CURRENTLY IN BLACK CANYON CITY, ARIZONA

Lee here. We have been in Black Canyon City (about 25 miles north of Phoenix) for three weeks. We will head north to near Sedona on Monday the 24th. I finally got to see the Chicago Cubs in spring training after 55 years as a Cubs fan. We have been to art events, cowboy museums and all sorts of galleries, hiked in the foothills, saw Montezuma's Castle, cleaned the rig, and generally relaxed. Jeanne and I visited with her cousin Josie Tagliente, who she hadn't seen in over 25 years. The weather has been mostly sunny and hot except for rain the last 3 days, which will clear out tonight. We also did visits with fellow Rvers Steph and Hal Woods.

WHERE WE'VE BEEN - IN ARIZONA

Lee here. One of our waypoints was Winslow, Arizona; a town made famous by the musical group "The Eagles" and their song Take it Easy. "Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona. What do I see? It's girl my lord in a flatbed Ford, slowing down to take a look at me" or something like that. So I had to stand on that corner, and buy a hat, of course. Adakin and Lucy have been traveling with us. Here Jeanne lays down the law as they listen intently.

WHERE WE'VE BEEN - IN ALBUQUERQUE

Lee here. Jeanne and I had our periodic reunion with Lee and Don Duszynski. Don and I were college roomies. He spent his career at the University of New Mexico. We did a lot of sightseeing in the Albuquerque area. One of the more unusual outings was a ride on the Sandia Mountains Tramway, the longest in the world. That's quite a view from the tram car! On top was an excellent restaurant and a ski area.

WHERE WE'VE BEEN - ON TO ALBUQUERQUE

Lee here. Jeanne always has a fit when I show a picture of the motorhome. Well, I think its kind of handsome but the amazing part is all the stuff we can carry around the country in relative comfort. This sunset shot was in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. We stayed over for a few days in Santa Fe, NM. Dumb old us, Santa Fe is at high elevation and it was cold again but we had fun. Jeanne and I strolled Canyon Road there - the art community area.

WHERE WE'VE BEEN - BRANSON, MISSOURI

Lee here. The first part of our trip out of the Minnesota winter was due south to Branson, Missouri. Cold weather dogged us all the way. We did finally get some days of above freezing temperatures and did leave the snow behind. A good part of time in Branson was split between time with daughter Mary and her family, visiting with RV friends Chuck and Mary Boros and some motorhome maintenance. After about 10 days we began our westward trek.

OUR FIRST POST-RETIREMENT TRIP STARTS

Soon after Lee retired (January, 2007) we left home, just before Valentine's Day, for Branson, MO to see our daughter Mary and her family and visit friends Mary and Chuck Boros. It was -14 degrees the AM of departure and below freezing weather followed us off and on for 2 weeks. Here's our coach in a WalMart lot in Cameron, Missouri on Valentine's sunrise, below zero!