El Paso TX (Ft Bliss)

Hi all you blog fans.We Arrived 20th Oct and are parked at Ft Bliss fam camp. Our Grandson Josh is stationed here and the 22nd was his 20th birthday.Offered to take him out or cook for him he said he was ready for a home cooked meal. We had a great visit and its good to see him growing into a fine young man. He is adjusting to the army life and likes what he is doing but if he told us what it is he would have to kill us. (LOL) Also Saturday we had my Cousins daughter and family down from Las Cruses Barbie,Mike, and there daughter and two grand kids a 5 and 2 year old nice looking kids. I wished I could have a third of there energy. We had a great visit its been many years sense We've seen them. We seen Josh again last evening and maybe again tonight,anyway we will leave here tomorrow and land in Tucson for a while. I know you all will be on pins & needles waiting on my next post. until then safe travels.

Altus OK (Altus AFB fam camp)

Just a few lines to let those great folks that follow my blog know where we are.When we left Branson we stayed overnight in Chandler OK on Wed.the 13th and arrived in Altus the 14th. We plan on leaving here Monday the 18th with plans to overnight in Lubbock 18th and overnight in Pecos the 19th. Our plans are to stop in El Paso to visit Josh (our grandson) who is stationed there at Ft Bliss. Will update from there. Altus AFB is a training base for KC-135s C-17s & C-5s air traffic is very busy.There are 7 FHU campsites with 50 amp for $11.00 nightly and have been mostly full so its best to call ahead and make a reservation The base is very clean and modern. We have had great weather and a good relaxing stay here so until next post safe travels.

Branson Mo

We arrived in Branson on Tuesday Staying at the SKP park in Hosister. We really like this area and the weather has been outstanding.Opened up my e-mail Wed. morning and found out that John & Lora Newby (Our escapee 2007 classmates and friends) were in Springfield visiting a friend and wanted to see if we could meet up somewhere. Well after much thought (10 seconds)gave them a call and set up lunch at Mel's hard luck dinner in Branson. Mel's dinner has good food and the employees sing for you, they are all inspiring entertainer's trying to make a go at it in the music industry and are very good. J&L arrived with their friend Mary a very nice lady that worked with Lora in Alaska and is considering the RV lifestyle. We had a great lunch then drove down to Branson Landing and walked around the shops and lake area which is very scenic. We got caught up on our summer travels then bid farewell. (Safe travels dear friends) Kathy and I secured tickets to the Ray Stevens show for Thursday evening we have wanted to see him for a long time but he has not been here when we have been in the past,but we finely caught up with him YEA!!! He put on a great show and performed his hits from past years, it was a very good day and evening. We will leave Wed the 13th and head west to AZ until next stop. Safe travels.

Paragould AR

Just a Quick update We arrived in Kathy's home town Thursday PM after a two day visit with her cousin Nancy in Sullivan MO. We decided to stop and see her Brother and sister in law again before heading to AZ for the winter. We will leave here Tuesday and stop in Branson as we both really enjoy that area and the SKP park in Hollister.We have had many great experiences this summer and now fall is approaching so until later safe travels.

Hampton IL (Mississippi River)

Hi to all my fans! Kathy & I arrived in Hampton IL Thursday 23rd The RV park is located on the banks of the Mississippi (Illiniwek Forest Preserve)in the city of Hampton there is a COE park just down the road a mile but they don't have water at the sites and this park has both elect and water for two dollars more a day There is a lock and dam #14 out our window it offers a good view of the barges going thur the locks. Yesterday we toured the Rock Island Arsenal which is a active army base and they have a great Museum of ordnance developed from the 1800s to present day and they still manufacture weapons for the U.S. The Museum is opened to the public and there is also a National Cemetery and a Confederate Cemetery as this was a prison camp during the Civil War where over 1900 prisoners perished during the war mostly from(smallpox). The Corp of engineers operate lock and dam #15 here and have a visitor center that explains the complete operation and history of the Mississippi River waterway. The tour was very informative and I think is a must see if you find yourself in this area. The Arsenal offers so much for us history buff's. Not sure what we will do today maybe just hang out and enjoy the sunshine as it has been rainy the past few days We will leave Monday and head to Canton Mo for the night and then onto Sullivan Mo for a few days. Why you ask? Because we can. Hugs and safe travels.

Tomah (FT McCoy) Wiscinsin

WE arrived here Thursday pm stopped overnight @ Shabbona lake State park (Shabbona IL) where Kathy picked up two new birds on her life list, nice little park with elect only. This is our first visit to Wisconsin and some hardwoods are beginning to change along with the weather.A little cool here in the low 50s at night and mid 60s daytime with some rain in between. We plan a week here this is a Army training base and covers a big area they have a great Fam camp here but is pricey compared to other military camp grounds.Kathy's brother Butch and sister in law Barb will come down Monday for a two days from Minneapolis its been a few years since we have seen them.Butch did his summer camp here when he was in the reserves many years back. looking forward to their visit. We will be heading south when we leave here not sure which route we will take yet but plan to stop in Ark. for a few days to visit family before heading to AZ for the winter. As you know by now our plans are written in jello so when I post again it could be from anywhere. Hope everyone had a great time at the 50th escapade in Goshen. Later and safe travels.

Elkhart IN

Hi to all you that are waiting to see what I will post next. Kathy and I pulled into Elkhart campground RV park on Tuesday pm we moved a grand total of 12 miles, boy it was a tough trip fighting a head wind all the way,but with very little help from gamin (Bitchin Betty) we managed OK. We pulled into our spot and our friend Marty Cassidy came over to greet us after a few minutes of greeting's Marty left to let us finish setting up. Kathy invited Marty over for dinner later he brought over a bottle of wine and a side of coleslaw to go along with the fries and brats that I grilled. Marty is Kathy's wine drinking Buddie they talk about grapes and birds and I throw in my knowledge of hops & Barley and we catch up on our travels and future travels we had a great visit that evening. Marty left for Michigan Wed. morning after breakfast we might see him again before we leave this area. There are a lot of folks here in this park that we know from our travels.they are staying here before going to Goshen on Friday for the Escapades (Escapee's rally) yep 12 miles away. Everyone is in a parting mood and the class of 2007 will be well represented. Kathy and I did not sign up this year as we really did not know when we would be up this way,but here we are and will plan on day tripping over to visit and insure that folks are behaving themselves.

We went shopping for recliners yesterday and after some discussion went back to Lambrights furniture today and ordered the two that we liked. Will pick them up Monday and will leave our two for them to give to less privileged folks that can use them.

The Amish people up here are hard workers very skilled craftsmen and they are very strong in their beliefs. most use horses for farming and transportation so as you can imagine there are horse droppings all along the roads. One thing that puzzles me is that there are no minorities in the Amish community. I can't believe that the ACLU has not looked into this???? We have also been following the Quilt garden tour and have seen some awesome flower gardens and Kathy has been taking pictures of and maybe will post them on her blog soon. I still don't have the skill to post them yet but one day hopefully will learn when kathy has the patience to teach me. Until our next adventure safe travels.