MEMPHIS

We made our first ever visit to Memphis, Tennessee in September to see our motorhome friends Mary and Chuck Boros. Memphis claims to be the Home of the Blues and Birthplace of Rock and Roll. With such local notables as B. B. King, Elvis and many others it’s hard to doubt that claim. Oh, and did we mention the ribs! Enjoyable weather was with us during our time at Graceland, along Beale Street, and in A. Schwab’s Dry Goods Store - the oldest family-owned and operated general store in the Mid-South.

WORLD CLASS CYCLISTS RIDE BY OUR FRONT DOOR

The Tour of Missouri (a smaller version of the Tour De France) crisscrossed Missouri in August. The time trial leg passed within ½ mile of our house. There were 115 world class riders. Here are a few shots of riders who have ridden the TDF, some on one of Lance Armstrong's team. We're told that Lance may ride here in next year's Tour of Missouri. Very Cool! Cyclists pictured here are: Christian Vande Velde (white/blue/orange); David Zabriskie (red/white/blue); and George Hincapie (blue/black). Oh yes, that’s Lee mingling with and sharing camera secrets with the Tour Photo Corp!

OUR 2008 TRIP TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST- FIVE SHORT PARTS

Our trip started July 8 and ended August 21, 2008. Our route, roughly, was Branson, MO > Byron, MN > St. Paul, MN > Little Falls, MN > Red Lodge, MT > Couer d’ Alene, ID > Oregon City, OR > Ft. Stevens, OR > La Push, WA > Sequim, WA > Seattle, WA > Moab, UT > Branson. We covered over 4,000 miles in our motorhomes – yes that’s plural – motorhomes. Little did we know when we left that we’d return home in another coach. But more about that later. This trip did fulfill one of our goals in owning a motorhome and traveling the country – we saw and visited with literally dozens of family members and friends living all over the country. It was an amazing part of the trip, seeing someone dear to us almost every day of our travels. Overall the weather was grand – modest amounts of rain and not too sweltering. The cats survived nicely. The pictures here were taken on the road to the Family Motor Coach Association International Rally at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds – almost 3,000 motorhomes: then near Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

PART 2 - MONTANA

The main layover destination for this trip was Red Lodge Montana. We stayed a few days and were joined by a few thousand motorcyclists in town for a local Sturgis-type “Rally.” Nevertheless, it was all great fun. Red Lodge is north of Yellowstone . . . we had stayed here before and wanted to enjoy the community again - great art, food, and scenery. We took our tow car up the Beartooth Highway, considered one of the most beautiful sections of road in the US. We weren’t disappointed. On another short jaunt we visited the Smith Coal Mine where disaster struck in 1943, killing 73 men and triggering early and new mine safety rules. A great night out for a steak dinner at a local pub and their famous pig races was a highlight of our stay.

PART 3 - THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST: OREGON

Oregon City, Oregon was our westerly target to visit with daughter Chris, husband Mark and grandkids, or should I say grand-adults. We could fit the coach in the big backyard and stayed a week followed by some side-by-side camping at Ft. Stevens State Park. On the drive out from the Midwest we began to get interested in Country Coach Motorhomes. We really got hooked in Red Lodge . . . destiny called . . . the folks across from us had a Country Coach, where we spent hours and were sold on the product. They recommended a dealer and salesman in Junction City, OR (close to Oregon City naturally!). The rest is history. The tight economy on houses also applies to motorhomes, so we got a nice deal.

PART 4 - THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST: WASHINGTON

So much to see! The rocky coasts of Oregon and Washington. The Olympic Peninsula and Hoh Rain Forest. Sequim, WA the lavender capital of the US. Seattle, Puget Sound, Whidbey Island. Our anchor was Seattle, where we spent close to a week, during which Jeanne attended the Pacific Northwest Quiltfest. Then we were off on a dash to Moab, Utah.

PART 5 – MOAB, UTAH

We camped just outside of Moab and within easy reach of town as well as National and State Parks. The terrain around Moab reminded us of Sedona, Arizona. The development of Sedona versus Moab couldn’t be more different - Sedona is the upscale art, other worldly area while Moab is the rough-and-ready, dirt-bike haven. One of the features of our campground was a church-like building which was used as a location for three John Wayne movies. Arches National Park was phenomenal. We also saw petroglyphs, a number of which we’ve seen in reference books and magazines. Dead Horse Point State Park overlooked a Grand Canyon like area.

MOTORHOME BARN

One of the many reasons we moved to our new home site was to have a building close by for our 2005 Monaco Diplomat Motorhome. Here are pictures of how we are doing on that project. We bought the home (near Branson, MO) in August, 2007. Part of the sale included the builder constructing a structure to match the house, to our specs, and we’d pay his costs only. The only surprise in the project was the mostly solid rock on-site that had to be jack hammered out. You can see Jeanne inspecting the rock rubble. The barn is now up, in use since November, 2007, and functions as planned. We will paint the barn door to match the house garage doors.

The heavy hand/back labor turned out to be the stone steps and garden sections Lee decided “would be a nice compliment” to the home and barn. Well, a few thousand pounds of limestone later I’m almost done. It was a nice winter project. Aside from the physical challenge, building the steps has been an interesting and fulfilling experience. All the stone was found within 300 feet of the house. I realized I had to become a stonemason - accomplished through purchase and reading of a few books plus less than $100 in tools (no power!). I built a wood sled to haul the 150-250 pound stones with our utility vehicle. Some of the bigger ones (500-600 pounds) I split in place before sledding to the site. You can see some of the pairs in the close-up picture of the steps. At the top of the steps is a 16 foot bridge also under construction as well as a boardwalk to negotiate around the house rather than trudging through Missouri’s frequently wet clay/soil/muck. As completion of construction draws close, Jeanne and her green thumb will take over.

BRANSON AREA FLOODING SPRING 2008

Jeanne and I have been following the spring, 2008 weather around the country and hope you each are safe and not faced with any major storm related trials and tribulations. I want to report on the Branson area situation, especially impact for RVing. Our Southwest Missouri area received around 25 inches of rain over the last 4-6 weeks. Tornado and wind damage around Branson thankfully was negligible. Three consecutive days of 2-3 inches of rain last week was more than the land and water control systems could manage. The most notable outcome was Table Rock Lake going to an all time high water level and the Army Corp of Engineers opening Table Rock Dam for the first time in over 40 years. The dam was opened on Thursday, April 10 and will remain open until Tuesday, April 15^th.

The dam opening caused flooding along the banks of Lake Taneycomo. Homes and businesses near low shores have been affected. A number of RV campgrounds (Turkey Creek Escapees Park for example) and many businesses have temporally closed. Branson Landing is partially closed, with most businesses on the lake side closed until the waters recede. If your plans are to visit here in the next few weeks I recommend you call your destination to check on conditions.

Jeanne and I are high up near Inspiration Point with the biggest concern being erosion on the hilly terrain and roads around us. We had a small area of damp carpet in a corner of the house lower level and minor seepage in the coach barn. I have posted a couple of pictures of Table Rock Dam at our Blog (see address below, click on individual pictures to see a full screen view). That sight has not been seen in 45 years . . . when will it happen next?