Kentucky Bourbon Trail!

We headed East to Kentucky to visit Bill's sister Pat and hubby Fred, and their son Eric and daughter-in-law Emily and family. Beautiful country, with plenty of green pastures and horse farms, curvy byways, and distilleries. Took a tour of several with Pat and Fred, and of course, sampled the goods. Yummy! Had a lovely visit with them, and then headed home.

In mid-June Keith and Anne Jerome (Nancy's sister), and Nancy and I hosted a Gateway Getaways rally in Kirksville, MO, Nancy's home town. This is where we first met, and where I went to High School. Keith lived in the Kirksville area for many years, and knew all the cool places to take the group.

The first week of July we headed out with the Gateway Getaways again, this time for Minneapolis, MN for the annual international convention of the Family Motor Coach Association. There were over 3000 motorhomes in attendance! We went to seminars on everything from what toilet chemicals to use, to how to get a satellite internet dish installed on your motorhome. Naturally, there were several hundred brand new coaches, ranging in price from below $100K to well over $500K, all open for our review and viewing. Lotsa fun! Oh, and of course, happy hour every afternoon!

Immediately after Montauk, Nancy and I went to a Roadtrek (the maker of our motorhome) rally in Branson, MO. There were about 20 or so Roadtreks, and we made some new friends there. Saw some shows, did the tourist thing.

Nancy and Jennifer, our St Louis daughter, flew to Gilbert, AZ to visit with our Arizona daughter and family for a long weekend in May. On Nancy's return, we took off with the Gateway Getaways again, this time for Bowling Green, MO. You can see that our little Roadtrek is dwarfed by the big boy campers! Here are a few pix from that beautiful area; can you tell I like old barns?

OK, it's been way too long since we've updated this, so I'm going to hit some high spots only:

Mid April, we went to the Lazy Days Campground for a spring campout rally with the Gateway Getaways group. Then the first wekend in May, Nancy and I along with about 20 other members of her extended family went camping at Montauk State Park, in Missouri. There's a beautiful trout fishing river that runs thru the campground, and a trout hatchery. The kids (big and little) love to fish. Here's a couple of snapshots of the action!

Carrying our motorcycle on the Roadtrek

When we're traveling light, but still want auxiliary transportation, we use our motorcycle. It gives the advantage of not having to break camp when you want to go someplace, better fuel mileage, maneuverability, and fun. Drawbacks are limited storage space, not good in cold/wet weather, and it requires that we carry along protective gear...helmets, jackets, gloves. Still, it's nice to have the option.

After nearly 3 and a half months in Phoenix, it was time to hit the road for home. Bill checks his email one more time on the Tower Point WIFI (ok, it was a little chilly that morning!) and we are ready. A stop at the Schusters in Gilbert to say goodbye (and kiss new baby Emma) and pick up the stuff we'd been storing in Alex's garage. Then we hooked up the Honda, and rode into the sunset. We took highway 87 north, through the Tonto National Forest, and angled over to Holbrook. It's a beautiful drive, lots of wildflowers, and the high point is over 7500 feet (check out the altitude on Bill's Nuvi GPS). Our little 5cyl turbodiesel did very well hauling the loaded Honda over the mountains. We averaged between 15 and 16 mpg towing. There was still snow in spots in the forest, as you can see. Finally, after 3 days and 2 nights in Walmart parking lots, we made it home!

Next trip: Montauk State Park in south Missouri for a family reunion/campout/fishing trip with Nancy's side of the family (Baldwins), and then back-to-back a Roadtrek rally in Branson, Missouri. Will it never end? Nope, not til the money runs out!

Talk about perfect timing!!!!

So, we rolled into Mesa, AZ the evening of April 3, and spent the night in our Roadtrek for the first time in 2 1/2 weeks. It was like coming home! The next day, we did laundry, unpacked all our stuff from the Baja trip, and settled in. Nikki and Alex Schuster, our daughter and son-in-law, live about 10 miles away in Gilbert, AZ; this is the reason we've picked the Phoenix area as our winter HQ. Not to mention the weather, of course! Back to my story: Nikki has been having contractions all day, getting stronger and closer together. By mid-morning of the 4th, she and Alex alert the doctor, and it's time to go to the hospital. Nancy goes along as photographer, and Bill stays at the Schusters with 18 month old William. At 2:59AM on April 5, Emma Lorelei Schuster is born. She weighed 8lbs, 4oz and was 19" long, with medium brown hair (longer than her older brother's!) and dark eyes. Mom and baby are doing well, and everyone came home on the 7th. Here are some pictures of the newest family member.......