Rambling Roys

A short but costly trip in 2011

2011-08-24T17:05:00.001-07:00

The summer of 2011 took us to the wedding of Annie’s niece, Wendy, she’s the gal that showed us around San Antonio, Texas and on the way back from the wedding, a 150 mile trip, we lost our fuel pump and after a 40 mile tow a new fuel pump and a fuel level sensor rebuild we got our RV back in good order, we are very anxious to get back on the road and see our great country and check in on our our friends. For tose who are new to our blog, this is our second tow in two years, the one before this was in Prince Edward Island.

Spring in Massena, NY

2011-03-21T06:49:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to give you a taste of what the first day of spring looks like in Massena, NY, you saw the first day of the year now here’s it is, snow on the first spring day, we uncovered the RV yesterday, is the snow our fault????

Anne’s projects and winter scenes

2011-02-17T16:09:00.001-08:00

Annie is getting some sewing done and wants her projects posted on the blog so here are some of her projects along with some winter scenes

Placemats with some fancy stitching.

Chair cushions with. extra soft padding for meals that may last awhile
Winter Flowers!!!!

Ron cleaning out the driveway.

It’s all about time

2011-02-14T15:22:00.001-08:00

We finally got the clock done and started on a second clock, we will be building three in all in the near future but we do expect to be building more.

The people we are building the next two for do not want them stained so Anne’s part will be kept to the final sanding, she is the one who makes my work look good. We are having a ball doing these clocks but we don’t forget to take our walks and we try to go out and do the restaurant thing at least once a week. I’m sure that Anne will have some of her work to post soon, keep an eye out for that.

Anne’s winter projects

2011-01-29T16:10:00.001-08:00

Anne suggested that I post some of her projects, only fair I guess. Here are some photos of her pillow sporting the new covers. Anne’s “sewing room” is in the loft area of the house which puts her two floors up from the noise of my work shop, not a bad deal for both of us.

These projects were started by her mom and, fortunately, were the right color to be used as throw pillows on the window seat that Anne also made.The weather has settle down a bit, the temps hover around the hi 30s during the day and the high 20s during the evenings, so far all the shoveling has been just that shoveling, I use the snow blower just to clear what the plow throws In the driveway.

Ron’s latest project

2011-01-27T15:41:00.001-08:00

Both Anne and I are spending our days inside with enough time outside to keep the driveway shoveled and a walk a couple times around the block each day. To the right is a picture of a grandfather clock I am working on while Annie is upstairs sewing, not a bad winter for us. Our total snowfall is maybe a foot, haven’t used the snow blower much, I am able to keep the driveway open with a shovel. Needless to say that this winter is different from last years, we won’t be traveling till this summer, we are already talking about when and what part of the country we will visit.

A cold day in Massena

2011-01-24T16:16:00.001-08:00

We woke to very cold day but in our cozy and warm bed and equally warm house, needless to say, that is where we spent the day, Anne sewing and me in my wood shop, ah in my heated shop, it was –29 earlier in the morning.

Anne took some pictures and we want to share them with you

Kind a neat hu?

New Years Day

2011-01-09T16:42:00.001-08:00

New The New Year started out with a beautiful sky and nice temperatures, Annie and I went out for walks several times during the day to keep cabin fever down, I enjoy the cooler weather but Annie has a harder time with the cold. Our RV is covered with a canvas tarp and is actually also under snow at this time, we are both busy working ahhhh playing inside, Annie is sewing and I spend a good portion of my time in my wood shop.

A winter day in Massena,NY

2011-01-08T15:20:00.001-08:00

Last year was something quite different for us, we were on the road for eight months and saw some of the country’s most beautiful National Parks and met some of the nicest people and,even though we’re wintering in Massena this winter, we kept in touch with a lot of them. This winter our traveling will be done via our photos and a couple of blogs that our friends are posting.

Bay of Fundy and Hopewell Rocks

2010-09-16T15:40:00.001-07:00

Today was a ride from Baddeck to Moncton, NB where we quickly set-up the motor home and rushed to see the Hopewell Rocks at low tide, what a sight, the tide was turning and coming in at around 7 P.M., the park closes at 5 P.M. so we'll go back tomorrow to see the high tide. We took advantage of the low tide and, as the locals say, "we walked on the ocean floor" till the rangers asked us to leave. By the way, the van that you see Annie and I saw it all over The Cabot trail and on the way to Moncton.
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A Drive around Bras D'or Lake

2010-09-16T15:19:00.001-07:00

Today we were off for a drive around part of Bras D'or lake, we weren't given many sights, the drive was more of a drive down an access road to camps, could have been anywhere, the highlight of the drive was a short ferry ride on a cable ferry at the Little Narrows, a short ride that in itself was kinda cool. Without a bunch of look-outs to check we didn't use up much of the day so we then took to the lake itself aboard a 67 foot schooner the Amoeba, we sailed off the coastline directly in front of Alexander Graham Bell's house and we had a close-up of a Bald Eagle swooping down on a frozen herring our captain threw out for him. The end of the day took us to the Bell Buoy for lobster sandwiches, what a way to end the day.
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The Infamous Cabot Trail

2010-09-16T15:15:00.001-07:00

Wow, we're on he Cabot trail, super ride and outstanding sights, I say trail but it is a road and some people do travel it with their class Cs. While in Pleasant Valley, the trail cuts in and out of the Canadian Park and has towns along the highway offering many services one which is whale watching, yup we went, in a Zodiac and saw allot of pilot whales, one fin whale and a couple of sharks, really cool. The trail goes around Cape Breton with allot of hiking available for those who have the time to explore.
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Truro to Baddeck

2010-09-16T15:13:00.001-07:00

The road from Truro to Baddeck was 166 miles long and was completed without any "events". For those that do not know, Baddeck is the gateway to the Cabot Trail and is located on Bra D'ors Lake and is the home to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. We settled in at the Adventures East campground and quickly went to town and visited the museum, didn't know that Mr. and Mrs. Bell were interested in high speed boats, hydrofoils and flight and that they were affiliated with Curtis Wright in Hammondsport, New York where there is an air motorcycle museum known as the Curtis Wright Museum, been there and now will be going back.
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Halifax and Peggy's Cove

2010-09-12T16:59:00.001-07:00

Today Keith and Eleanor, friends of ours that we met in Bushnell,Fl. last winter, picked us up and gave us a ride to Halifax and Peggy's Cove for the day, what a nice ride and to have friends that can show us around, it doesn't get any better than that. We first had a great lunch of scallops and fries on the waterfront then it was on to the exploring, the day was filled with on and off rain and Eleanor saying "if you don't like the weather, wait a minute and it'll change" she was right, Keith used to work in Halifax so it didn't take him long to show things that we wouldn't have seen otherwise, thanks to both Keith and Eleanor. I'm going to close by saying, nothing beats having friends show you around.
More Photos of Peggy's Cove & Halifax

Nova Scotia and the Tidal Bore

2010-09-12T05:29:00.001-07:00

Arriving at Scotia Pines Campground we were happy to see the large sites with a line of pine trees between each site, beautiful, we settled in and looked forward to the next days exploration. Our first full day in Nova Scotia we headed for Maitland, a small community that the campground operator suggested we visit, on our way we drove over a bridge and to our right we saw a look-out, it was the site of a tidal bore viewing. What's a tidal bore? a tidal bore is a wave action that literally reverses the flow of rivers flowing into the particular river, in his case the Shubenacadie River, when we first got there the river bed was showing and whatever tributaries flowed, they where a mere trickle, within an hour we saw a wave coming around a corner and make it's way up the river and got to a depth of maybe 20 t0 30 feet, we'll find out more tomorrow, and rafters were coming up the river carrying passengers up the river where a few minutes earlier there was only a river bed, awesome is the only thing I can say, you need to see it.
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Charlottetown, P.E.I and Rocky Point

2010-09-03T16:07:00.001-07:00

Today started with a trip to the capital city and to another light houses. The drive was relatively short, we had about an hour drive to the capital, spent some time there then went on to see some more light houses and beaches, both Anne and I are more interested in P.E.I.'s natural beauty and, of course, the light houses which usually offer spectacular views. You will notice that we took two pictures of some scenes as the haze lifted. Tonight, we are hunkering down for Earl.
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The North Cape Coastal Drive, P.E.I.

2010-09-03T14:58:00.001-07:00

This trip makes our journey of P.E.I. complete, as some locals would say, the trip gives us a "point to point" trip, the extremities of the Island, don't get me wrong, there's still lots to see. Getting to the North Cape brought us to not only the extreme north end but to a wind farm that was able to power 12000 homes. The old lighthouse still stands and lots of fishing activity still goes on, not just a potato province here. On the drive home we took a detour, route 19, that would take us to the West Point light house, this light house had rooms for rent,cool hu? one could spend the night in a light house.Wait till you see Anne's churches.
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Points East Coastal Drive, P.E.I.

2010-09-03T14:44:00.001-07:00

Day 2 and we're off to points East, we parked the RV in Cavendish, central P.E.I. and ventured from there. The East Coastal Drive was at the top of our list along with many stops along the way, one such stop was the Sand Dunes, a Canadian National Park that sits on the banks of St Peters Bay, almost in the center of the East portion of the Island. We went for a nice walk on a floating foot bridge with a couple we met there at the park, if you see or do nothing else, walk the dunes, we did it in near 100 degree weather and it was worth it. From the Sand Dunes we had lunch at Rick's Fish & Chips, GREAT food, Anne had crab cakes and, you guessed it, I had the fish and Chips. Onward to the lighthouse, when we got to the eastern most point of the Island, we were greeted by an old light house that we where aloud to climb, great views. The trip back gave us some great views of the Gulf of St Lawrence and we again made a stop at a National Beach but it was just that, a beach with beautiful red sands. P.S. Anne got allot of pictures of churches.
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Cavendish P.E.I. and Anne of Green Gables

2010-09-03T14:30:00.001-07:00

We spent the day visiting Cavendish only to find out that we were staying about three blocks from where L M Montgomery lived when she wrote Anne of Green Gables, we did visit the site of where she was born, now only a basement, and we visited the Green Gables home where her stories were centered. A short ride down the road got us to the Anne of Green Gables museum, a house where Lucy Maude Montgomery lived while growing up and got married there too. We finished off the day with a stroll along the beach right here in Cavendish.
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Anne Of Green Gables Photos

Houlton,Maine to Prince Edward Island, CA

2010-09-03T04:57:00.001-07:00

To say that today was a "normal" travel day would be like saying a carnival ride was super calm, first of all, we left Houlton and got just over 100 miles and the gas monitor went off, not being one to distrust, we pulled over and I checked all systems after making sure we had no gas leaks, I'm pretty sure the culprit was the motor home exhaust but get this, the refrigerator was off, I expected that but the water pump got turned on as did the water heater, haven't found the logic in the latter two as yet. We then proceeded to P.E.I., got to Confederation Bridge, did the crossing and upon hitting land we lost the fan belt, all was not lost, the fan belt broke in front of a convenience store whose owner found us and went after a belt, now we need to install the belt, couldn't figure out how to install it so he called a friend who happened to be, and I quote, " the best mechanic on P.E .I., we're off with the lost of about an hour, not bad.
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Averill,Vt to Houlton Me

2010-09-02T16:42:00.001-07:00

We started off for P.E.I. today and made our way through New Hampshire entering Maine at Upton, near Umbagog Lake, on route 26 to Newry, Me and from there we drove route 2 to I-95 and our day's journey took us to the American border town of Houlton, Me and to My Brother's Place Campground, beautiful pull through sites with full hook-ups. Even though our trip was uneventful we still had to negotiate many turns, many hills and allot of construction, that being said, we will come back here to visit the Houlton area again.

Letchworth State Park, NY

2010-08-09T17:09:00.001-07:00

Letchworth State Park billed as the Grand Canyon of the East starts out as an unassuming ride but soon changes with great views of the canyon, although we didn't find it as "grand" as Arizona's version, you still shouldn't miss it, there's a museum housing the skull of a great mammoth that was found a few miles from the park and Mr. Letchworth's home that now serves as an Inn. We spent a day there but there are camping sites in the park for extended stays. We thank our friends for a great time spent in the finger lake region.
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Watkins Glen,NY

2010-08-09T16:42:00.001-07:00

Annie and I visited some friends in Bath,NY who took us to a couple of State Parks that we've been wanting to see for some time. Watkins Glen gives you a close-up view of mother natures work over time, it all starts with a hike up, down or up and down the gorge of the Glen. the way the options go, 1) you walk up and take the bus back down to the parking lot, 2) you have a friend drive you up to the upper parking lot, drop you off and walk down, much preferred, and 3), walk up and down, pack a lunch, which ever way you chose, the hike is great with water pools, cliffs and caves, beautiful views all the way. We had lunch at the park right on Seneca Lake watching boats moving in and out of a marina at the south end of the lake.
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High Falls, New York

2010-08-05T05:24:00.001-07:00

High Falls is an RV park near Chateauguay, NY that is home to a 120 foot high water fall, to get to the falls you need to take a nice nature walk that quickly gives you a choice of a short walk to the top of the falls or a longer trail that meanders through the woods bringing you to the top of a set of stairs that bring you to the bottom of the falls, the walk was well worth the stairs. We where introduced to High Falls by friends who rallied her brother and his wife and us for a two day week-end, we had a great time.

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Guildhall, Vt

2010-05-06T16:52:00.001-07:00

On our way to Lancaster, we decided to stay on the Vermont side of the Connecticut River and check out some of the towns. Guildhall is the county seat and a pretty town so we thought it nice to be shared with you. We hope that you will get a chance to visit this part of the north east and if possible, do so in the fall, foliage is great.

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Averill, Vt

2010-05-06T16:44:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks after getting home Annie and I went to Northeast Vermont to visit my family, I have a sister in Averill,Vt a brother in Colebrook,NH a daughter in Colebrook and my oldest daughter in Lancaster,NH, it was really nice to see them after being away for 8.5 months. As you can see, we seem to be chasing the snow now that had a taste of it. My sister took us for a kayak ride while my youngest daughter had us over to her house for a picnic and a great afternoon of catching up and my oldest daughter took us for a hike in a NH State Park, great afternoon.
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Back Home

2010-05-06T16:30:00.001-07:00

We're back in Massena, NY, we were met with a neat reminder that we were missed and, after awhile we finally got settled in, Anne is getting caught up on some sewing, she's making a quilt for her granddaughter's high school graduation and Ron is busy cutting wood getting a bunch of projects done which Annie finishes. Our big trip may be done but we are already planning on a trip to the Maritime Provinces.
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Massena, NY April 27

2010-04-27T05:57:00.000-07:00

We woke up this moring looking forward to a nice drive to northeast Vt to see my family,we are still going but we will be driving in snow, you can see we are in the middle of snow flurries, Annie is beginning to wonder what kind of dark cloud hangs over our heads. We have our little sailboat ready to go, have the lawn all mowed and trimmed, the flowers have been planted and now, we have snow, we can't seem to get away from the snow...

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Bushnell, Florida

2010-04-11T06:09:00.001-07:00

We are here at Blueberry Hill RV Resort till April. We showed-up in Bushnell on January 4th and have been here since. The sites are super huge, as you can see in the photo, we have allot of space, enough for about 6 autos. January wasn't too bad but February was windy with allot of rain and cold, not why we came to Florida. We had rain water in the street, you can see by some of our photos, that kept us inside reading and sewing.
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Arriving in Hollywood,Fl

2009-12-22T06:44:00.001-08:00

Well, we won't be moving for awhile, we got to my son's place in Hollywood and park our RV in his door yard, the door yard is too small you think, well, while we were here, our car motor home and 3 other cars were parked in his driveway and he came home with a tractor-trailer, park in the driveway, went inside and got a sandwich then pulled out without having to move anything, huge driveway, oh, did I mention it's in the high 80s during the day??? nice, we'll try and enjoy it.

Covington, La To DeFuniak, Fl

2009-12-10T07:43:00.001-08:00

A road trip of 269 miles took us out of snow and out of Louisiana through Mississippi then through Alabama to set up in DeFuniak , Fl., this is a very nice campground and we decided to stay for two days before heading towards Hollywood and Miami. Bye the way, no snow here.
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A day in New Orleans

2009-12-10T07:41:00.001-08:00

The day started with a ride across Lake Pochatrain on a 24 mile long bridge then another 6 miles or so on the Pochatrain causeway after that it was on to the French Quarter for a walk around town and to a Kiosk that sells New Orleans tour tickets, we bought a ticket for each of us and spent the rest of the day on a tour bus checking out the home Fats Domino and the above ground graves, a little eerie I must say, the devastation Katrina caused and some of the rebuilding going on . The trip home was a bit scary, first of all Gee Gee, our Garmin, couldn't find a satellite and we didn't know whether to turn right or left, it was raining it was rush hour and it was dark out making driving very difficult, eventually, she did get "connected" and got us home safely, till now, Gee Gee was short for Goofy Garmin but now she's Glorious Garmin, good night.
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Another catch-up day

2009-12-02T14:31:00.001-08:00

Today we did some shopping and Anne is using this time to wrap Christmas gifts and I used it to check things out on the RV. Tomorrow we move on to Covington, LA, near New Orleans and we will visit "the" city, send pictures.

The road from San Antonio to Beaumont

2009-12-01T13:29:00.001-08:00

We took off from San Antonio at 9:00 in the morning, got through Houston with all of it's construction at 12:30, we had rain for most of the trip but the highway was well marked and even with the construction and rain, we made good time. Beaumont had allot of rain and the site where we set-up was went all around the cement pad but we're settled in for the night.

San Antonio Botanical Gardens

2009-11-29T17:15:00.001-08:00

Today started slow and easy, first we had to pay for an extra days stay, not hard to take, then Wendy and Bob came over and took us to the Botanical Gardens, another really great place to visit in San Antonio. I should've said that the first night we were here we walked the "River Walk" and had diner on the edge of the river walk.
Click here for Botanical Garden's Album

The Alamo and Sea World

2009-11-29T07:00:00.001-08:00

November 28
What a feeling, to stand there where people like Jim Bowie and Davy Crocket stood defending the Alamo against Mexico, what a peice of history, you can't help but be moved, our forefathers fought hard for what we have. Sea World was a testament to what animals can do, for food, we watched Shamu respond to signals and do tricks that where amazing.....ly wet. We watched seals do there thing, the theme was, yup you guessed it, Christmas, lots and lots of Christmas songs and plays, allot of fun.
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San Antonio's Parks

2009-11-29T06:40:00.001-08:00

November 27
Today took us to a wild life park that had all kinds of African animals that came to the car to get feed, isn't that what life is about? Well, we went to lunch at a steakhouse that Bob was anxious to show us, great meal, from there we went to the Natural Bridge Caverns, a totally different experience from the Carlsbad Caverns, much of the trip was many low ceilings and steep trails, special sights all over the country.
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Thanksgiving Day

2009-11-28T19:32:00.001-08:00

Wow, what a treat to meet family, Wendy Walker is Anne's niece and she and her boy friend Bob invited us into there house for diner and what a treat we had, a great meal spent with family after 7 weeks on the road.After the meal we visited a Japanese tea garden, again Anne was in her glory.
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Road trip towards San Antonio,TX

2009-11-28T17:52:00.001-08:00

November 24

Today we left Carlsbad, kind of a sad time because we really enjoyed the Caverns. Before leaving, we did join Passport America to get "better" deals while on the road. We made a stop at Kerrville, TX, just about 80 miles from San Antonio, easy trip to San Antonio. No photos but I can tell you that we spent the night at a very nice campground.

Sitting Bull Falls

2009-11-28T17:46:00.001-08:00

November 23
Today we were going to spend getting the RV ready for the next move and shortly after getting started, we were told about Sitting Bull Falls about 45 miles away, we went, we saw and there was no water, what's a waterfall without water, right a drop-off, beautiful ride though and we are happy we went.

750ft underground at Carlsbad Caverns

2009-11-28T17:41:00.001-08:00

Today was an awesome trip to Carlsbad Cavern and an elevator trip to the underground depths of 750 ft on a self guided tour that was followed by a guided tour of the Cavern's King's Palace, absolutely amazing and we were treated to what it's like to be underground without light as Jim White was when his lantern was extinguished while he was exploring the cavern, wouldn't wanted to have been him, oh, he did make it out but always brought more matches from then on.
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The road to Carlsbad Caverns

2009-11-28T17:31:00.001-08:00

November 21
Wow, that was a short stay, we have a commitment to be in San Antonio, TX to be with our niece for Thanksgiving and we also wanted to see Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, a small but needed detour so we took a 550 mile trip in one day to give us time to see the Caverns, we hated to leave the Petrified Forest and Painted desert after only a day, not our usual, but we did it, now at 6:30, we’re in Carlsbad, NM
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Petrified Forest, Day Two

2009-11-28T17:12:00.001-08:00

November 20
The Petrified Forest, not what I expected, the are was free of trees but was a thick forest 250million years ago, the trees fell and were buried then impregnated by whatever mineral was around and the result was a rock hard “tree” that was crystallized, really beautiful. The Petrified Forest doesn’t end there though; we saw some hieroglyphics that date back 1000years, what a weird feeling to walk on the same ground as “them”. On the way out of the “forest” we visited the Painted Desert, absolutely amazing, can’t say more, just amazing.
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The Petrified Forest

2009-11-28T17:09:00.001-08:00

November 19
We left the Grand Canyon in our “dust” and headed for the Petrified Forest near Holbrook, AZ. A short trip, of about 190 miles which gave us plenty of time to set up then do the laundry, shopping and find out about the area.

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Day two at Grand Canyon

2009-11-28T17:04:00.001-08:00

November 18
Today was a trip to the east end of the south rim to vista points all the way to Desert View, approximately 25 miles with maybe 10 vistas. On our last morning in Grand Canyon’s Trailer Village we were treated to 3 elk roaming around the park right up close to RVs and while watching them, people were asking each other where they were from, met a couple from Star Lake, NY about 80 miles from home, small world.
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Day one at Grand Canyon

2009-11-28T17:00:00.001-08:00

November 17
Bus trip to Hermit’s Rest in the west end of the Canyon and a nice pause at Mohave vista for a sunset photo op. there are many vistas and the day is not long enough to stop at all of them but how do you decide which to miss, they are all great.
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St. George to Grand Canyon

2009-11-28T06:26:00.001-08:00

November 16
Another road trip, this on was from St. George to the Grand Canyon, about 275 miles and we got to Grand Canyon Village at 4:30 after a single stop at the Canyon’s rim, we needed to get set up but after seeing that one overlook, we signed up for an extra day, tomorrow we visit the Grand Canyon…
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The Temple of Sinawava

2009-11-28T06:23:00.001-08:00

November 15
Today we did go for a hike from the Temple of Sinawava, awesome, great hike, not too taxing and really great sights and Anne got her hand in the river.

Zion day Two

2009-11-28T06:20:00.001-08:00

November 14
Today started with a trip to Zion but the cloud cover and rain turned us to Kolob Canyon, you don’t want to miss Kolob Canyon, so far we’ve done car trips but we still had a great chance to see a lot, go through tunnels and made a lot of stops and maxed out the camera chip.
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Zion day One

2009-11-28T06:19:00.001-08:00

November 13
Met with Annette and went to Zion, everyone needs to experience Zion, you don’t go see Zion, you go into Zion, just amazing, Annette had never gone to Zion and is now planning a lot of summer days in the Park.
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Trip to Las Vegas

2009-11-27T19:50:00.001-08:00

November 11
Started the day with a trip to Las Vegas, “the strip” had a lot of construction going on so we didn’t find a parking spot that was anywhere near the casinos, maybe be a good thing, we saw a lot of people coming from one end of the strip so we figured that they had found a parking spot, we went that way and everything was full so we returned to the park and did the washing, all work no play.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/LasVegas#

Yuma mining town

2009-11-27T05:35:00.003-08:00

November 8
Sunday was spent on a walk in an old mine in California, hot weather but again very interesting, we saw thee cyanide tanks where the “dirt” was processed and, yup, a ride to Barney’s where we got more 44oz sodas, these guys know how to live, from there we finished the day with a square dance dancing to a caller we first met in Hungry Horse, more great people, we will have to go back on the road next year because of these people.
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A day with our road trip friends

2009-11-27T05:35:00.001-08:00

November 7
Saturday’s road trip took Bernice, Hoyt, Anne and I to a different RV supply store where we found the controller we needed then went for more grocery shopping, no, we don’t always eat, remember I talked about the dancing, shuffleboard and we also played a game of 101 pool, went to a State Prison turned public park and Anne went to water aerobics
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Yuma Square Dancing

2009-11-26T19:12:00.001-08:00

November 6
Friday started out with a run to the RV parts store to find a pump controller, no luck there but we went and did some shopping at Fry’s, a food store and put the controller on hold for now, not a vital piece of equipment. The campground put on a hamburger and hot dog feed, right up my alley, the evening turned into a square dance, if Anita and Ron Anderson have their way, we will be square dancers, really allot of fun.

A day of retirement

2009-11-24T17:53:00.000-08:00

Anne and I got together with 4 other couples and played shuffleboard, Anne and I didn't hold our own, we barely scored in all the games, oh well, back on the road.... These guys sure know what retirement is about, we get up do a little something, go to get a 44oz drink, then relax, then go see some local sights then go get a 44oz drink then go home, I don't know if I can keep up to this.

Lazy Day

2009-11-24T17:43:00.000-08:00

November 4
Today was truly a laid back day, we had the RVs oil changed and did a little shopping and spent the rest of the day with 2 couples that we met "on the trail" in Hungry Horse, you don't have to like camping to have an enjoyable time out on the road not to mention the sights, a real fun trip.

Yuma and Mexico

2009-11-24T17:38:00.000-08:00

November 3

Today was a pretty full day, we had the RV washed, Anne got her flue shot, we took a trip to Mexico were Anne was in her glory, she was able to do some "Christmas" shopping and got her hair trimmed. While in Mexico we watched a local guy paint a desert scene on a rectangular green bottle using newspaper for a brush.

Going to Yuma Prison

2009-11-14T07:08:00.000-08:00

November 2

The day started with Anne taking a water aerobics followed by a line dance lesson and I worked on the RV checking some electrical connections and covering the tires to keep them out of the sun. Our thermometer saw 101 degrees but the air was dry so it was not too hard to take. We were taking to the Arizona State Penitentiary State Park by Ron and Anita, friends we met in Hungry Horse.

Yuma Day 1

2009-11-14T06:49:00.000-08:00

November 1

We toured around a bit and ended at a square dance that was called by the same person that called in Hungry Horse, he and his wife were very surprised to see us, lot’s of fun, the night ended at the Dairy Queen

On the road to Yuma

2009-11-14T06:41:00.000-08:00

October 31

We left Newberg Springs, on route 66, to o to Yuma, Arizona, a long rough ride, 314 miles later and we turned into Cactus Park in Yuma none the worse for wear

Route 66 and Calico

2009-11-14T06:36:00.000-08:00

October 30

Today we drove down route 66, what a hoot, and then we went to Calico, California, an old ghost town that had a lot of silver mining activities in the 1880s. While in Calico we rode an old narrow gauge railroad and went into two of the original Calico homes and peeked into the entrances to some of the mines.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/Route66Calico#

Going to Barstow

2009-11-14T06:32:00.000-08:00

October 29

Today was a road trip through Yosemite’s west gate and out the south gate, the first option was to go over Tioga Pass but at an elevation of 11,000 feet and 32 degrees at the 5000ft, it’s was a sure bet that the pass was closed so we opted for a sure thing and went to the south gate, we had a great trip and ended just east of Barstow, Ca.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/TripToBarstowCa#slideshow/5406001554467758578

http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/Route66Calico#

Yosemite's South Entrance and the Sequoia

2009-10-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

October 28

Today, day 3 for our stay at Yosemite and we made a trip to the south entrance where we strolled through a stand of Sequoia trees, these guys are big and old, very interesting to see, pictures cannot capture the enormous size of these tress, absolutely awesome.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/YosemiteDay3#

Yosemite Valley and Hetch Hetchey

2009-10-29T21:16:00.000-07:00

October 27

Yosemite National Park, day 2, we keep being surprised by this country, we see new sites that make it hard to go back to the RV and today was such a day, we actually drove 85 miles to a new view that we may have missed had we “followed the group”. The day started with a site seeing trip to Yosemite Valley, we spent a good portion of the day hiking to places like Yosemite Falls, El Capitan and the Yosemite Valley then, with Anne looking at the Park map, found a spot in the northwest corner that was really something to see, especially for me, a hydro dam that also provided fresh drinking untreated water for San Francisco, we did get back to the RV.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/YosemiteDay2#

Yosemite's Glacier Point

2009-10-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

October 26

Today was a road trip day, we left Petaluma and our last look of the Pacific Ocean in our rearview mirror and 238 miles later we are sitting at Yosemite’s door. We took advantage of an early arrival to visit the park as we were told that it may rain in the lower elevations tomorrow, that means snow in the higher elevations and we should see the Avalanche point vista today, we did, WOW.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/YosemiteDay1#

Trip to San Francisco

2009-10-25T21:23:00.000-07:00

Today we went on a guided tour of San Fransisco, we had a great time, stopping at all the great spots, the Golden Gate Bridge, Haight Ashbury, Chinatown, The Presidio and the list goes on, if you get to Petaluma, you need to do the tour.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/SanFransisco#

The trip to Pentaluma

2009-10-25T21:14:00.000-07:00

October 24

After talking to some people we left Golden Rule Campground headed for the Petaluma KOA, we usually try to avoid the KOA campgrounds because of budget considerations but we had a good reason for going to this one, it had a tour trip into San Fransisco which meant I didn't have to drive and I could look around, we made to Petaluma and reserved our spaces on the tour bus.

Mendocino Gardens

2009-10-25T21:08:00.000-07:00

October 23

Today was trip to the Botanical Gardens in Ft Bragg, the trip took us over route 20, I’m sure that at times we saw our own taillights as we came around a lot of hairpin turns in the 35 miles that took us an hour to travel. The gardens were pass “their time” but it was still a great couple of hours walking through the garden’s path that eventually brought us out to the ocean. While we were in the garden’s shop we heard that a blue whale had been hit by an exploration boat and the whale was killed and came to shore not far from the gardens the Tuesday before.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/MendocinoGardens#

South on Californias 101

2009-10-25T21:06:00.000-07:00

October 22

Today was a road trip day; we drove down 101 to Willits, Calif. If your looking for it on the map, find Ft Bragg on the coast then slide your finger to the right, eastward along 20 for about 35 miles. We found a campground so far down in a canyon that we where considering turning around, we didn’t turn because we found no place to turn but we eventually found the place, nice and quite and for a very reasonable price considering the price of State Parks.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/GoldenRuleCampground#

Trinadad Coastline Trip

2009-10-21T17:44:00.000-07:00

Today we first went to the Samoa Cookhouse and Museum. The Samoa Museum was a small bur nicely done museum featuring a large wooden ships wheel and name placards of some ships that went aground near Samoa, Calif. A hike was next up, we hiked to a lighthouse, a very nice and rewarding hike that we recomend to anyone who passes through the area, the view of the ocean and the seaport was great.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/CalifCoast#

Avenue of the Giants

2009-10-20T18:49:00.000-07:00

Today was an short trip to the ocean and checking out another lighthouse right here in Trinidad, Calif. then a very nice ride down old route 101, a real cliffhangar, in some places the road was one lane, the side nearest the ocean slide away, Anne was not all that comfortable but "lived" through it. Once back on the new route 101 we headed south for the "Avenue of the Giants" where we saw the the giant redwoods driving a 20 mile long scenic byway. A little shopping and we're back home for the evening.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/RoadToAveOfGiants#

A day in Bandon, Oregon

2009-10-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

October17

A slow day today, we got caught up on the washing and bought a few essentials for the RV. We visited the Bandon “Old Town” down on the waterfront and had a great clam chowder. I'm eclosing some sunsets.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/PacificSunset#

Route 101 to Bullard State Park

2009-10-19T18:25:00.000-07:00

October16

A short road trip today, 127 miles to Bullard State Park we did a short trip for fear that we would show up at Crescent City, California to late and we would not have had a space and Bullard State Park offers a lot of sites to check out including the Pacific Ocean. We got to Bullard early enough to go to a lighthouse and get an ear full of Bandon history and how the lighthouse played a vital role for the town’s trade.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/Route101ToBullardPark#

A trip to Devil's Punchbowl

2009-10-19T18:22:00.000-07:00

October 15

Today started out with a trip to Devil’s Punchbowl and while there we watched the Coast Guard doing some rescue exercises. We then went to town so I could get a hair cut and after we went back to the lighthouse we visited late yesterday and ended the day with a walk on the beach were Anne tried to outrun the waves coming in and lost, went back to the RV and she changed out her shoes and jeans, don’t mess with mother nature!!!

Oregon's Aquarium

2009-10-19T18:20:00.000-07:00

October 14

Oregon’s Aquarium was at the top of the agenda for today, talk about a nice aquarium, we watched while trainers feed the sea lions and walked through an underwater glass tunnel and saw many exhibits of different fish. A short stay at a lighthouse with the promise of going back tomorrow, we just ran out of time today and they were closing the lighthouse for the night.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/OregonCoast#

Oregon Aquarium

2009-10-19T18:16:00.000-07:00

October 13

Today was a short drive, 127 miles but it was raining and the wind was blowing all the way. We stopped in Newport, Oregon to visit the Oregon Aquarium and to more beach walking. Anne is ready to checkout the seals on the beach. We got to Beverly Beach State Park and no one was at the check-in desk, a sign read “go find a site that is not reserved and register for that site and for no more than two days” we did just that and settled in, went shopping for food, came back sat down to diner and someone showed up saying they had reserved the spot 7 months earlier, we went searching again and it’s 1830 and no one has kicked us out.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/NewportOreArea#

Movin on out

2009-10-19T18:14:00.002-07:00

October 12

Today is called the “day before” where we do the washing, clean the windshield and clean the inside of the RV to get ready to move. One week in the northwest of Oregon has brought us up to speed on Lewis and Clark, their discoveries, how and where they lived. Before the history lessons though the first thing we did was to head for the Pacific Ocean and the last thing we did today was to spend some hours at the ocean.

Seaside Aquarium

2009-10-19T18:14:00.000-07:00

October 11
Nice easy day today, we went to Seaside, about 15 miles away, visited an aquarium then went back to the Ocean shores next to the campground and finished the day with a trip to the David Russell Battery

Tillamook and Cannon Beach

2009-10-19T18:12:00.000-07:00

October 10

Today we traveled Route 101 as far south as Tillamook stopping at Cannon Beach for a couple of hours, the beach was beautiful, a stop at the Tillamook lighthouse view point was next on our agenda, we found the lighthouse to be about 1.5 miles out at sea so we were only able to look and take pictures. Once in Tillamook, we visited a cheese factory bought some cheese and had some ice cream, all in all, not a bad day.

Oregon's Lighthouses

2009-10-19T17:58:00.000-07:00

Today a trip to lighthouses was in order and so we started our lighthouse tours in Washington State. A tour of North Head Lighthouse was our first stop, we were able to go to the top of the lighthouse and we meet a Host who gave us more information than we asked for, very interesting. After visiting North Head, we went to a second lighthouse, Cape Disappointment lighthouse, there we watch a presentation on Lewis & Clark’s expeditions in the years between 1804 and 1806 then hiked to the lighthouse itself where we weren’t aloud inside but what a view of the Pacific coastline. We had some extra time so we stopped off at Fort Columbia, also in Washington State.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/LighthousesFtColumbia#

Astoria Oregon

2009-10-19T17:56:00.000-07:00

October 8

The order of the day was a trip to Astoria where we visited the Columbia River Maritime Museum and we saw some exhibits of some old ships and videos of US Coast Guard rescue boats on a training mission. The last thing we did at the museum was to board the lightship Columbia and get a feel for how the crew lived for two weeks at a time Just after lunch, we left for a climb up the Astoria Column, 164 steps to an observation deck 125 feet above Coxcomb Hill which is 600 feet above the Columbia River, really breathtaking.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/AstoriaAndFortClatsop#

Fort Stevens and Area

2009-10-19T17:54:00.000-07:00

October 7

Today was a mix of a trip into history and an afternoon watching ships come into the Columbia River. We started the day with a short trip to Fort Stevens, a civil war, WW1 and WW11 coastal defense fort that was fired upon by a Japanese submarine, nine shots and nine misses, the only time the continental US was fired upon. One of the features of the fort was the use of “hidden guns” that recoils to a hidden position after firing. Standing in an observation tower overlooking the Pacific Ocean was a really great experience, we watched ships entering and leaving the Columbia River, much like we do on the St. Lawrence River, it was great.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/FortStevensAndThePacific#

Road to Fort Stevens

2009-10-19T17:49:00.000-07:00

October 6

Road trip, today we left Aurora for the Astoria area, we took I-5 north to route 26 then it was on to route 101 to Fort Stevens in Oregon’s North West. The drive took us around the city of Portland with some hectic driving but we managed, going through some very pretty forests on route 26 quickly made the drive around Portland a distant memory. The weather is holding for us, the sun is shinning and all is well for the rambling-roys.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/RoadToFortStevens#

Oregon Gardens

2009-10-05T17:41:00.000-07:00

Well today really was Anne's day, we started by going shopping at an outlet mall, she manage to find some clothes she needed, then we went to the Oregon Gardens and spent the rest of the day there, I have to admit, even at this late date, the gardens where well worth the trip.
.http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanneroy/OregonGardens#

2009-10-04T18:48:00.000-07:00

Today was kind of cool and gray so we used the time to go to an aviation museum that houses Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose and a lot of other vintage aircraft along with the US space program’s Titan’s launch room, orbiting and lunar modules. We where able to go aboard the Spruce Goose and get some neat pictures, even though the camera can’t really show the actual size of the airplane. Anne took some lessons while we were there!!!

Champoeg State Park

2009-10-03T15:58:00.000-07:00

October 2

We where told Champoeg State Park is a beatiful campground,this is a great understatement, we where however, aloud to stay just Thursday evening as the place was booked for the week-end so we will have to move tomorrow.

Fort Klamath, Or.

2009-10-03T15:56:00.002-07:00

October 1

Well, the weather caught up to us last night, we woke up to a frozen water line from the outside bib to the RV, I disconnected and we used the water from our storage tank to get cleaned up and do dishes, we headed out to McMinnville, Oregon, home of Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose.

Crater Lake

2009-10-03T15:56:00.000-07:00

September 30

Today weather was worst than yesterdays, the rim road was mostly ice and for a smart driver, was a no-go. A trip to the Lodge was in order so we did just that, there where a lot of sites to see from the Lodges trails and we took advantage of them. As we left the Park a hail storm came through so we decided, enough of this New York weather, let’s head down the mountain, 23 miles away the weather turned in our favor.

The Pinacles at Crater Lake

2009-10-03T15:54:00.000-07:00

September 29

What can we say? Crater Lake access road is covered with snow and the Ranger at the Kiosk asks “can you drive on ice?” not what I wanted to hear but went forth and took the trip around the RIM and we ended up seeing the lake, there where a few moments when the fog and snow cleared and we where at the right place. After a few side trips and listening to the video presentation we headed back to the RV for the day happy that we did get to see the Lake. We lost the camera's battery power so the Crater Lake pics will come later, these are the pinacles near the lake.

Trip to Crater Lake

2009-10-03T15:50:00.000-07:00

September 28

We’re off to the Crater Lake in Oregon, got to say that because there are two Crater Lakes and we definitely told that. We finally got to the park only to be turned around as far as camping was concerned, the camping was closed, so back down the mountain and Anne found us a spot to stay and we took a well deserved break. Anne ordered a pizza from the camp store and we hunkered down for the night. This is a picture of one of the small mountains we saw along the way.

Virginia City, Nev

2009-10-03T12:14:00.001-07:00

September 27

Today brought us to Virginia City and a visit to the old west. Anne got her picture taking with a couple of the “locals” and we visited some of the mining and train museums. There are hundreds of miles of tunnels under Virginia City, some of which are accessible, with a tour guide, we chose not to go, the cribbing is a hundred year old timbers and it’s a matter of time…..

Lake Tahoe

2009-10-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

September 26

We spent the day driving around Lake Tahoe visiting Emerald Bay having lunch on the beach and dinner in So. Lake Tahoe. The views we had coming back to the camper going over Rose Mountain where fantastic, many switch-backs and deep canyons on the passenger side.

Donner Pass

2009-10-03T12:11:00.000-07:00

September 25

Friday morning and we’re off to Emigrant Pass and the Donner Lake area, we read about the Donner party and their life that winter. After lunch, we went to Lake Tahoe, spent the afternoon in Lake Tahoe and ended the day at the Gold Dust restaurant and casino.

The trip to Reno

2009-10-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

September 24

Today we drove to Reno, settled in then went to the strip, all the traffic on the strip was on foot, Street Vibrations week-end was on, 16000 motorcycles, live bands and all kinds of motorcycle equipment and food vendors. Lots of iron.

The Ruby Mountains

2009-10-03T12:08:00.000-07:00

September 23

We went to Lamoille Canyon for the day, had lunch with Bern and Pat and took in the view, again a wonderful experience. Anne wanted those flower photos, gatta love her.

The road from Layton to Elko

2009-10-03T12:06:00.000-07:00

September 22

We left Layton and headed for Elko, Nevada for an overnight on our way to Reno While in Elko we met Bern and Pat from Cooperstown, NY and they told us about Ruby Mountain and the Lamoille Canyon drive.

Salt Lake City

2009-10-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

September 21

The day started with meeting Norman at their house in Farmington, and then it’s on to Salt Lake for a second day and a visit to the Mormon Tabernacle, amazing woodwork, and on to the Mormon theater, also an amazing structure.

Antelope Island

2009-10-03T12:03:00.000-07:00

September 20

We spend one more day in Layton and visit Antelope Island State Park in the Great Salt Lake, we saw a lot of bison, antique buildings and, of course, wonderful views, an interesting fact, the lake’s average depth of 33’. Anne is walking on the edge!!

Reunion with Norman "Joe" Brouseau

2009-10-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

September 19

A train ride to Salt Lake brought us to a Farmers Market that was really interesting, local food and art that is beautiful and a live band, enough for one day. Norman Brousseau, a close friend from back in our growing up in Vermont, took us out to dinner and we began to reminisce about “the good old days”, lot of fun

We're off to Leftbridge

2009-10-03T11:57:00.000-07:00

September 18

Went spent today getting the passenger side windshield, we picked-up a stone back in Alberta and the break got worst so we made arrangement to have a new windshield installed