all 50 states during our married life)

North Carolina has a lot going for it. It is steeped in natural beauty and there is a lot to do here. We spent 3 days in Murphy where we had a summer home a few years ago. We also have a lot that has been on the market for 5 years!!! We had intended to build on it until Dodd-Frank and a Democratic Congress ravished the worth of real estate around the country. It probably has the best long view of the Smokies available and yet no offers, even at a price 20% below our purchase price. Go figure.
The best of North Carolina was yet to come.
This is it. We are now in the middle of a one week visit to George, Cindy and Ryan's place in Concord, the heart of NASCAR country. What a great visit. Ryan clinched the Concord Race Course 2012 championship before we got here with 3 races to go on the schedule. All three final races were held this weekend. Ryan used his back up car ( to save his primary car foe the National championship race to be held in Atlanta later this month) and finished second on old tires in the first race. In the second race he was vying for the lead in the last turn of the last lap when he was wrecked. The car wasn't hurt badly and he won the last race of the season in dramatic fashion after starting in the 8th position. What a blast! It was Ryan's 26th win this year.
Ryan is tied for first place nationwide. This tie will be settled in Atlanta on October 27th. We will be there. The best drivers in the country will be there. If he finishes 20th or better, he will be the national champion. If he comes in last or is wrecked, he will come in second (not likely).

Although we have a 180 degree view of 4 mountain ranges, this is a sample of our view taken on a very rainy day.

"OK Papa, I'll get a win for you."

Last minute check.

In the winners circle!! Yes, I know I look a bit chunky. It was in the low 30s and I have five layers on. (at least that is part of the reason for the chunky look.)









Ryan and his friend, Shawnasee, at a celebration dinner.

Kentucky is horse (and bourbon) country. Today we'll talk about horses. Lexington is the place for show horses and the center of the universe for these magnificent  creatures is the Kentucky Horse Park. This state owned facility has hundreds of fenced grazing acres for horses, arenas, museums and display areas for all varieties of horses. The Park is also the retirement home for some of the world's most famous horses. The Park also has a large RV park with spacious sites.
We were lucky because the Park was sponsoring trials for dressage and jumpers for a subsequent competition. This was big stuff and an amazing experience where we could watch hundreds of very well trained horses and equestrians doing their very best to qualify.

This paint is approaching the circle where dressage judges will score the quality of the ride. The three judges sit in the small shed to the right of the picture.

A beautiful horse, well groomed and ready to go.













Last gate...up, up and away.

It has been a while since our last entry. Certainly you were not expecting pictures from Nebraska or Iowa were you? The tour of the Winnebago plant in Forest City, Iowa was fascinating and worthwhile but photos were not allowed.
Today was Ella's 13th birthday and the last day of our 11 day visit with our daughter, Jennifer and her family in Madison, Wisconsin. What a great time although we woke up to 32 degree weather for three consecutive days. As Penny said, "at least it is better than the 110 degree temps in Phoenix... here I can at least put more cloths on."
We saw a couple of movies and several past clips from 30 Rock but we also had a great tour of the Horicon. The Horicon is a huge marsh in the center of Wisconsin and is a major stop of the migration highway of Canadian geese. Probably more than 100,000 geese stop here to fatten up for flights south. When they take flight it darkens the sky. Our only problem was that the migration season starts in mid-October. We did see a few thousand early arrival geese.


From the left, Matt, Ella, Jennifer and Matthew at the Horicon.

Fall is arriving













Ella, now a teenager, just opened a birthday gift. As of today, all of our grandchildren are teenagers.











Sadie, before grooming

After grooming. Notice the expression on her face. It seems to say, "What the hell did you do to me. It's cold here." We bought her a coat.

We are in Iowa near Des Moines today. Arrived here in two days from Colorado Springs. Tomorrow we will start a two day stay at the Winnebago factory in Forest City, Iowa where our motorhome was built. We will have some minor repairs made and also tour the plant.
We only had one day at Colorado Springs so decided to travel to the top of Pikes Peak. No, we didn't hike to the summit nor did we drive our underpowered car there. We boarded the cog train and rode it to the 14,110' summit. What a 9 mph blast! We may have made better time but the train had to slow for deer on the track and at another point for marmots on the track. This cog train has been in operation for more than 100 years. You'd figure that the deer and marmots would have figured this out by now.

Going up












At the summit. The train is powered by 4 400 hp Cummins diesel engines, two for going up and two for going down. Shucks, our motorhome has one of thoseCummins 400hp engines and so far we have travelled 7000 miles on this trip.









Yep. We made it to the summit too thanks in part to the oxygen boost canister in my pocket.












Above the tree line and approaching the summit. Notice the cog train track traversing the mountain.

The views and vistas from the train and the summit were awesome. This is one of them. You may notice the open pit mine in the upper left of center of the photo. This is an active gold mine and extracts $1,000,000 of gold daily. Do you think that there are open 365 days a year? Oh yea.

We haven't had very good modem strength so we are a little bit behind. While in Santa Fe, we ventured south on scenic Route 14 through the little quaint village of Madrid to the Sandia Mountains.
Madrid's claim to fame is that it was the set for a film with John Travolta about a group of amatuer motorcycle hogs. The film crew built a diner and the Kich Ass Ranch. Traveling on we drove to the 10,400' summit of the Sandia Mountain range which sits just north of Albuquerque.
Our last day in Santa Fe took us on a convoluted route to Taos but that is another story.

The Kick Ass ranch...not in it's finest hour.












Albuqueuque from 10.400'.  Spectacular, but I'll take the clear air of Punta Gorda thank you.












Locally they call this the steel ridge which sits just north of the summit. Just about all communications within 100 miles are channeled through these towers. Yep...I have 5 bars on my iPhone.

Some high flying humming birds











This is a part of the adobe village at Taos. We visited with a few Native Amewrican Indians here and really enjoyed and appreciated the dialogue.
We visited here 12 years ago and the place was pretty run down. Not now. There are 5 full time adobe pros who spend full time keeping the place up. Oh yes, they recently received a federal grant for this. Thats OK with me but why should I be surprised or disappointed to see that all of the Indians there were wearing Obama buttons?

This chapter shows some of the tamer side of Santa Fe.

A Santa Fe sidewalk giftshop. OK family members...now you know what you will be getting for Christmas.

This is that famous stairwell to the choir loft in a now defunct church. This stairwell has no visible means of support, no center column, no nails, no screws, no braces.

Oldest church in the United States.

The interior of the oldest church. Like many in Europe, both of these churches are now museums.










A U.S. mail coach exhibited in the Palace of Governors.

Santa Fe; the enchanting city in the Land of Enchantment. The call of the wild enticed us to take a three hour tour in a 4X4 out into the countryside. Our 4X4 was a retired Swiss Army vehicle with 8 shock absorbers and the choice of front wheel drive, rear wheel drive or 4 wheel drive. Take a look...

Stay in the truck!!

Yes, this was part of the road. It was a section after crossing a dry stream with a 1' drop and rise on the opposite side. That was no problem for this vehicle.

This was at the end of the road. The Rio Grande runs through the valley and the Los Alamos Labs are about 5 miles to the right.

We are back on line with our blog. We arrived today in Las Cruces, NM following an amazing and uplifting visit with my sister in Phoenix. She is doing well and feels good. Her son, our nephew, Richard and his wife, Jeannine also reside in Phoenix. Richard was just listed in Meetings magazine as one of the 25 most influential persons in that industry. More importantly, they are a wonderful and caring couple. We enjoyed several meals at their new home and my sister, Nat, gained five needed pounds during our 10 day visit.
We now plan to spend the Labor Day weekend in Las Cruces followed by five days in Santa Fe. We expect to have more photos to share soon. Best to all.

Man, is it hot in Phoenix, 104 outside and 92 inside the RV with our A/C doing its best against great odds!
We left the canyon district of south Utah yesterday. It is a beautiful area full of geologic mystique and wildlife. The photos that follow are our goodby to Utah. They were taken from the side of the road. None of them were taken in national or state parks. Enjoy them.
So...since we left Florida to escape the heat, you might ask, why are you in Phoenix? Good question. Phoenix was not in our plans but my 85 year old sister lives in Phoenix and she has just been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. She is a special lady and we feel fortunate that we were close to Phoenix when this came to our attention. We plan to spend 10 days of quality time here so will probably have little to blog about until we move on. When we do, we will start heading east to our daughter's place in Madison, Wisconsin. On the way, however, we plan now to have stops in Tuscon, Les Cruces, NM, Santa Fe, Colorado Springs followed by a two day tour of the Winnebago plant in Forest, Iowa. There we will see where our RV was born. So check us out in a couple of weeks. The blog will start up again then.

Our little piece of Utah in Deer creek Village.

Zion National Park was made a national park in 1919. It attracts over 3 million visitors every year and that is no surprise. Zion and Bryce are fairly close to each other, about 80 miles. But they are very different. In Zion, the spectator roams the valley floor and looks up. In Bryce, the spectator roams the rim and looks down. Enjoy these photos taken in Zion. Be advised, however, that no photo can do justice to this amazing place.

Three blogs in one day. It must be raining. Why, yes it is. All the photos below were taken in Bryce National Park in Utah. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Breathtaking!  Amen.

Have you ever heard of Cedar Break National Monument? We had not. It's about 15 miles from our campsite in southern Utah. WEe are also about half way between the Bryce and Zion National Parks. What a beautiful area and full of wildlife too. The photos below are all from Cedar Breaks.

All these photos were taken from about 10,400' above sea level. Can you find us some spare air please.

The word cedar was incorrect because the surrounding trees are not cedar trees. Notice the white footing at the edge of the canyon. The indians discovered that when stepping on the edge, the edge often breaks off. It's 2000' down; hence Cedar Breaks. Go figure.