First day in Hot Springs

Yesterday we were contemplating staying another day in Memphis, but after finding out our Passport America discount was only good for one night, we decided our campground wasn't worth $32, so we decided to move on to Hot Springs to get some errends done and see the park. We had a very easy 200 mile drive out of Memphis, across the Mississippi river, through Arkansas into Little Rock and into our campground Cloud 9 RV park. We drove into Hot Springs to get some dinner. We found a sushi place that was having "happy hour", even though it was Sunday. During happy hour they have smokin deals on sushi...pieces for $1.25 and rolls for $3.25. We filled out tummies with sushi for less than $30.

Today we searched around to find a place to get an oil change on the moho. We found a place in Little Rock, about 30 miles away and set an appointment for tomorrow morning. Then we found a Suzuki dealer to look at the breaks tomorrow at 1:30pm. The bummer about the oil change is that it'll take 2-3 hours, during which we'll have no place to go and Snuggles will be with us. This will be interesting. Good thing we use synthetic oil, so we don't have to do this too often.

We were going to go into Hot Springs Nat'l park this afternoon but it started pouring around 2pm., just as we were getting back into Hot Springs. The weather report is calling for rain all evening, so we're going to hunker down and chill this evening. At least we have TV and internet, unlike in Pennsylvania where it rained for 5 days and all we had were our books. I'll take pics of our campground once this rain stops, which probably won't be until tomorrow.

Laura

Memphis, Tennessee

BBQ, Music and Elvis

After leaving Gulf Shores Alabama, we made our way to Jackson, Mississippi for an overnight stay at the local Wal-Mart (free!). It was a long boring ride, mostly on county roads. Mississippi gets my vote for the worst roads we have encountered since leaving Michigan. (Georgia gets my vote for best roads, if you’re curious) We got an early start out of Jackson which was going to put us in Memphis around 2pm, plenty of time left in the day to play.

We had a one night reservation at ‘Elvis Presley Blvd Rv Park’, mostly because it was a Passport America campground and we were going to stay there for ½ price! That put us walking distance to Graceland. Now, neither of us is much of an Elvis fan, but how could we resist! The tour was pretty interesting. Graceland was smaller then both of us envisioned. One of the most interesting parts of the experience was the people watching! We witnessed one girls hands shaking, nearly frantic, as she entered the house. It was obvious, for some, this was a religious experience. Now, there’s no question Elvis was a great entertainer and had a HUGE influence on music, but we don’t really get the overly fanatic behavior over the King. In the end, we both did enjoy the tour of the house, the museum and Elvis’ airplanes. The pics above are of the infamous Jungle room, the legendary pink Cadillac and one of Elvis’ costumes.

The other 2 things you must do in Memphis, BBQ and music. After setting up the coach and getting Snuggles settled in (she needed a break after 2 long days in her travel box), we headed downtown. First stop, Rendezvous BBQ for ribs, baked beans, Cole slaw and cold beer, delicious! Then we roamed around the Beale street area. We stumbled upon a free outdoor concert, (put on by Southern Comfort) the Neville Brothers were headlining, however, after a long day of driving, we couldn’t last that long. So, we enjoyed 2 different opening acts that were both very good. One had an Island flavor, the other was a rock, jazz fusion. We headed back to coach for a good nights sleep around 9:30 (light weights, I know!!)

Sunday morning, we set out for Hot Springs, Arkansas. After 3 strong days of driving, we’ll spend a few extra days here to rest up, get an oil change in the coach, get laundry done, clean the coach(its amazing how fast small areas get dirty!) and explore the area. We are approaching the 1 month mark of the tour (November 5th). I’ll plan on putting together some stats and thoughts on the trip so far, and get them posted as the date nears.

Rich

Leaving Gulf Shores

Sadly today we leave our new friends the Paynes and Gulf Shores to begin our trek to California with the goal of being there by Thanksgiving. Yesterday was a slow day for me, just hanging out in the moho and with the Paynes. I even got to try Linda's Breezer bike. It's quite comfy, but probably wouldn't be for me for the long haul. Rich went on a "boy ride" yeserday because he wanted to go a long distance and fast. I can't go as fast as him, so I stayed behind. He went down Fort Morgan rd. 18 miles to the point where there was an old military fort. He took a ton of pics, which can be seen on our SmugMug gallery. Last night we had the Paynes over for dinner. We marinated some chicken breasts and cooked up some green beans/onions/garlic/mushrooms. It's quite tasty all sauteed in olive oil. Linda brought her fameous peach cobbler. We paired it with our favorite dessert wine, Golden Botritis. After dinner we played their game, Sequence. To make things fair, we played girls against boys. They won 2 to 1. Then we played a couple of games of Blokus, again the boys won, Rich one and Howard one. It was not a good girl game night. During Blokus, we turned on "The Apprentice" at 9pm. only to discover it was over because it runs at 8pm. here in central time. We were bummed until the Paynes invited us over to watch it in their fifth wheel since they had Tivo'd it. They have satellite internet & TV with Tivo, so they are set for entertainment

Today we're driving about 240 miles to Jackson, Mississippi to stay in a Wal Mart before heading further north to I-40, our route across the country.

P.S. Ok....I'd hoped to upload some pics to our blog, but we have to get on the road, and it's not working, so go see 'em in the Smug Mug gallery for now, and I'll try to fix it when we have internet again....not sure when that will be. We'll try to find a campground with internet by Sunday.

Our first day in Gulf Shores

Today has been an awesome day so far. But first to back up....we finally met Howard & Linda of RV Dreams. We had an excellent dinner of taco soup in their beautiful 5th wheel. I was amazed at how much kitchen storage they have. Linda has brought everything you can think of. I brought them a loaf of apple bread that was my first attempt at baking in the moho. After dinner we played a few rounds of Blokus, Rich winning 2, and me one. They seemed to really like the game because it's simple, but requires a lot of strategy.

So today we finally got rolling around 9:30am. After a applebread breakfast I got a paper from the campground office. We talked bikes with Howard & Linda & went to get lunch, while they went to get bikes. We decided to make dinner tomorrow night and go to a restaurant Howard suggested tonight. We got the supplies to make basic marinade for some chicken breasts, some shrimp for appetizers, & green beans. Later we took them on a 10 mile bike ride through the state park, down to the beach, and back on the sidewalk of the main road. They both did really well for their first time on bikes in many years. When we were riding along the beach, you could really see the devestation from Hurricane Ivan that struck here. There's not a lot of trees around and many are dead from the salt water. Some buildings were just abandoned after the hurricane destroyed them. There's even a sign for a RV park across the street that doesn't exist anymore.

Oh.....also wanted to mention Linda's love of Snuggles that currently not returned. Poor Linda just wants to love and scritch Snuggles, but Snug. is afraid of her. She will "talk" to Linda, but will not allow any scritches. I'm afraid that's not going to improve much before we leave. It usually takes Snug. monthes to get comfortable with anyone. Linda did point out that you can hear big birds (macaws, etc.) from the campground. We went on a little exploratory bike ride yesterday and found what appears to be a breeder of birds. There were probably 20-30 of them....in pairs. We saw macaws, goffins cockatoos, greater sulfer crested cockatoos, indian neck parakeets, cockateils, and a dog. Of course as soon as we came around (once I corrupted Linda into ignoring the "No Trespassing" signs), the alarms were sounded with birds screaming...loudly. We made a hasty exit back to our campsite.

Where are we??

Click the pic for a closer look!

We have not had any internet access since leaving Asheville, so I'm here playing catch up. Currently in Gulf Shores, Alabama. We stopped down here to visit with Howard and Linda Payne. They are another couple that gave it all up to hit the road full-time. They have a blog as well, www.rv-dreams.com.

More later,

Rich

Nutts' in Georgia!

Thanks to our friends back home, George and Mary Mitchell, we have a developing interest in mountain bike tandems. They pointed us to www.mtbtandems.com an on-line store, shop and information site based out of Canton, GA. The owners, Alex and Kim Nutt along with their kids Stephanie, AJ and Trace are all very passionate about tandems. They have turned their passion into a nice little business!

We met with Alex and the boys on Saturday at local gravel walking path/trail to try out a couple of different sizes of bikes. We are looking at a Ventana El Conquistador dual suspension tandem (www.ventanausa.com ). After a five or so mile spin around a gravel two track, we headed over to their shop/house to take a look at some different frames and forks. Alex was great, answering our many questions and spending a good part of the day with us. He mentioned that his friend Mike and his wife from Asheville were coming down to pick up some parts and they were going to do a ride. They have a Grinch Green Ventana, which is a color we are considering. Deb and Mark who run a tandem enthusiasts site called Double_Forte, which can be found in Yahoo groups, and live locally were also joining the ride. Alex invited us to join all of them on one of his demo tandems. We could not pass up a chance to take one of these on some single track!

We met everyone over at the shop at 11am put our pedals and saddles on the tandem and headed out. The Blanket Creek trailhead was only a few miles from their home/shop. Alex is actually responsible for much of the design and building of the trail. For the riding folks back home in MI, the trailhead parking lot is similar to Island Lake on the weekends, it was packed! It was quite a sight to see 4 tandems, myself and Laura, Alex and Kim, Mark and Deb and Mike with Alex’s son stoking(Mikes wife was not able to make the trip down) head down the trail. We caused quite a stir in the parking lot as well!

The best way to describe the trail, in Michigan terms, is Yankee springs, without the sand, more rocks and more climbing! It proved to be a true ‘trial by fire’ for our first single track adventure on a tandem! The first few miles were a little nerve racking, getting used to the handling of the bike, the hills, and combination of rocks and roots. It only took a few miles to realize that 2 people on 40# bike with 6” of travel will go over just about anything! The only thing that slows you down is your own fear. By mile 3, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face! It gives a whole new dimension to trail riding. It put Laura and me on more level playing field (we can actually ride together now). Laura seems to be a natural ‘stoker’, we communicated well, pedaled efficiently and moved around the trail as one! I would say tandems are like golf, you either get it, or you don’t! (Golf, we definitely don’t!)

After lunch with everyone, (don’t worry Steph, I’m sure your dad will let you date BEFORE you’re 30!) Laura and I headed back out to the trail. I wanted to try the advanced South loop on my Racer X. The best way to describe it, in terms of Michigan trails, is a combination of Maybury, Poto and Highland! Continuous twisty ups and downs alongside Lake Allatoona., many rock gardens, and roots and a couple of small creek crossings thrown in. The trail was short (4.1mi), but an absolute BLAST! My climbing has definitely improved since leaving Michigan!

A HUGE thank-you to the entire Nutt family for your generous hospitality this weekend! People who tandem really are a ‘special’ group ;) It was also great meeting Mike, Mark and Deb. We look forward to being able to ride with you all again, next time on our very own tandem!

I think Laura and I agree that we enjoyed it enough to get one. We both really liked the ‘electric blue metallic’ color. After talking with Alex, I have a pretty good idea of how I want the parts spec to look. Sizing is still an issue as I had standover issues and Laura had top tube length issues with the stock 17/16 we demo’d (we will probably go custom if/when we do this). The biggest challenge we face is how to pay for it. I think for now, we have to wait until the first of the year to see how our budgeting for this trip is working out before we can take the plunge!

The goal, 2006 Ore to Shore, tandem class (look out Mitchells’ here we come)!

Rich

On a break from blogging...

Not much to report from yesterday other than we started to drive up to Mt. Mitchell, which I thought was 10 miles away, but turns out to be 25 and at 6600'. We didn't have enough gas so we had to settle for going to the Craggy Gardens visitor center at 5500' where there were more colors and the temp was only about 60 degrees, as oppposed to the 80 it was down in Asheville. I have pics to post at another time, but right now we're trying to get on the road. We're staying tonight at a Wal Mart in Atlanta, then moving on the McKinney campground on Lake Allatoona. Neither of which will have internet, unless we get lucky & park next to someone with a satellite dish that has internet. Sooo....no blog updates until we get to Gulf Shores, Alabama on Tuesday.

Bye!

More Mountain biking

Today we rode the Bent Creek trails. They are a series of short trails that all connect together in one form or another, most are 1-3 miles in length. We took our trusty trail map, parked the car and started climbing. We kept climbing and climbing and climbing. We were even climbing when we didn't know we were climbing. About 2.5 miles in, I was exhausted and thinking I was in sorry shape to be so tired after a little more than 2 miles. We turned around to try another trail and we started going downhill....and kept doing downhill unitl we came to a bridge where we could branch off to head back to the car, or see what's on the other side of the bridge. Since I was feeling infinitely better after realizing I'd been climbing and not in as bad a shape as I thought, we elected to go over the bridge. Before we did, I took a pic (above) of a poem about trees that was on a sign post along the side of the trail. I just thought it was cool that they put that out in the forest. Click on the pic to make it bigger. We followed the bridge trail back to our car. Rich wanted to go off and do a "boy ride" (i.e. faster ride) and I wasn't quite done, so I rode off onto a logging road, that of course went up. I ground out about a mile before I turned around and flew back to the car. Rich got back about 15 minutes later, covered in mud.

As we were pulling into the RV park, there were 2 class A motorhomes parked and registering. One was towing a small pickup truck that had a sticker on it that said, "Please be patient, I'm pushing a big motorhome." I thought that was hilarious. I'm waiting until they get set up to go compliment them.

Another funny comes from the MMBA (Mich. Mtn. Biker) bulletin board. It's a link to a funny auction on Ebay. Enjoy!

North Caroline Arboretum

Today we went over to the North Carolina Arboretum where Rich did a mountain bike ride and I did a hike. I had a nice hike that mostly went along the Bent Creek. I think I did a total of 2.75 miles. I need to get some hiking shoes, because my sandals just didn't cut it. They were ok for this easy hike, but once we get out west, I'll need something with a little more support.

After we came home & got some lunch, Rich cleaned the outside of the RV while I cleaned the inside. It's amazing how quickly such a small space gets dirty, but consequently, it also doesn't take long (20 minutes) to clean it.

Tonight we're going to attempt to make some korean food (bulgogi)...wish us luck!

Moutain biking & laundry

Ahhh....no pictures to post today. We were riding too fast to take pics yesterday. We took a day trip over to Tsali (about 60 miles & 1.5 hours) and rode the Thompson loop trail (7.7 miles). The first & last 2 miles were screaming fast downhill, but the middle 3 miles were looonnnggg, gradual uphills. I rode, walked, stopped, rode, walked, stopped....for a long time. Poor Rich was probably bored to tears. He said it was similar to me walking on a horse the day before....slow, but at least I was on a horse. LOL! On the way back we stopped at the Nantahala Outdoor Center where we had lunch & watched people in various forms of boats, kayaks, & rafts come down the river. It looked like fun. We check the temp fo the river and it was ccccold!

After we got back I went and met Kristen who's web page Road Sweet Road I've been following for months. She's a single, 30's woman who's full-timing in her RV & traveling by herself. She has guts. I'd get too bored and lonley to do it myself. She seems pretty fun. I hope I get a chance to talk to her more often.

Last night we chilled around the campsite after we BBQ'd some ribs and shared a bottle of wine.

Today was laundry day. The campground only has 1 washer & 1 dryer, which I figured would take us all day to do. Instead we found this seedy laundry where we spent an outrageous $10 to get all our laundry done (compared to $6 last week). We did have some entertainment from a guy named, "Squirrel" and his wife/girlfriend. He told us he's been coming to this laundry mat since he was 17 and he's 41! Dude could have bought a washer & dryer by now. So from Squirrel we learned to use the "Super highspeed spinner" machine to cut our dry time in 1/2, where the projects are, why he has a police scanner attached to his belt, that both med-vac heliocopters are currently in use, which dollar store is best, and the fact that they are also living in an RV (but not by choice). Made a dull day of laundry a little more entertaining.

Later we found an asian market because I've been craving korean food (go figure!) and there's no korean restaurants around Asheville. I had to take matters into my own hands and stumble through making some bulgogi. That will be dinner tomorrow night. Wish me luck!

Playing in Asheville, North Carolina

We got up real early yesterday because our batteries got low, so everything was beeping.....loud at 5:45am. Ug! We decided just to get an early start on the 300 mile drive to Asheville. Not much to report except a 7 mile downhill on a 6% grade. Rich is starting to handle these like an old pro. We're learning that 10 tons of vehicle picks up speed....fast. We got to Asheville around 3pm. and into our campsite. It's the least expensive RV park in Asheville and definately the most convienent location. It's a bit loud, but nothing in compared to a Wal-Mart parking lot. It's a whole lot nicer to spend $25/night than the $35-40 that other parks in the area are charging. Last night we wandered around the campground with Snuggles and met another couple who has been full-timing in a fifth wheel for 3 years. Originally they are from Florida and are now waiting for a log home to be built.

After talking with them for awhile, we got hungry, so we drove into town and had a lite dinner at a tapas & wine bar. It's based on spanish food & wine, stuff we know very little about, so we took a stab at the wine menu & did quite well.

Today we slept in until about 8:30, then found a vet to take Snuggles to that would trim her nails. They were getting long and sharp. While we were waiting, a lady was fascinated by Snuggles. We put her out on her carrier, while she woo'd the lady with her variations on "Sweetie, Sweet Snuggy, and Baby Sweetie". It gets them everytime!

Later we came back to the moho for lunch before heading out about an hour later for a 2 hour horseback ride. Although we didn't do much except walk and briefly trot, the scenery was beautiful. I've included plenty of riding pics.

After riding, we were starving, so we went to Zen Sushi for the sushi voted #1 in WNC (western North Carolina). It was good, but the atmosphere wasn't as good. We ate outside, because it was nice & cool but there was some girl, about 21 who was talking to her friend.....LOUD...and with a lot of "upspeak" and using the word "like", like every other word. :) I looked at a lady who was sitting at a table behind Rich & she was laughing and shaking her head. I hope I wasn't that annoying when I was 21. Whew!

Now we're back at the moho with plans to sit outside, sipping wine, and people watching. First Snug. and I took a walk around the campground. Nobody is outside, and we started to get very sleepy. I think we'll just get in our jammies and hang out tonight. Tomorrow we plan to hit some mountain bike trails.

A driving day, but surprise wi-fi!

Not much to report today. We drove about 250 miles from Hershey, PA to Lexington, VA. At one point we were going through 3 states within 50 miles: Maryland, W. Virginia, and Virginia. Otherwise it was pretty uneventful driving along I-80. Tonight we're staying in a Wal-Mart Supercenter. Somehow there's bunches of wireless networks here. I found 5, 3 of which are unsecured. Bonus! I've included a pic taken out our front windshield where we're parked. Tomorrow we get up early and drive 300 miles to Asheville, NC.

Hershey, PA!

We arrived in Hershey at the Hershey Highmeadow campground and got our laundry done. When you don't have work clothes, there's a lot less laundry to do. We got away with 3 loads, and could have done it in 2, but I elected to keep the whites and delicates seperate. Once that was done, we took a walk around the campground, then got some dinner done. There's cable tV here, so we enjoyed watching TV for the first time since Wednesday. I think it'll be awhile before we go off the beaten path like we were in Wellsboro.

Today we went over to the Hershey complex. First we went through Chocolate World...since it was free. There's a "ride" that takes you through how chocolate is made, then you are given a mini "Take 5" candy bar. I've noticed that's a trend here...people always want to give you chocolate. It's my kind of place! After Chocolate World, we went to the Hershey museum. We had free passes, courtesy of our campground. It was interesting, but I'm glad we didn't pay for it. I'm just not much of a museum person. There's also an amusment park here, Hershey Park, but it's only open on weekends after Sept. 15.

After that we came back to the moho for lunch then headed out to the Bass Pro shop to find a USB cord for our GPS unit. It seems to function when it wants to. Right now we only have a serial port cord with a conversion cord so we can put it into a USB port on our laptops. We didn't have any luck, but Rich did find a breathable (guarenteed!) rain jacket.

Once we got back, we took a quick nap, hung our surfing our wi-fi connection, & watching TV until dinner which was spaghetti with a creamy prosciutto (sp?) sauce that we bought at Trader Joe's a long time ago and finally got around ot using up.

Oh....forgot to mention that we got our RV weighed back on the 6th. We were a little concerned that we might be overweight because of everything we'd loaded for our full-time adventure. The max our chassis can handle is 20,500 lbs. and we weighed 19,820. The max we can weigh towing is 26,000 and we're at 23,000 (Suzuki =4000#). The only small concern is that we're 40lbs. over on the front axle, which means either we each need to loose 20lbs. (VERY TRUE!) and/or we need to move heavy stuff from the front to the back. But overall, we're happy with our weights.

Tomorrow is our last day in Hershey, since we're taking off to head down to Ashville, NC. We're stopping along the way at a Wal-Mart in Virginia for a place to stay....for free. There might not be an update until about Friday unless we stumble upon some internet somewhere.

Finally stopped raining

Today it FINALLY stopped raining, after 2 solid days of rain. Even though it was still cold & cloudy, we took the opportunity to get out and ride our bikes. We went out to the Pine Creek rail trail. We started about 1 mile from the northernmost point and rode 9.5 miles south, then back to our car, for a total of 19 miles. Going south was easy & slightly downhill, but coming back was a little tougher & into the wind.

Rich got to do some fishing in the pond behind our campsite. Supposedly there’s trout & bass in there. Rich says trout only live in moving water, so that may be a stretch. He did find tons of aquatic newts along the bank, so he hooked a couple & used them as bait. I’ve included a pic of a couple he scooped out. He never caught anything more than newts, but was happy for the opportunity to fish. I’ve also put up pics from our campsite and along the rail trail. We’ll be moving on tomorrow (Monday) to Hershey, PA. After that we turn south for our next stop, Tsali/Ashville, NC. There’ll probably be a stop along the way down, but we’re not sure where. I’m thinking another Wal-mart stop is a good idea because I hate to spend $20 for 12 hours of camping. I’m also thinking/hoping that Hershey is a major city because I’m about ready to be back in civilization where we get cell phone service and we can get some sushi. I haven’t had any in over a week, so I’m having a craving.

We’re going to drive the moho & car separately to Wellsboro, park the moho in a grocery store lot, then drive over to the library so Rich can do some work stuff & I can update the blog with pictures.

It's STILL Raining!

We're in Wellsboro, PA until Monday and it's been raining non-stop for 2 days. Makes for some quiet times. No biking, no hiking, no kayaking. We spent yesterday wandering around the town of Wellsboro, running errends, and surfing at the local library. Last night I woke up when it was freezing, so I closed the windows and turned on the furnace. At the time it'd stopped raining, so I was excited. This morning I woke up around 9am.(no use getting up early) and it was raining. We spent the morning reading and cleaning the moho. Small places get dirty quickly. Later we took a trip into Mansfield where we discovered we had voicemails from Rich's mom & my dad. We called them back & Rich gave his mom the web address to our blog so she can find a relative with internet access to view it. We're back at the library after buying zip drives at Wal-Mart in Mansfield so we can transfer info from the library back to our laptops. Turns out there's wi-fi access at both coffee shops in Mansfield, but we didn't bring our laptops.

So....not much else to report. We'll try to get some pics up soon. Just don't want to take any until it clears up. We do have a beautifully scenic and quiet campground, even if it is quite wet about now.

Au Revoir!

Laura

Finally on the road, plan for 2005 (whats left of it!)

Finally on the road!

The new shocks finally arrived and got installed on the motor home (rides like new!), we finally got on the road around 1pm on Wednesday the 5th. After 8 months of planning, we are finally full-time RVers.

Here is the plan for the remainder of 2005. First, we are heading to Wellsboro, PA. A place they call the ‘Grand Canyon of the east’. (We’ll let you know if it lives up to that). There is supposed to be some quality mountain biking and horseback riding there. From Wellsboro, on to Hershey, PA. (CHOCOLATE!!) Yeah, I know, not the greatest when it comes to chocolate, but looking for a plant tour and free samples!

From Hershey, we will turn to the South, heading for Asheville, NC and Tsali for some more mountain biking. It’s been about 3 years since we last visited here. We both loved the riding here and are looking forward to the return trip. From Asheville, we are headed to Canton, GA just a little North of Atlanta. We are going to check out a place called MTB Tandems (www.mtbtandems.com) this is a bike shop that specializes in tandem bicycles. They have tons of demos to try out. We are looking at getting a Ventana El Conquistador full-suspension tandem (www.ventanausa.com)

After Georgia, It’s pretty much I-40 across the country. The goal is to meet up with Laura’s dad in Santa Barbara, CA for Thanksgiving. We are anticipating short stops in the following cities: Nashville, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Albuquerque, Flagstaff, Barstow, Los Angeles and finally Santa Barbara! We plan on a bit of an extended stay (4 or 5 days) in the Flagstaff/Sedona area to get in some more biking. This is absolutely the best place we have ever biked!

After Thanksgiving in Santa Barbara, we will spend some time with Laura’s aunt, who owns an olive farm in Santa Ynez. I’m sure she has plans to put us to work pressing oil and making jam (www.cookandladder.com)! From there we will head down to Santa Monica to visit with some more of Laura’s relatives. Of course, if you’re in Santa Monica, you have to stop at Supergo and Wheelworld; both are Supermarket sized bike shops!

To close out the year, we will head toward Las Vegas. We plan on storing the motor home there and catching a flight back to Michigan for Christmas. We will be home from December 21 to January 3rd. We will be back in Vegas just in time to celebrate my birthday on Jan 4th (remember, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!!) We are just now starting to put together plans for 2006. To be posted soon!

Rich

Down to the Nitty Gritty

On Sunday we had our going-away party at Island Lake. We rode with about 8 friends that grilled buffalo hot dogs and hamburgers. Between about 2-3 groups of riders and friends, about 20 people showed up...more than I expected. We brought a ton of stuff to give away and managed to get rid of almost all of it. The only thing left over was a box of pantry stuff. We wound up throwing away a few pantry items. Today we ran around town, dropping off stuff that we were donating or Rich's work stuff. We're loading the moho, which didn't get the new shocks installed yet. We have to take it back first thing tomorrow morning to get it done before we can leave. Ohhhh...I'll be glad to get on the road. It's been CRAZY around here.