January 8, 2008 Wapakoneta, OH STRONG WIND ADVISORIES

Change of plans. When we woke up this morning the wind was blowing at 15-20 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. A Strong Wind Advisory has been issued starting at 1:00PM today and running to 7:00AM tomorrow. They report sustained winds of 30-40
mph and gusts up to 57 mph. This is all the way through Berea, where we had planned on stopping next. We do not want to fight strong winds and trucks so we will stay here and try again tomorrow. At least it is warm here and the cooling tomorrow will not be too drastic. No snow in the forecast.

January 7, 2008 Wapakoneta, OH

We're finally on the road. We started out a little after 10:00AM and are now in Wapakoneta, OH, north of Dayton. It was raining lightly and windy when we left Grand Blanc and, as soon as we got to Toledo, OH, the sun greeted us and stayed around for the rest of the ride. The temp was in the low 60s and we were able to stop after a little under four hours travel and clean the RV antifreeze from the water pipes and now we have water, sewer and electric. This is the first time in the last about ten years that we have not had to travel as far as Berea, KY, just to get out of the freezing days. The nights still froze then so we did not get our water until our next stop, maybe in Georgia. Those first couple of days were long drives just to try to escape the freeze line. Not today. When conditions are good, we do not like to travel more than about 4 hours or 200 miles, whichever comes first in the day. That way, we do not have to wake up early and hit the road. We can act as tourists or just "veg." Tomorrow we will travel to probably Berea. This is called "Where Appalachia meets the Bluegrass." A small town with a small private Liberal Arts school, Berea College. As soon as we cross into Kentucky from Ohio by crossing the Ohio River on I-75, the land makes an immediate change. From flat and boring to mountains - bam! - just like that. Beautiful. We see many rolling hills with Kentucky horse farms on the west and mountains in front and to the east. Berea is right in the middle of all of this beauty. We did not travel much around Wapakoneta because the first day, even if it was short, is tiring. We finished packing the Montana this morning and then had to arrange it when we arrived, as well as flushing the water pipes, and the usual set-ups. Grandson Brandon called tonight and made our great day perfect. Just took a shower and are now watching the BCS Ohio State/LSU game on TV. I have had people tell me that this is not camping. We need to be out under the stars in the elements. I remind them that I did that for two years and 27 days in the U.S. Army and do not need to do it again. The photo depicts our crossing from Michigan into Ohio. Tomorrow, we will cross into Kentucky.

January 4, 2008 Grand Blanc, MI 3 MORE DAYS!!!

The temperature finally got into the upper 20s. They are talking no more snow and warming up before we leave on Monday. Maybe rain but at least we will be able to get our water hooked up for our first night in Berea, KY. It is supposed to start thawing tomorrow. The winds have been strong since the heavy snow fell a few days ago. A lot has blown off of the Montana but we still had to dig it out somewhat before we took it out of storage. We had about a foot and the storage area is about 8 inches. We blew snow behind us for four miles, angering several motorists following us, I'm sure. Sorry, folks, but we had to do it. Just found out today that the Disney adventure may be off for this year. Oh, well, the right thing always happens. COME ON MONDAY!!!

December 31, 2007 ONE MORE WEEK!

We leave for Florida one week from today. A winter storm warning with forecasts of up to a foot of snow has just been announced. It is supposed to clear and warm up just in time for us to get out of here without fighting snow or sleet. Today I had lunch with a good friend from grade school and high school days. What a trip down memory lane that was. We haven't seen each other for quite a while and it was really nice. Growing up together and then going our separate ways and then getting together again - it was great. Thanks, Dale. The Montana is awaiting our picking it up from storage, hopefully Thursday. As soon as the snow is removed from our condo parking lot we bring in Monty. Just packing it and checking it out will be nice. Tomorrow I will post photos of the storm results. Hopefully the forecasters are wrong again. Happy New Year from both of us.

December 27, 2007 Grand Blanc, MI

Christmas was great. We were with our children and nine grandchildren so it seemed perfect. Today we have our Granddaughter Brianna with us. We toured Waldenwoods where I will be Ranger Jim this coming summer. Brianna put her stamp of approval on the park. It looks like we will be leaving on January 7. We are really looking forward to the journey. The warm, Orlando weather should have a good effect on Carol's knees so that she is not in so much continual pain. Disneyworld is also probably waiting for me to begin "Being Goofy." If the weather holds like it is now, the trip should not start as blustery as it has in the past years. We will probably point toward Berea, KY for our first night's stay. It is still cold there but the weather is not usually as wickedly evil as it can be here. From there, we can take our time arriving in Clermont, FL (Orlando area) by January 15. We have two weeks reserved at The Bee's Campground in Clermont and then we will see where the wind or whim takes us, if anywhere else.

December 13, 2007 Grand Blanc, MI Turkeys

We were visited today by a flock of turkeys. They had been absent since before Thanksgiving but decided to remind us that we turkeys (speaking right to Carol and me) should be in Florida now. The grass that is visible in the photo is covered with ice from last night's sleet storm and of course the snow is visible. Temperatures expected in the low teens tonight and snow on its way tomorrow. Christmas shopping almost done and Orlando on the mind.