Wine Ridge rv park &  winery in Pharump, Nevada was the next stop on our journey. This is another clean resort approximately one hour from Las Vegas. After hooking up we headed to visit Hoover Dam and find a place to eat in Vegas. 

  We enjoyed seeing the Dam although we were a bit disappointed that we missed the chance to get on the last tour for the day. It was 107.9 when we left Pharump and it was 118 on the dam. It was horribly hot. I had two water bottles win my bag which we drank down and I brought 6 extras in my car for emergencies. 

  
After the heat at the dam, we were very happy to eat in air conditioning. Since we have been to a hard rock cafe London and Alaska, we decided to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe and grab new shirts for the boys. 

Since Nana and I aren’t into gambling, we left after dinner and headed back to the rv to get some laundry done. The one negative with this campground is that it is gravel. Babe, our dog, is not happy walking on gravel. On the plus side she gets her business done faster. 

Take care y’all 

After spending several days in Eastern Colorado, we headed over to Cortez, CO for an overnight stay before we drove to Zion River Resort in Virgin, UT.  

Zion is our favorite campground from out 2013 summer trip. It’s a short drive outside Zion National Park  and is one of the cleanest campgrounds we have ever stayed at. Originally we had planned on staying here for two days but we had some July 4th scheduling issues and found we could only be at the campground overnight. 

While the boys relaxed I took Nana on an hour drive through the park. We drove 30 minutes in then turned around and went back the way we came. My mom was happy that I drove so she could focus on the scenery.  

 
Next up Nevada.

Take care y’all 

June 24,2015

These were Sean’s first words after we crossed the state line into Colorado. He talked about it for two days, so I think he was a bit excited. We are staying in another KOA this time in Fountain, CO. Much better than our last campground. They have a good size fenced dog park and we saw the most pets at this campground. 

We decided since it was raining to head out to eat at the Airplane Restaurant. The boys had a great time and our dinners were adequate. The price was reasonable and the ambiance was fantastic. You do have to go up stairs to eat in the plane or you can opt to eat in the main restaurant. 

  
We spent our first day driving out to the cog railway in Manitou Springs. I didn’t realize that there was a pikes peak race happening and the railway was packed. We were very fortunate to get in on standby. We had a great guide who told loads of corny jokes (our favorite kind) and the view was stellar even though it was overcast. We saw quite a few marmots and sheep on the way up and down. I will try to load more pictures once we have better Internet.  Afterwards we headed over to the Cave of Winds for a guided tour that we all enjoyed. I actually liked it better than Carlsbad because you were actually hemmed in by the walls of the cave and felt more of what it would be like exploring  while Carlsbad is more like one giant cavern. 

 Our second day Brian wasn’t feeling well so we scrapped our plans and I left the boys in the rig (gaming away) and I took my mom back to Manitou Springs to visit the cave dwellings museum and to shop. We at lunch at The Loop (mexican) and had a great time browsing. Afterwards we headed back to get some laundry done.  

 Next up Cortez, CO 

Take care y’all 

June 23,2015

    Today we travelled into Kansas. I had to greatly reduce my driving speed due to high winds. Our rv is like a giant sail when it’s windy.   Originally we were supposed to unhook and head to Lebanon which is the geographic center of the USA. However I was exhausted from dealing with the wind so we just parked in a dusty and disappointing KOA. 

One of the reasons we stay in KOA’s is that we generally know what to expect. I did not expect the dump to be right next to the dog park which is across a narrow street from the pool. Stinky!

Tomorrow we are off to Colorado and hope for a better trip and campground. 

Take care y’all 

June 22,2015

We have had a long drive and arrived in Oklahom. The plan is to visit Bricktown in downtown Oklahoma City and then to eat at Pops in Arcadia. 

The boys stayed home while I took my mom to Bricktown to visit a few shops (2) and to take a boat ride on their Riverwalk. There are lots of bars and restaurants at this point but they need some shops for those of us who aren’t into the bar scene. We had lunch at I Love This Bar & Grill. I had a pulled pork sandwich (no bun) with a side salad my mom had swordfish.  The boat ride we took afterwards was enjoyable and I really enjoyed the sculptures at the midway point. I think the OKC Riverwalk has potential but it’d not quite there yet. 

We ran out of time so we could only drive by the OKC memorial. Afterwards mom and I had to boogie to get the boys and head to Pops. 

For once we all enjoyed our dinner. Usually someone has something go wrong but tonight it was perfect. I did take two bites of root beer bread pudding which was surprisingly yummy. It was served with salted caramel ice cream which my mom had a few bites of and declared delicious. Brian loved his vanilla milkshake and Sean said their corn dog was great.  

 What really makes Pops special is the 700 flavors of soda they have. My mom picked up a few diet ones to try and I pointed out all the vintage candies to my kids. 

Next up Kansas!

Take care y’all 

June 20,2015

Today we left KY and crossed over into Missouri. After leaving Bob (our rv) at another KOA, we headed into downtown St.Louis to visit the gateway arch. Sean had read about it in one of the Percy Jackson books and was very excited about visiting the arch. 

This time I was wise enough to check online which informed me about flooding issues so we wouldn’t be able to take a boat cruise and we also learned where the ticket office moved to while there is construction going on. 

I have to admit the arch was prettier than I thought it would be. Brian enjoyed the ride up the arch I’m a pod and Sean and I loved the view. None of us enjoyed the two hour delay due to the north side of the arch experiencing technical difficulties. Thankfully I had Ipads and I phones to entertain the boys.   

Next up OKC!

Take care y’all  

June 18, 2015

I haven’t posted since our first day as we have been having a dreadful time with wifi. Sean used up our allotment of data on our phones our first night. And we have had to depend on campground wifi ever since.  I will be writing and posting with minimal pictures until our new billing cycle. 

Today we went to Bowling Green, KY and stayed at another KOA.  After unhooking we went to visit Mammoth Caves only to discover that you can only view the cave via a tour and the tours were sold out. We did get to go to the mouth of the cave so it wasn’t a total loss. 

June 19 – we spent the day visiting Churchill Downs and then drove by the world’s largest Louisville slugger baseball bat. It rained on and off all day and we were thankful that there were plenty of covered seats at the races. Brian and I had a great time admiring the horses and guessing which one would win. We lost a total of $20 but watching Sean getting excited over the races was totally worth it.  

 Both boys enjoyed seeing the largest bat but weren’t find of sitting in construction traffic as we accidentally drove into Indiana and then had to sit in the same traffic on the way back. 

Next up Missouri 

Take care y’all

We have started our summer trip of 2015!  Both boys had their last day of school yesterday and we raced around trying to load up all we needed into our motorhome. 

As usual I have forgotten three things. One – poles with scrubber pad that I use to clean my windshield. Two – Sean’s life vest for swimming.  Three –  Babe’s food/water dishes.  Thankfully I can find all these items while we travel so it won’t interfere with our trip. 

  Today we drove 6.5 hours to a KOA in Milton , WV.  I know quite a few people feel KOA’s have gone downhill, but this one is a gem.  

  They have a nice playground next to their office and also offer trikes for rent for the kids in addition to a gem mine station. Sean was all over mining for gems. He found a huge amethyst chunk and several shark teeth. They also have a great pond area with a little kids area next to a beach in addition. To a deeper area that has a huge water trampoline. 
We will be traveling to the Bowling Green area in Kentucky tomorrow. 

Take care y’all!

July 23…The end of the pipeline that is.  Today we reached Valdez and we stayed at Eagles Rest.  I really enjoyed our stay at this campground. It had a lot to do with our wonderful neighbors who live in North Pole, Ak. (you know who you are ;-).  We were unable to book a charter for halibut fishing and they were nice enough to swap some of their halibut for some of our sockeye (red) salmon.  The boys and I haven’t been able to try the halibut yet, but Nana said it was delicious.  We hope our lovely neighbors keep in touch with us. They had recommended eating at Old Town Burgers and it was delicious.  Nana had fried halibut (shocking) and the boys and I enjoyed our burgers.

July 24 – Our second day here we went on a Stan Stephens Tour of the Prince William Sound.  We had a great time even though the tour was for nine hours to see the Mears Glacier.  I had hoped to go on the Columbia Glacier tour as it’s six hours but there were no available seats.  There were several caravans in the area so we were just happy to be able to get a tour without much advance notice.

We truly had a great time on the tour.  We were able to see several rafts of otters lying on their backs resting in the water, puffins swimming and flying around the water, sea lions lazing about soaking in the sun, a humpback whale and her calf, and the most exciting site of all, a glacier calving.  I am not sure what my mom or the kids liked best, but I was thrilled to see the whale and her calf.  Since whales can be under water significant amounts of time, we were fortunate to see one with a calf.  Since she had her calf, she surfaced whenever her calf needed to.

July 25 – We spent today doing some laundry and general housekeeping on the RV.  Nana and I dragged the kids to eat lunch at the Totem Pole.  This is a hotel with a restaurant and gift shop in it.  Nana was glad to see a shop as it’s pretty much the only gift shop in town (in the traditional gift shop format).  There were some small multipurpose stores that seemed to be a couple businesses combined.

Tomorrow we begin our journey towards Haines, AK.   Pictures will be uploaded when we have a more consistent internet signal.

Later Y’all

July 22 – We are heading towards Valdez (pronounced Val-deez unless you want to be laughed at).  Since we are traveling on roads that we don’t know the conditions of, we have decided to only do a three hour trip today.  Once you factor in stopping in pullouts for scenic views (and not so scenic potty breaks) and slowing down for road conditions, our trip took about four hours and fifteen minutes.  We chose to stay at Northern Nights located in Glennallen.  This is a nice stopping spot for the night.  We were able to fill up at a gas station just a bit before the campground and across from the gas station is an IGA for groceries.

Brian and I did discover that the IGA is about 1.6 miles from the campground as we walked there.  We both thought my mom said it was a short walk to IGA.  Turns out it’s a bit more than a short walk.  Brian decided to get a cookie ice cream sandwich to enjoy on the long walk back.  As long as the walk was, I enjoyed having time to spend with just Brian.

Tomorrow we will head off to Valdez.

Later Y’all