New Blog Site

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Please check it out.

thanks, Mark Woolington

Christmas RV Park.... Back to the Beginning

We are finally back to where we started. Now we need a place to live that doesn't move.

Perry, Georgia

We are settled in at Boland's RV Park in Perry, GA. Tomorrow, we will have one more day on the road. The GPS says we are 357 miles, 6 and 1/2 hours to Fort Christmas RV Park east of Orlando. We will be staying there until we can find a rental house.

The Owensville, MO Stretch

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We are at the Lost Valley Lake Resort for two days. I can see why they call this place "Lost" because I'm sure several people have gotten lost getting here or getting out. "Lost" because it's closer to nine other towns than it is to Owensville, MO. I guess to be fair, it would also be a stretch to call Beemont, Drake, Rosebud or the other places on the map, towns.

Lost Valley is a pretty nice place. They keep it maintained really well and there two lakes with a lot of activities for families.

So it took about 8 and 1/2 hours to get here from Lincoln, Nebraska. The one thing I didn't understand was why they have mile marker signs every two tenths of a mile on their interstate system? I guess that if someone is broken down they can tell the tow truck diver exactly where they are. It might go like this...........
Hello. Billy Bob's Towing?
Yes. This is Billy Bob his self.
Good. Mr. Bob, I'm broken down on I-29, south bound, 16 feet, 4 and 7/8 inches, south of mile marker 107.2. But that's only approximate.
No problem. I'll be there in 27 minutes and 38 seconds. Give or take a second or two.

Maybe the state of Missouri can get federal funds so they can have mile markers every tenth of a mile instead of every two tenths. It would create jobs and make it much safer for stranded motorist.

Nebraska and Andy Rooney

We left Cheyenne, Wyoming early this morning and as we were driving through the state of Nebraska I started to think of Andy Rooney of 60 minutes fame. Some of you are too young to know who he is, but he was always asking in an animated voice........... "did you ever wonder why............". Well, in Nebraska I was thinking to myself (Laura was asleep) in my best Andy Rooney voice................

Did you ever wonder why they have a tourist information center in Nebraska? Just who goes on vacation to Nebraska.........people from Oakley, Kansas? Some of the hot spots in the state are the Museum of Military Vehicles, the Museum of the Fur Trade, Cabela's World Headquarters and the Mean Wind Farm. I wonder if it's an organic wind farm?

Did you ever wonder why they have a sign on I-80 that says "Watch for wind on overpass"? I don't know about you, but I have never seen the wind and I never know it's around until it's too late. I thought about stopping on the overpass to look for the wind, but it would have been too dangerous on such a busy interstate.

Did you ever wonder why the state of Nebraska has a county named Cheyenne? It's about a hundred miles east of Cheyenne, Wyoming. You would think that if you were going to have a county named Cheyenne, it would be in Wyoming, near Cheyenne.

Anyway, we are at the Nebraska State Fair Park just outside of Lincoln and I'm wondering why.

"Shy-ann"

We went into "Shy-ann" today and did the trolley tour. Or as one woman in our group said the trolley "turr". We also went to the Cheyenne, Wyoming Museum. It was pretty interesting . Now we know more than we ever wanted to know about the history of Cheyenne, Wyoming. They have been having a rodeo days event the last week in July since 1890 or so. I'm not sure if it was OK if we missed it or not. How do you get a job dressing up as Wild Bill Hickock and having the one hundredth and nineteenth shoot out in the streets of Cheyenne, Wyoming?

The one thing that stands out is that they had a lot of saloons out here. In the late 1800's they had sixty of them in two square blocks in "Shy-ann". I guess that people have been self medicating over the ages, but these people took it to a new level. It reminds me of the month I spent , one week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (sounds like Bob Olive). It gets really, really cold here and they didn't have Prozac back then, so I guess they did what they had to do.

Did I mention that boots were big around here? No pun intended.



I've been looking for a cowboy hat and a belt buckle for a souvenir, but I think that if I ever wore them back home , they probably would think I'm from Kissimmeee rather than from out west.


The train depot. Trains are big around here because they get so many of the natural resources like gold, coal, cattle, oil and natural gas in this area back to the east. The trains were huge in opening up the west because it is so large and desolate. I'm beginning to sound like a trolley "turr" driver.



Right now Laura's doing laundry at the facilities at the KOA, so I guess I'm doing dinner. There is a storm moving in and it starting to feel a lot like Oakley, Kansas.
Tomorrow we head though Nebraska. It's only about 500 miles and one day in our life. Ahhhh, the good life.
By the way, Laura just got back and she said the dryer's really suck (her words) and there is a storm coming......have I taken Heidi out yet? I guess I better get to work.

Cheyenne, Wyoming

We decided to stay in Cheyenne, Wyoming for two nights. It looks like it could be interesting and it will be the last "western" town we will see as we head east. The English language is so strange. Who decided to pronounce Cheyenne, "shy-ann" when it makes a lot more sense to pronounce it "chay-in-ee".

By the way...........our decision to head back east was due to missing a lot of people, things and comforts. I knew that we would feel that way at some time during our trip, but I had no idea when it would happen. I think that some times we have to just "go for it" because it's the only way to learn and really experience life.

I know I've said this before, but this is a very strange lifestyle. We met a man that said he and his wife had been full timing in their RV for 12 years. It definitely takes a person with a different frame of mind to do this, however I don't think anyone can really know what it's like unless they experience it first hand. It's like trying to explain what it's like to have children to someone who has never had any.

Another interesting thing that I wasn't expecting...............we have had over 1060 hits on this blog in 31 days. That means that an average of about 34 people a day visit our blog site. Or...............it's my mom looking at it 34 times a day! ! !

Over the years Laura and I have been together we have been the most happy and satisfied when we are working toward some type of project or goal. When we get back, I'm sure we will look for something else to tackle or project to work on. I'm sure we will still travel, but just in a different way.

And I think I know who "anomoyouse" is, but I'll never tell.

Stick Us With A Fork

Well.......................... We have been discussing whether we want to continue to the west coast and the Pacific Ocean and we have decided to call it a trip. It's been an interesting time, but it hasn't been quite what we expected. Moving from place to place is fun for a while, but it can get tiresome. Also, living in such a small space and not having any water pressure can get old. We are about 2400 miles from Orlando. We will still have to live in the RV for another 3 weeks or so in the time it takes to get back and the time it will take to move into another house.


So, I guess we will be back in time to take Matt to Chuck E. Cheese! ! ! ! LOL, LOL, LOL. Did I spell that correctly? LOL, LOL, LOL. Come on Matt, you have to admit that was funny.

Yellowstone

Yellowstone is about 50 miles north of where we are staying at the Grand Teton Park RV Resort. However, it took us 3 hours to get there due to road construction and traffic jams. The place is packed. But we did get to see Old Faithful erupt and I did get a Yellowstone hat.

The Grand Tetons

Today we explored the area some more. We didn't get great views of the mountains because of the clouds, but we did get to see some buffalo up close.

The Grand View

This morning we arrived at the Grand Teton Park RV Resort. After getting set up, we left to go have breakfast, but got back about 6 hours later. The scenery is just awesome. Unfortunately, we forgot the camera! We did manage to take some pictures with our cell phone, but the quality isn't very good.
Tomorrow we are getting up early to get some better pictures and do a little fishing. After that were going to drive down to Jackson Hole where the beautiful people live and play.

Dubois

Yea! ! ! We made it to Dubois, towing the Jeep, with no problem (sorry Matt). We are at a KOA, backed up to the Wind River and we can walk to the downtown area of Dubois. What a cool little town. It looks like a movie set. Pictures to follow when we get settled in, but here is one off the internet.

The Big Show

Well, we picked up the motorhome Friday afternoon from the Caterpillar place. They said that it should be OK now. This was a major, big engine commercial repair facility. If these people don't know how to fix the problem, I don't think anyone can. I guess by going to 9000' elevation we will find out. No guts...no glory ! ! ! Last night we celebrated our anniversary with a pizza in a Super 8 Motel. It doesn't get any better than that! I sure we will do something more romantic at our next location which will be the KOA in Dubois, WY. It's about 60 miles east of the Grand Tetons. Almost to the big show! ! !

Number 10

Today is our 10th anniversary and we are going to celebrate in Bar Nunn, Wyoming near Casper.
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We are still having problems with the engine overheating on the steep hills (even with the Jeep unhooked), so we are taking it in to have it checked out..........again. This could be crucial, because our next leg of our trip is supposed to be to The Grand Tetons. Some of the road we have to take will have an elevation of close to 9000'. So, if we can't get this thing working properly, we may be faced with a tough decision to turn around and go back to Orlando. We will see.

Heidi Wants Some Feedback ! ! ! !

Well...................... I started this blog to let everyone know what I was up to and where I was staying. I know most everyone is busy and you don't have a lot of time, but it would be nice if I got just a few more comments to let me feel like some of you are actually looking at my blog. Maybe I am a little homesick and would like to hear from you. My blog counter shows over 600 hits in about three weeks. It sure would be great if I heard from some of you. If you don't want to show a response that everyone else can see, you can email me at lwoolington@gmail.com and I'm sure that my owners will read any responses out loud to me (even if I don't understand what they are saying). Thanks, I look forward from hearing from you.

Heidi

Mountain Magic

While driving around the mountains in heavy cloud cover, we came across St. Catherine of Siena Chapel near Allenspark, CO. I wasn't sure how this picture was going to turn out because of the clouds and fog, but I'm happy with the outcome.

Oncorhynchus Mykiss

Above is the scientific name for the first ever Rainbow trout I have ever caught. It was caught approximately at 5:22 PM, (mountain time) on Monday, July 20th, 2009 on a Gold Bead Tan Pulsating Caddis fly with a white strike indicator, on a 5 weight White River fly casting outfit, with 5 weight floating line with a tapered leader and a 30", 6lb tippet behind our RV site at the Riverview RV Park near Loveland, Colorado. Whew ! ! ! ! Say that ten times real fast. Below is a picture documenting my first ever Oncorhynchus Mykiss ! ! ! ! ! ! !



I think this will go well with wild rice (Rice-A-Roni), Fava Beans and a nice Chianti. Ffffftttt, Ffffffttttt. For those of you who don't know, Fffffftttt is the sound Dr. Hannibal Lecter, played by Antony Hopkins, made in the film Silence of the Lambs. But I'm sure most of you knew that.


Anyway, it's a lot like I play golf............. I'm not very good, but I look good.

North Shore

We are still in the Loveland and Carter Lake, CO area and have been staying at the North Shore RV Park. This is a "free range" area where Elk are abundant and there are supposed to be Mountain Lions around also. The only wildlife we saw was some deer and our neighbors.

Yesterday I did some fly fishing, but didn't have any luck. I was using a dry fly that the guy at the "Fly Shop" in Estes Park said was a good pattern. However, it looked like most of the people I saw fishing, were using a wet fly.

Today we are moving a few miles away to the Riverview RV Park and will stay there until Thursday. We have a site right on the river. I think I will try to do some more fly fishing, but with a wet fly.

Thursday the 24th is our 10th wedding anniversary ! ! ! I'm not sure what we will do to celebrate, but whatever we do, it will probably be some where in Wyoming.

Carter Lake.

Waterfall

Rocky Mountain Panorama

On Top of the World

Wednesday July 15th.
We are staying in Loveland, Co. and today we went to Rocky Mountain National Park just outside of Estes, Co.



What ever you do................don't look down ! ! ! !





Look Ma, I can fly! ! !








I decided to let our dog, Heidi drive so I could take this video.

At the Lazy "R" Cottages, Elk stay for free.

We're Not In Kansas Anymore

What a God awful state. The people seem really nice, but I'm sure I will never live in Kansas..........and I almost never say never. I'm also sure that there is some redeeming value in Oakley, Kansas, but one might have to live a long time to discover what that might be.



Well....maybe it's a bunch of different colored, high voltage insulators on a wooden RV park bench in front of an antique store.



Anyway it's about 9:08PM (mountain time) and we are in Loveland, Colorado. Tomorrow we are going to Estes Park near Rockey National Park. I think we will stay in this area for a while.
This is such a strange lifestyle. We are always on the move. We don't know anyone. If something goes wrong, we just have to figure out how to fix it (or have someone else fix it........where ever or whoever that is).

Oh, did I ever mention satellite TV in an RV and HOW MUCH IT SUCKS! ! ! ! ! (sorry Mom). I need a fix of the Discovery, History, Spike and the Food channels. It seems like Bobby Flay always wins. Oh well.............another night of "Frasier".


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Can't Touch This

July 13th at the high Plains Campground in Oakley, KS. After walking around I remembered that they had a "U pick" organic garden. I dug up some new potatoes, two types of squash, and two onions. I left a $2.00 donation.

That evening we had the mother of all thunder storms. It was better than a Pink Floyd concert light show. I had to put the stabilizers down to keep us anchored, otherwise we just might blow away............we are in Kansas.........you know............Dorothy...........Toto...........wasn't Toto a rock group?????
Anyway, they had an antique store nearby and I found what was, I'm sure............. was the world's 2nd or 3rd largest ball of barbed wire.

A whole lotta nuttin

We just drove 380 miles from east of Kansas City to Oakley, KS. We had to go 55 MPH because it's so hot that if we went any faster our engine would over heat. Thank goodness the generator kept working so we could have some A/C.
When we built a house in Chuluota, Matt and Amanda said we were really in the sticks. They have never been to Oakley, Kansas at the High Plains Campground. I asked the lady at check-in if it was this desolate from here to Denver and she said no, it's worse. I can't imagine what it was like to make this trip in a covered wagon. Those people must have been hard as nails.
The good news is that we have high speed Internet. The bad news is that I can't get the satellite to work. Oh well, another night of "Frasier".
I can't wait to get to the mountains. Denver is about 250 miles away.



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Lake Paradise

Saturday July 11th.

Arrived at Lake Paradise Camping Club about 3:30. It's near Lone Jack, MO, about 20 miles east of Kansas, MO. It's really hot today and the generator doesn't allow the A/C to work very well, but now we are settled in and have 50 amp service with good A/C. Our Internet connection is as slow as dial up, but the good news is I finally got our satellite working. We will be here for two nights. I really want to get to Denver, but it's over 600 miles away and will take a couple of days driving time to get there.

Laura's Comment

I must say that Mark made light of this situation !!!. For instance when we had to disconnect the jeep, guess who had to drive it !!. I don't like driving a stick shift, especially when there are hills involved ( and rain and heavy traffic). We circled the area several times and kept getting stuck, and I know the local news helicopter was following us !!. The riverwalk area was closed for a special event, there were hundreds of people walking around and traffic was re-routed every which way. I have to say that Mark can really drive that RV !!!.

OH MY GOD

In the movie National Lampoon's Vacation, Chevey Chase and his family gets off the interstate and gets lost. They end up in a downtown area and in a ghetto neighborhood. He stops and asks some local "home boys" for directions back to the interstate while they steal his hubcaps.
Well..............It was raining and we were lost in downtown St. Louis driving a 39' long, 14' wide, 12'-3" high motor home where every other street had a 14'-1" wide, 12'-2" high bridge that was too low for us to go under. People looked at us like we were from Mars. I almost knocked someone out with my side mirrors. We finally unhooked the jeep because we could not back up with it connected. I did a 16 point turn and finally was able to get out of the slums without asking the "home boys" how to get back to the interstate. We finally got to the Casino Queen RV Park. Not a bad view, but I don't think we will stay anywhere close to a city again.

Moving on

July 10th. We are leaving today and are heading north west a couple hundred miles to St. Louis, MO. We haven't decided where to stay , but will figure that out later.

Amish

July 9th. We had lunch at a place called Patty's 1860 Settlement. It's a quaint little area that was, as the name implies, an 1860 settlement. They had several old log cabins that they converted to restaurants and shops. We then headed 30 miles north to Marion, KY. They have an Amish community there. I have never seen the Amish up close and personal. It's a strange religion to me. Almost like a cult. As a courtesy your not supposed to take pictures of their faces, but I couldn't resist a few times. We were wondering if the teenagers ever thought that maybe, someday they would be able to escape and experience the things most of us take for granted like cars, TV, electricity etc.

Hillman Ferry Campground

July 8th arrived at Hillman Ferry Campground. We got lucky in Kentucky. We didn't have reservations, but were able to get a site right on the water. I have been trying to get the satellite to work, but not able to get connected. The next morning I made a video of our site. I hope everyone will be able to view it. We were talking to our neighbor and he said that when they built the dam and flooded the area to make Kentucky Lake, an entire town was put under water. As he put it "thars uh hole town under that there lake".

Lake Barkley

More pictures of Lake Barkley area and Cadiz, KY. Matt said our pictures need to be more exciting, so I thought that a picture of his mother pole dancing would do the trick.




















My new good best friend at the Golden Pond Visitor Center. I could do that job....... I think.




















Beautiful downtown Cadiz, Kentucky. Laura said that this is where they send you if you are in the witness protection program.



Tomorrow we head north about 50 miles to the Hillman Ferry Campground in an area that is known as the "Land Between The Lakes".

Lake Barkley State Park

July 6th. We arrived at Lake Barkley State Park near Cadiz, KY. It's a real nice state park with some views of the lake from our site. I am not sure how long we will be staying before we head to St. Louis.




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Chattanooga

July 4th. Went to downtown Chattanooga and the Tennessee Aquarium today. We got on the free electric bus and checked out downtown. There was hardly anyone there. It looked like they were setting up for fireworks on the banks of the Tennessee River.