Las Cruses New Mexico~~~~~

Is where we are now....we decided to get a few extra miles in today.  It is late so I don't plan to blog long.  We will be heading up and over the mountain tomorrow am.  Today has been uneventful and we missed all the nasty weather going south on I10.

Good night all and Happy New Year!!



Until next time~~~~Travel safely

DH off for supplies~~~~~

He will be gone for well over an hour so I am on my own with the kids.  They are all sleeping...but I will get them moving since we have some sunshine today.  Very pretty out but chilly and windy.  We will be heading back to Iowa tomorrow after one more night with Em.

I am going to do ribeyes and portabellos on the grill tonight.

Today I am sad because a friend of mine and fellow worker passed away the day after Christmas.  I am so very sorry for his family.  He was only 62 and had complications after knee surgery.  Today is his funeral at home.  I am there with them in spirit and have been thinking of his family everyday since I found out what had happened.  He and I have known each other for over 20 years and just recently have been moved into the same department.  We talked alot of retirement and how wonderful it will be.....so sad he won't be able to enjoy this great time in ones life.  It certainly has been a subject of mine and DH's conversation alot more now that this has happened to my friend.  May you rest in peace my friend and may your family heal quickly and remember all the good times they have shared with you always......

Until next time~~~~Travel safely

Today we relax~~~~~

and DH will be heading in town later to pick up a few supplies we will need for our trip home.  :(  It will be bitter sweet but we will have one more night with Em and her gang.  She is working today and and tomorrow but will then have Friday, Saturday and Sunday off.  She will be back out here after work tomorrow night and spend most of Friday with us before we take off for Iowa.

Last night I made creamed turkey over biscuits for supper to use up the rest of our turkey and steamed broccoli.  Tonight I plan to do some grilling. 

Nope that didn't work out because we have been getting tons and tons of rain this evening.  Sooooo I got out my cook book and decided on Cheese Burger Casserole.  It made enough for an 8x8 dish and there are two pieces left.  LOL  DH liked it alot.  I only had two pcs. Heehee.  It went perfectly with a tossed salad.

One thing is for sure it is nice to have my own kitchen to make fresh homemade food.  We have only eaten out twice this whole trip.

Until next time~~~~Travel safely

Promotion for Emilee~~~~~

And we sure did celebrate last night.  She and I enjoyed two bottles of wine.  She is now the Assistant Manager of the AAWL and SPCA vet clinic. See the link:  http://www.aawl.org/ 

We are very proud as she has only been with them for 6 months.

Here are a few pictures from last night's fun time.



Beautiful sunset shining on the mountains!



Here we are hanging out around the camp fire.

Until next time~~~~Travel safely

Lake Pleasant~~~~~

Where have you been all our lives.  Seriously why why why didn't we come here to begin with.  Cause we are both learning learning learning all the time!  DH has become my very own McGyver (sp).  He can fix anything.  Not that we have any major things just normal first timer stuff.  We are becoming "experts" very quickly.

Anywho, back to Lake Pleasant.  The name fits it.  We just finished taking our puppies for a walk over to this peninsula above.  The rest will be pictures from when we arrived and are now settled into a beautiful site. Site #11.



We are very happy with our new spot and I am sure you can all understand why.  Emilee is coming out tonight after work to spend another night with us.  She will love it here although she has been here before to Lake Pleasant that is.

Until next time~~~~Travel safely

Christmas Day~~~~~

We found a new place to move....Lake Pleasant north of Peoria, Arizona.  It is so pretty and out in the country which is what we like.  The camping area is called Roadrunner Park.  It only has water and electric hook up but that will not be an issue with us.  The view of the lake makes up for this big time along with the fact there is no limit on pets........

Some of the pictures I took when we found this place are shown below.

Not a bad view right?



Nice walk ways for taking the puppies out and about.












We will be moving tomorrow and look forward to it.  It is only another 17 to 20 miles northwest of Phoenix so it will not be too far for Emilee either.

Last night we went to her apartment and had dinner, cleaning up all the left overs and watched the Cardinal/Dallas football game.  It was a great game and a great time.

Until next time~~~~Travel safely

We have had quite a day~~~~~

Emilee and her group left by 9 or so this morning.  She had to go to work today.  We had decided to go to the store today to get our supplies that we will need for the week so we took off for Walmart and it was very close to where we are staying.

After about an hour and a half we returned back with our "load"....we had completed our unloading and the asst manager came to our Fiver and said they had been getting complaints about the dogs....so they asked us to move to another area in the park and allowed us to stay with them even though we had two to many dogs.  We have always said that things happen for a reason.  We happen to love our spot better then the first one so we are very happy to have been asked to move. 

Here it is.



We added a puppy gate in our Fiver as well and it works well.

We certainly are learning alot.  We understand the park rules and plan to be very discrete with the puppies from now on as we do not want to get booted out.

We did up all of our laundry and DH spent time in the hot tub.  In our living room we have two movie type electric recliners with drink cup holders.  I poured a glass of soda and you won't believe what I did while DH was in the hot tub.  I decided to change the channel on the TV and without thinking set the remote into the cup holder forgetting that I had just put my glass of soda in it.  You guessed it DEAD REMOTE.  With a hair dryer and a little patience, it finally started working again.  My bad...

We just finished a quick supper of brats (on the new grill, thanks Mom) and baked tators and we are relaxing now for the night.  I wonder when vacation will start.....LOL  Just kidding we have been laughing about everything that has taken place so far and we are loving this warm weather.  It got up into the 70's today.

Until next time~~~~Travel safely

Desert's Edge RV Park~~~~~

Is a really nice park...It has won many awards and is called the Purple Park....just like our awnings at home.

We have delightful neighbors who love dogs better then kids. That's what they said right away.  LOL  They cracked up when we just kept getting them out of the truck.  Then the two ladies took Mandy and Libby for a walk for us.

This place is full.  It has a nice pool and hot tub.  Dog turn out areas and walk areas.  We have a fruit tree in our front yard area, concrete pad and a picnic table as well.

We got our place all decorated before Emilee arrived.  She and her gang, Rusty, Layla and Spotty arrived around 7:00.  She was thrilled to see the Christmas decorations and all.  I made Shrimp Scampi and Parmesan/Brocoli Brown Rice and a tomato salad for our first dinner together.  She was a happy girl!

Two bottles of Pinot later we ended our night.

Until next time~~~~Travel safely

Oh what a beautiful day~~~~~

We have had....good driving weather all the way through NM. 

My DH is such a good driver and our puppies are just blowing our minds.  They are soooo good and patient.  We are very proud of them.

We are now sitting in a weigh station for the night just outside a town called Springerville which is on the edge of NM and AZ.  We will only have about four hours to drive tomorrow.  Ahhhhhhhhh that will be grand.  We will be staying at Desert's Edge RV Park in Phoenix for a week or more.  We still have not decided how long we plan to stay in Phoenix but we will keep all our family and friends up to date on our plans.  We promise...heehee.

By the way, for all you non rver's DH means Darling Husband.  LOL

Well I need to get something done......wait a minute, no I don't I'm on vacation.  We will be back so stay tuned!

Until next time~~~~Travel safely

We made it to Tucumcari, NM~~~~~

Not quite as far as we had wanted to get down the road but that's ok.  We were ready to stop and take a break.  We are in a nice full service RV Park and enjoyed a delightful meal at a place not far from here....we walked there and back.  Now we are relaxing and watching some TV.  The puppies are all sound asleep in their beds.  CJ is snoring...LOL

We are going to try and get in alot more miles tomorrow but we shall see after all we are on vacation.  We are not keeping track of time.

Emilee has been checking on us and is very anxious for us to get there.  She's hungry....for Mom's cooking.

Well I am getting tired so I will sign off for now.

Until next time~~~~Travel safely

They say it comes in threes~~~~~

 Bad luck that is.

12/18/2010:  1.  We finished loading this morning with our last minute items.  As I was doing a walk around (something I always did when pulling my horse trailer) I noticed one I of the tires on the Fiver (left rear) was very very low.   I asked Craig to come take a look and sure enough we were in trouble.  Soooo we headed out to Bauer Built to get it looked at and they didn't find a leak in the tire but the valve stem.  We had them put on a new one and by 11:30am we were finally on our way. 

 

2.  We decided to get the propane tanks all filled up so we would have four full ones.  Stopped near Wayland, Missouri at the Flying J and filled our fuel tanks and propane tanks.  Unfortunately we couldn't fill all the tanks because one of them had a loose valve.  No biggie we still had three full ones.

3.  We still had not gotten our fresh water tank filled yet so we stopped in Palmyra, Missouri.  Craig was out getting the hose ready and I was in charge of the faucet...."turn it on honey",  which I did and low and behold we were filling up with fresh water.  Woohoo...  Not!!  I went around to the Fiver to get my water bottle filled up and there was water running out of the door!! "CRAIG SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG"!  I screamed.  We went inside to find water gushing from under the fridge.  We started throwing towels everywhere and come to find out DH had forgotten to re-attach the water lines for the fridge from de-winterizing for our trip.  Again no big deal and my kitchen tile was now sparkling clean!  LOL

We decided to stop at a Walmart and spend the night as we were wiped out after all that had taken place. 

We woke up after a great nights sleep to snow.

12-19-10:  We traveled a good distance today via the Kansas turnpike.  The puppies are doing so well.  We are very proud of them.  When we stop to relieve ourselves...we take them as well.  When we stop for the night they make themselves right at home in the Fiver just as they do at home.  It is a great relief seeing how well our family is adjusting.  Last night was a wonderful night in the Fiver.  We found a very nice RV park called Evergreen RV in Pratt, KS.  We had full hook-up which included electric, water, sewer and cable TV.  Woohoo we get to watch TV.  We have not been able to get our Dish network going for some reason and I plan to give them a call.  We had a nice dinner of homemade chicken and noodles (I had even made the noodles) salad, and garlic bread.....a bottle of Pinot for me..heehee and several beers for DH.

12-20-10:  We are off now again heading SW on Hwy 54.  We got on the road this am at 10:30.  We plan to put in 400 miles today and stop again.  We did end up finding a propane dealer and now we have four propane tanks full for the next dry camping we do. 

More news later today......

Until next time~~~~Travel safely

Packing packing packing~~~~~

Holy crap we gotta lotta crap!! heehee

My DH says I don't need to take the whole kitchen but he doesn't understand that a chef needs alot of tools, right?

We have made three car loads of stuff to the Fiver.  But alot of it was Christmas stuff, decorations, presents, etc.

We both sure hope we can sleep tonight. 

Tomorrow is the beginning of our very first "Fiver Adventure"....extra extra read all about it as we make our way cross country to Phoenix. Woohoo!

Brrrrrrrrrr~~~~~

Now I know why we have decided to follow 70ish weather around the country instead of retiring and staying put.  This kinda of below zero wind chill day is not enjoyable here in Iowa at all.  Especially when the puppies and I went over to feed the horses.  They are even cold....so they got extra hay today.

We will be driving out of here next Saturday to warmer temps and that day can't come soon enough.  Sounds like our coldest day will be tomorrow but at least the winds are suppose to die down.  It takes ones breath away let me tell you.  Be happy all our followers from Iowa that you are not here right now.

Today I plan to get some more cut-out cookies done.  The oven will help keep the house nice and toasty.  I love baking when it is cold outside.  Don't you?  Visited with Mom this morning and she is baking today too...making her famous cinnamon rolls.  She is sending some out to Phoenix with us for Christmas morning.  Yummooo!! 

Check out these cookies!!  I had some Candy Cane Kisses and decided to use them....I found this recipe online and they are awesome!

CJ, Oprah and Mandee go in tomorrow for foofooing.  The poodles always look so pretty with there poodle haircuts.  CJ is getting a good bath and trimming as well.  He has soooo much hair he can lose a little. LOL  I will give Libby a bath here at home as she is easy to do.  I hope someday I can learn how to trim the poodles which will help with reducing expenses once we take off down the road.

I best get a move on here or I won't get all those cookies done....

Until next time~~~~Travel safely

One of our Christmas gifts~~~~~

Thanks Mom!  We can't wait to use it in Phoenix in a couple of weeks for some portabello mushrooms, shrimp kabobs and steaks.  (drooling)

Still making plans for some home cooking for Emilee but she also has informed us that she and a friend of hers will be taking us out for a nice dinner somewhere....she won't tell me where but be assured it will be a delight for the taste buds.

I also found a couple of pictures of our two poodles with me taken at a brunch the day after Thanksgiving for you pet lovers out there.  These two girls are truly a joy....and smart my goodness poodles are smart.  It is kinda scary at times. LOL  Anywho, here you go for your viewing pleasure. heehee 

 Also found one I took of Craig with the girls out in the workout room but he certainly isn't working out!

He must be taking a break...LOL

Here is one of CJ, our Corgi waiting for his supper.  He is always hungry and I am sure you can tell by the picture how under fed he is...but we love him just the same.

We can't wait to see how the four of them do on our first Fiver Adventure.  They have always loved going bye bye in anything so I doubt that this will be any different.

I guess it is getting on towards supper time so I best get a move on for now sooooo,

Until next time~~~~Travel safely

Sliced finger (middle)~~~~~

Damn that hurts.  It took at least 30 minutes to get it to stop bleeding.  Hopefully it won't start again.  DH helped place the bandages in the correct spot.

Going to take DH down to his rig today for a trip to Az.  I plan to meet up with Tammy later at Fun City to see the grand kids and have a bite to eat at a place called Boogaloos.  Not the best food but it'll do.  Hopefully we will discuss the wedding which is next April.  It will be a grand affair (crazy ass party) with our family and Troy's.  We have know Troy since he was a little boy and we totally approve of Tammy's choice.  He is awesome and treats her like a queen!

Today it is quite windy and we are suppose to get snow but the wind will just plain blow it away which is fine with me.  We only have two weeks until we start our very first Fiver Adventure.  I have many lists started.  heehee  It is an age thing I think.  I checked Christmas lights today and got those ready to go.  Geezzz this will be a fun Christmas in Phoenix and I hope we have lots of 70 degree weather while there.  (fingers crossed)

In closing, I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read my blog.  I can't believe how many hits I have gotten since I started this thing in October.  How fun it will be to meet you down the road somewhere....someday.

Until next time~~~~Travel safely