I Need A Vacation........

September 27, 2010

Yep, I think I need a vacation................................................................just kidding!!

 (I just wanted to hear you go.....ughhhhhhhh)

Thanks to EVERYONE for such nice comments regarding our making it home safely and securely. It's nice to know you guys out in Blogger Land care!!

Are you ready to go antiquing this weekend??  Cause this time, us girls are headed to the 43rd Annual Fall Antiques Fair at Round Top, Texas (S. Texas) the end of this week and we would like for you to join us through Murphy's Mom Blog to come along for the ride......

So.............ready for a Girls Road Trip??

(P.S........it's okay if you're a guy and want to come along........we won't hold it again you!)

DAY 89: Home Sweet Home.......

DAY 89:  Home! - September 26, 2010

WE ARE HOME!  

DAY 88: Brady Was WRONG......Liz Was RIGHT

DAY 88:  Somewhere in Oklahoma - September 25, 2010

Please disregard my "helmet hair"......please......

Are ya seein' how happy my sis and I are??  Why.....we were as happy as a couple gophers in soft dirt today......

Not only was I happy cause I spent the day with my sister, who I've missed terribly while on the road, BUT........I also was very happy cause........wait for it.........I was RIGHT and Brady was WRONG......

Now, you must understand, I love my brother-in-law, Brady, very very much, and he is "almost" always right....about everything.  It's even been known to be a little annoying at times....This man can BACK a 45' motorhome, with a car, a motorcycle trailer and a boat ALL ATTACHED, from Dallas to Kansas City and never miss a beat.  I've never seen anything like it......

But unfortunately for Brady, today was not one of those "always right" days!  Long story short, which I will not bore you with cause, afterall, the only important thing is........I was RIGHT and he was WRONG and he was required to bow to me (repeatedly......cause I wouldn't let up on him) and say, "Liz Was Right.....Brady Was Wrong"..........Awww....that has such a N-I-C-E sound to it........

I have to say, he handled it with grace (well, after he picked his head up off the table).........

But poor Charlie was having a day much like Brady........his day started out accidently backing into the shower door with his butt, knocking it off its tract; and as he went into the shower stall to set it back on tract, he now bumped the cold water handle causing the shower to spray him right in the face.  Bless his heart.....I had just enough time to grab my camera and snap this picture.............before handing him a towel......

And we wrapped up this wonderful day sitting around a campfire with our new neighbors, James and Barb, swapping RV war stories.......between all three couples, trust me, we could write a book of stories......Hey, we should do that!!

Oh ya, we also noticed some geese today heading south for the winter........always a good sign summer is over and winter is just around the corner, right??!!.......Well, these geese were two sandwiches short of a picnic cause they just couldn't get it right......once they made a "Y"; which was close, but no cigar........then they made a lopsided "X"; and then moved the formation into an "M"........And finally concluded by making a formation that resembed a 747 jetliner.....which, I'm figuring, will get them to their destination quicker.......

I'm suspecting an early winter, folks.........

DAY 87: Oklahoma.....Like the Play, Only No Singing....."

DAY 87:  Still Somewhere in Oklahoma - September 24, 2010

Well folks, we're still in Oklahoma........and today was "Clean the RV" day.

Yep, after three months on the road, we accumulated 10 pounds of cat hair, couple pounds of sample "Bad Lands" dirt, at least 5 trees worth of wood from each place we visited (we're going to make Xmas presents out of them!!) and about 20 pounds of pistachio nut shells (all under Chuck's chair).......

Awwwwww......its so nice to have a clean house again!!

While I was cleaning up the RV, Chuck and Murphy took a much needed "Daddy-Doggie-Day" ride around the park.......just the men.

And then....while taking a break from cleaning, and after Chuck and Murphy returned from their big adventure, we met our new neighbors on the right.......Such nice people........they are from Decatur, Texas......and he has the.....well...... most unusual tattoo I've ever seen......Check it out.....its a tattoo of his two grandchildren's feet at birth.....that's pretty cool, don't you think???!!  That just looks like it would HURT to me........

And today.........I saw my sister for the first time in three months!!!!  Oh Happy Day!!!  The Very Best Part of My Day!!!!!

DAY 86: Three More Days Left In Our Shoebox On Wheels.....

DAY 86:  Somewhere in Oklahoma - September 23, 2010

I want to first start off by apologizing to my Oklahoma friends for the above.........I couldn't help myself..... this is just FUNNY!

And driving through Oklahoma today felt like driving through Kansas......which I swore I'd never do again.  Chuck and I made an agreement years ago to drive "around" Kansas in the future....can you say W-I-N-D-Y......but back to Oklahoma.....we must have been battling 30-40 mph winds.......all straight in our face!  Our little coach was just chugging along; its gas gauge like a clock whose hands were going backwards......quickly.

But we made it to the State Park we are meeting my sister and her hubby at tomorrow safe and sound....although, I must admit, I think the Chuck and Liz 24/7 togetherness for 3 months is growing weary......If he sneezes, I'm on him like a wart hog.........if I put my shoe on, he's growling at me about something......so its probably a good thing we are headed home on Sunday.  It's time to take a break from our "Shoe Box On Wheels" for awhile........before we kill each other!

Anyway, back to today..... We had told Debbie and Brady we would reserve them a spot next to us at the campground.  Unfortunately, its not enough to just "reserve" and "pay" for the spot; you have to have some type of "residence" on the spot.  The little camp host seemed perplexed that we didn't have some type of tent in our motorhome to put on their spot...... Why would we have a tent with us??  We have this beast of a motorhome......this is as close to camping as Liz gets.  Long story short, she loaned us a little pup tent of hers to put on their site.  

This might be a good time to remind you about the 30-40 mph winds.....nothings going to hold that tent down in winds like that.  But the REAL truth was,  Chuck and I have never put a tent up, pup or otherwise, together and today was definitely not the best day for us to start (refer back to Paragraph 3 above).  So, we just put her tent IN its bag in Debbie and Brady's reserved spot........ THERE........the site has a tent.

Happy Now??????

Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

DAY 85: I Got "Misplaced" In Amarillo......Go Figure!

DAY 85:  Oklahoma City, OK - September 22, 2010

Well folks, it has been brought to my attention that my photoshopped Nascar picture wasn't a Nascar picture afterall......it's something called IRL (Indy Racing League) or something weird like that........Oh well.......Nascar or IRL....I had a smokin' body in that photoshopped picture......

We managed to get "misplaced" today (remember....Liz doesn't get "lost"...she gets "misplaced") not once, but TWICE......and the weirdest part??!  The first time was in Amarillo and the second was in Oklahoma City.  How can a girl who drove in downtown Dallas everyday at the young age of 16 get lost in Amarillo????  How????  I will tell you how......its called a GPS...........

And this.......this is a picture of Chuck "bearing with me" as a very frustrated Liz apologizes for her impatience on getting "misplaced".....

And this is Murphy's "bearing with me" look......ain't he cute!!???

And this.......this is my new driving motto from now on.  It now resides directly in front of me while I'm driving the Beast (BTW, my sister's little Goodwill "Love Is" statue next to it will be "moving on" after this weekend.......I GET TO SEE MY SISTER!!!  sorry...didn't mean to yell....yea yea yea)

Wait till you see what I got her at the last Goodwill stop!!  You will LOVE IT....

DAY 84: What?? No Comment About My Nascar Picture???

DAY 84: The Armpit of America (Amarillo, Tx) - September 21, 2010

Well, I have to admit......I'm just a bit disappointed.

Yesterday's Blog reflected a picture of Liz in a Nascar outfit and no one seemed to notice.........it took me at least 15 minutes to photoshop my head over Danika Patrick's.......the least you guys can do is notice......work with me here folks!!

Today started out weird......

First, Kruger the 1-claw cat got out of the RV for only the 2nd time in the past 3 months.  Of course it would be today; the day we planned on getting an early start for a long day on the road......errrrrrrr.....but Chuck went out and did some type of "cat call" and the cat came home.  And then Murphy proceeded to throw up on Chuck's chair.......Actually, that was kinda funny......Geeezzz.......

And then we had the problem of how to get out of our RV spot......we had trees, swing sets, boulder rocks, a truck, a steep hill and an ancient 5th wheel trailer to work around......I was about half in and half out when Harvey, the owner of the RV park drove up in his little golf cart and said, "What yer doin' goin' that-a-way?  I told yer yestERday to head on out the utter way."  And yes, he did...but what he didn't tell me was how I was suppose to make a left turn out of my spot, avoiding the picnic table, the tree, the neighbors pickup...and then an immediate right turn trying to avoid another tree, HIS house and the hot tub.  So, this seemed like the best alternative.  Finally manuevered my way out of there, barely missing his cute little golf cart.....

We drove through some more beautiful mountains, used my trusty friend, Mr. Jake Brake, and couldn't seem to "shake" a slow little Toyota Prius that kept finding itself in front of me on a 2-lane highway for 200 miles.

Said Goodbye to gorgeous Colorado, hello to New Mexico....then Goodbye to New Mexico and HELLLLLO to Texas......

Tomorrow.......Goodbye Texas.....Hello Oklahoma!

DAY 83: Nascar Liz......I'm Flattered!!

DAY 83:  Wolf Creek Pass, Colorado - September 20, 2010

Liz Driving = Nascar

Bet you didn't know my driving has been compared to Nascar, did ya??  Well, it would appear that I have had several comments on my Blog lately regarding my fantastic driving abilities.....you know, how I'm able to take curves on a dime and photograph passing scenery at the same time!   Here's some of the comments I've received: "Yeh, we all sit around waiting to see what you screw up/crash/bend/run over/drop/get into next...it is like an accident waiting to happen....kinda like Nascar only better" (I liked the "only better" part the best!) or "I think you are one blink away from a major disaster..And poor Chuck, white-knuckling it the whole time. Maybe he figures "Hey, we all have to go sometime"........(Ah, Chuck is lovin' it!)

Actually, I'm kinda flattered.......I've never been compared to Nascar before!!

This might be a good time to mention that we drove the Wolf Creek Pass today....A-W-E-S-O-M-E ride!!  Harvey, the older gentleman who owns the campground we're staying at here in Pagosa Springs, told us about a COOL side road off the Wolf Creek Pass that we HAD to take today.  So off we went.  Of course, the first thing I needed to do was put it on cruise control so it would leave my hands free to take pictures.......(that's a helpful hint....you're welcome!)  Harvey had told us it was a dirt road on the left just past a scenic overview.  Since there were only 57 scenic overviews on Wolf Creek Pass, we were really paying attention for that dirt road on the left.......when Chuck and I both spotted what we thought was our road..........we crossed over 2 lanes of oncoming traffic and found ourselves heading UP on a Runaway Truck Ramp......obviously not our dirt road.

After getting off the Runaway Truck Ramp, we got back on the highway continuing to look for that infamous dirt road on the left.  Finally........after I believe the 53rd scenic overview, we see our road!!  We were so excited (well, Liz was.....Chuck was grumbling about the dirt road) to be heading up, up, up to the top of this mountain.  The temperature outside went from about 69 degrees to a coooool 54 degrees at the top!  Ahhhhhhh........it was incredible.

Lovely day.......our last day in Colorado.  I have to admit I'm going to miss beautiful Colorado and traveling in general.  It has been an awesome ride! 

Thought I'd include some pic's on what our eyes to yours saw today.  

DAY 82: I Love My Jake........Brake, That Is!!

DAY 82:  Pagosa Springs, Colorado - September 19, 2010

One of my VERY favorite things to do while driving the motorhome is use the Jake Brake.  Did you notice how I capitalized the words, Jake Brake?  That's because he's like a good friend........a real person, so to speak.
And today.......well; today was a good Jake Brake day.  We only went a short distance...from Durango to Pagosa Springs, but I had lots of hills to use my good friend, Mr. Jake Brake.......and did I ever enjoy using him!

We finally made it to Pagosa Springs and, as usual, I found myself going "in" the "out" road to the campground.  Not only did the people trying to leave the campground have to turn around and go a different route, but now I was in a difficult position to maneuver into my RV spot ...... errrrrrrrrrrrrrrr .....but Mr. Harvey, the slow-talking, elderly gentleman who owns the place just looked at me and said, "What'd yer come from that direction fer?"  I tried to explain that his sign by the road was a little misleading but he just motioned for me to follow him and we'd get the 50' of motorhome and trailer into the spot somehow........he looked a little annoyed to me..........

We finally got it in there, set up camp and then took off on the trike to see the sites of Pagosa Springs.  We took a "Loop" road I had read about which, of course, was a dirt road......and we all know how Chuck hates dirt roads......"It chips the paint"......"It's hard on the bike"........"You're going to be buying a new paint job"...blah blah blah.........SO.....we took the dirt road!  And what an AWESOME 39 mile dirt road it was!!  But even I was ready to get off this bumpy dirt road!

But the awesome sites we saw were worth every bumpy, dirty, ding on the bike!  See if you don't agree.....