Jiggling Jello.......

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6:55 am - Saturday - October 14th - Ririe, ID - 31º F, humidity 80%, wind 7 mph out of the northwest.......there is NO wind whatsoever, but it is has been, and is currently snowing.....about 5" of snow on the ground as I write......

Looks to be about 5" and still accumulating

What a difference a night makes

......wait, what?  There was nothing in last night's forecast about snow......but, come on.....how cool is it to awake to a winter wonderland?!  And, then, of course, there were the Jello plans we had to move further south today......and then the Jello jiggled.  Just another reminder that we need to move south a little more quickly.

So, back to Friday's shenanigans......originally we had talked about driving into Idaho Falls Friday to do a little 'junking', possibly see a movie, and then have an early dinner at a local micro brewery we have frequented in the past, but as the morning wore on we decided to just stay home and enjoy not doing anything, or imposing any kind of a schedule upon our persons.  Another compelling reason for not going anywhere was the relentless winds which were in the mid to high 20 mph all day long with gusts into the 30's on a regular basis.  And, finally, there were about 10-15 recorded shows in our DVR queue (NCIS, NCIS L.A., Blacklist, Designated Survivor, Survior, Gold Rush, Last Ship, NCIS New Orleans, etc.) which we needed to whittle down a tad.

Of course, there also had to be a walk around the campground, and around 3 pm we did just that.......

 Yup, it is cold!

.....it was still in the low 40's, and adding in the windchill factor I would say it felt like the mid 30's, so we bundled up against the cold and walked for about 40 minutes taking a few pictures to memorialize our visit before retreating to the heated comfort of the Newell.

There was another very good MLB ALCS playoff game pitting the hated New York Yankees against the Houston Astros......it was a well pitched game with Houston prevailing 2-1 in a game which could have gone either way.

Back to the present (7:41 am, Saturday), waking up to 5" of snow on the ground reminds me of how well built Newells are......well insulated, heated water bay, electric heaters, gas heaters, chassis heaters.....they are definitely 4 season coaches.  We have plenty of propane, we have 50 amp electric service (really 100 amps), and we have no schedule to keep.  We may, or may not roll our wheels today.  Oh, and one more thing.....it has stopped snowing, so we've got that going for us!

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The 'IT' factor......

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8:34 am - Friday - October 13 - Ririe, ID - 34º F, humidity 53%, wind 9 mph out of the south by southeast.......when you see windmills on the hill near your camp there is no way it is not going to be windy, right?

We awoke, finally, to a windless environment Friday morning.  I haven't talked a lot about the the wind, but over time wind kind of wears me down.   Any day I wake up without the ubiquitous sound of the wind makes me happy.  Our original Jello plan was to continue south from Dillon, MT on I-15 to Idaho Falls which is always a natural stop off point for us when traveling the I-15 corridor.  Sometimes we have stayed at a local in town RV park, or in the local Walmart parking lot.  As I was thinking Thursday night about where we might stay my mind kept rejecting these familiar options so I began to look outside of town for someplace new to stay for a couple of days.  I checked Freecampsites.net and found numerous free boondocking options, of which there are many in this area, but knowing the overnight lows would be in the very low 20's I began to look to places where we could at least have access to electricity.  Initially I thought we might stay at the local Elks Lodge, but they only offer 20 amp service with no water, or sewer, or dump station.  The price, $10/night, was attractive, but I really didn't want to be back in a situation where we had to think about what electric appliances we could use.....we did that all summer and, frankly, I'm over that.  I just want to plug in and not have to manage our electrical consumption, especially with the cold temps being forecast.  I checked Passport America, but none of the parks nearby had that 'IT' factor, even at a 50% discounted rate.  Finally I checked RV Park reviews dot com and found this cool out of the way Bonneville County Park which overlooks Ririe Dam/Reservoir.  This park seemed to have the 'IT' factor, so that is where we headed about mid morning.

We had one big pass, Monida (6,870' elevation), which stood between us and the Idaho border.  Fortunately the grade heading up to the pass is quite gentle and I was able to keep the Newell in cruise control the entire time.....that is rare......95% of the time I have to shift down to 2nd, or 3rd gear to get over most passes, or summits.  Our total driving distance for the day was modest......just 146 miles.  Normally I would take time before we leave a location to clean the windshield, but it was soooo cold I decided to put it off until we got down the road aways.  About 45 miles into our day I spotted a rest stop near Lima, MT which we had stopped at previously, so we pulled in and I spent the next 15 minutes cleaning the windshield and side windows......it was still quite cold!

We exited I-15 about 10 miles shy of Idaho Falls and took a few country roads over to US-26 which took us the final 6 miles to Juniper Campground, which is aptly named as there are juniper bushes everywhere.......

.......as we entered the park around 2 pm it was obvious that we would be the only ones there.....we essentially have the entire park to ourselves!  Most of the sites are long pull throughs so it was just a matter of finding one with the 'IT' factor, and then settling in for two days.  Since the overnight temps are getting below freezing most nights the water has been turned off.....that's cool as we had over 100 gallons of fresh water still left in our tank.....more than enough for two days.  At least we have access to the sewer to dump our gray tank water, and we have 50 amp service!

Around 7 pm we noticed we were getting a great sunset.......unfortunately, my meager photographic skills did not capture its true grandeur, and beauty......

.....we spent most of the evening watching the MLB game five between the Chicago Cubs and the Washington Nationals.....the game lasted over 4.5 hours and was ultimately won by Chicago 9-8.....the Nationals just made too many errors in a game they should have won handily.

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A new mindset.......

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8:25 am - Thursday - October 12th - 29º F, humidity 78%, wind 11 mph out of the south by southwest......looks, feels, and appears to be CALM right now.  Forecast highs along our travel route will be in the mid to high 40's......

Our view in Dillon Thursday morning

We took our time getting ready to leave Livingston Wednesday.....we only had about 176 miles to drive to Dillon, MT.  It only got down to 40 something Tuesday night, which was part of the two day 'heatwave' in the area.  Before we could merge on to I-90 westbound we had two tasks to accomplish.....first top off our 60 gallon propane tank, and secondly 'pay the rent', or in other words, put 115 gallons of diesel into our 180 gallon tank.  The last time we filled our propane tank was June 14th on our way into Yellowstone, and the last time we 'paid the rent' was June 10th in Dayton, NV.  We took on 35 gallons of propane at $3.25/gallon, and the aforementioned 115 gallons of diesel at $2.83/gallon.....all told we parted with about $440 before we covered one mile of the 176 miles to Dillon.  We shouldn't have to fill the propane tank again until we leave the Grand Canyon.....we may top it off just prior to our arrival there....we'll see.  We will have to fill our diesel tank again somewhere along our route south as it is 1,200+ from Livngston to the Grand Canyon.

We were finally on I-90 traveling westbound by 11:15 am.......the route was mostly flat for long stretches with a few big climbs and the attendant big descents, but generally we just cruised at 60 mph via our cruise control.  My task was to hang on to the steering wheel, and remain focused on the road ahead.  Usually we stop every 60+ miles at a rest stop for a break, but this day we didn't stop for a break until we had covered 135 miles......my friend Tom, would be proud of me!

Since it was going to be down in the 20's Wednesday night we opted to stay at a local RV park (Countryside RV Park) in Dillon where we would have 50 amp service, and be able to run as many heaters we might wish. This park is just off I-90 about .5 miles, and has mostly long pull through sites......perfect for us....easy off, easy on.

It took me about an hour to get into my traveling groove, but once I arrived there my mind began to transition from 'sitting in one place for months' mode, to 'rolling the wheels' mode.  It is a totally different mindset, and thought process.  A good example of where my mind was first thing in the morning:  In preparation for taking on propane I turn off the gas to the coach, which is a safety issue.  The problem was I forgot to turn it back on after the attendant disconnected his propane hose......I cannot remember ever forgetting that.  While we are under way the Dometic refrigerator runs off propane......I didn't realize the gas was still 'OFF' until we parked in Dillon....I went to light the water heather and the pilot light would not light.....DOH!  It was then I finally remembered I had forgotten to turn on the gas.  Amazingly, the Dometic was only a little over 40º F.....no harm, no foul.  Another thing I forgot to do was to turn 'OFF' the leveling system enabling the coach to return to 'RIDE HEIGHT'......I didn't realize this mistake until we rolled over some railroad tracks and I heard this loud thump meaning the suspension had bottomed out......double 'DOH!'.

Once we were on the Interstate, and the cruise control was set I began to focus on the various gauges on my dash......the temperature of the coolant is very important....it settled quickly at 182º F.....just where it should be.  In fact, all of the Newell systems worked as they should......good air pressure, good oil pressure, good running temperatures on the coolant, oil and tranny, cruise control keeping us at a steady 60 mph......can't ask for much more.....well, I guess I could ask for more, but that would just be bad form, no?

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Light the fires!

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7:55 am - Wednesday - October 11th - 42º F, humidity 41%, wind 13 mph out of the southwest......partly cloudy.....forecast high for today in Livingston, MT is 65º F........I have no idea where we will be later today, but wherever that may be it will be a nice day, except for the wind.

When we last left off we had gone to bed Tuesday morning around 2:15 am.  It seemed like just a few minutes later the sun was casting unwanted light inside the Newell.  I made a valiant effort to keep sleeping, but by 8:30 am I surrendered and got up (TLE had no such struggle.....she continued sleeping for another hour).  So, just 6 hours of sleep, which only served to reconfirm our decision to add a day to our stay in Livingston, and take the entire day Tuesday to leisurely straighten up the trailer interior in preparation for VW insertion, as well as indulge in a couple of well deserved naps.

The weather forecast indicated winds in the 20+ mph range out of the southwest, and that is what we got all day long (still blowing as I write).  While I toiled in the trailer TLE went to the local Town & Country Market to restock our increasingly bare cupboards.  By the time she returned I was well on my way to finishing my work in the trailer.  Even though I have done this more times than I care to count I always wonder if I will be able to get the VW inside once again.  I think it is time to begin to thin out what we carry with us.

Eventually, around 4:30 pm, I opened up the rear door of the trailer so TLE could drive the VW Beetle inside.....it was a tight fit, which only reconfirms my feeling that it is time to go through everything we carry and start making those difficult decisions.  So, the car is in the trailer, it is time to disconnect our umbilical cords........we are ready to light the fires, and roll our wheels 1,200 miles southward to the Grand Canyon!

As I sit here writing I feel a little anxious about moving day after day once again after being mostly stationary for almost 6 months.  With the lone exception of moving from SLT up to YNP over a 5 day period we have been stationary 99% of the time.  Our plan is to take a little over 3 weeks to reach the east end of the Grand Canyon.....the adventurous side of me is looking forward to that drive and that time spent moving slowly southward, but there is this other side of me that enjoys the continuity which comes from being stationary.  Ironically, whenever we have been changing our view on a regular basis the exact opposite feelings come to the surface......I resist staying in any place longer than a week, or two, and  I am always thinking about the next adventure.

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Homeward bound......

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9:08 am (MT) - Tuesday - October 10th - 44º F in Livingston, MT with humidity at 44%, and wind at 15 mph out of the south......partly cloudy, and not as frigid as I had anticipated!  Arrived home from SoCal last night around 1:50 am after a mostly uneventful flight home.

Monday is a work day for my daughter and son-in-law so we began to hear them stirring around upstairs around 5:30 am.....so glad I don't have do to that anymore for at least a month!  Nonetheless, we were up by 6:30 and beginning to plan out our day.  Our first flight out of John Wayne International was not until 4:25 pm so we had a lot of time to kill before that flight.  We could have gotten a flight out much earlier in the day, but that would have meant fighting morning rush hour traffic, and leaving Ontario before 6 am......not going to happen on my watch!

We did leave around 9:30 am to make the drive down to Orange County and a Verizon store near John Wayne Airport for TLE......she has been due for an upgrade for about a year, and her existing iPhone's storage capacity of 16 gb was not cutting it anymore.  About half way there we noticed a brush fire beginning in the Anaheim Hills.....thankfully we got past it before they closed the freeway!  We arrived at the Verizon store near John Wayne Int'l around 10:30.....about an hour later we left with a new iPhone 8+ for TLE with 64 gb of storage.....I'm sure she'll find a way to fill up that extra space.

So, it was 11:30 and we still had 5 hours until our plane left, but good sense told us we should be there around 2:30 to get our tickets, check our luggage and work our way through security, so make it 3 hours to kill.  We were near the South Coast Plaza and there is an Edwards Theaters multiplex there so we thought we might take in a movie, but as it turned out none of the movies we had interest in would start until almost 2 pm, so that idea was shelved.  All things being equal we opted to find a Rubio's Coastal Grill for some of their original fish tacos.....we found one just a mile from the Plaza, and were there within minutes.  By this time the plume of smoke from the Anaheim Hills fire was casting a pall across the previously clear blue skies......

.....we placed our orders and quickly found an alfresco dining option outside.....

......by the time we finished our leisurely lunch it was 1:15 pm, and we still had over an hour to kill before our arrival at the airport so we next located a Goodwill.......by 1:45 pm we had decided there was nothing there without which we could not continue living so we hopped back in the Toyota Corolla and made our way over to John Wayne....by the time we had dropped off the rental car, and walked a block or so to the Delta ticket desk it was nearing 2:30.  Good thing we did get there early as the bag we were checking weighed in at 58 pounds!  How could that be?  The surcharge for an overweight bag is $100!  Just a few days before it weighed in at 48 pounds!  Then it occurred to us.....we had added 3 bottles of single malt scotch for our return flight......doh!  After quick repacking we got it down to 51 pounds, and the nice lady let us skate even though we were still 1 pound over.  By 2:50 pm we had made our way to gate C3 and settled in to wait for our boarding call for our 4:25 pm flight to Salt Lake City......

 

.......about 3:30, just before they would begin boarding an announcement came over the PA system advising that VP Mike Pence's Air Force 2 jet was getting ready for takeoff and there was a hold on all ground traffic until his plane took to the friendly skies......ultimately our flight left about 50 minutes late at 5:15 pm.......not a problem as we had a 3 hour layover in SLC before our next flight, which was now just over 2 hours.....no complaints here......

.......nevertheless, the Delta flight crew provided adult beverages free of charge to somewhat ameliorate the inconvenience of those who had 'tight' connections in SLC......

....as we winged our way northeast to SLC we were treated to a beautiful sunset......

.....our flight out of SLC actually lifted off a few minutes early, and we arrived in Billings, MT, back where we started, almost 20 minutes early at 11:30 pm.  By the time we had collected our luggage from baggage claim, and walked 2+ blocks to the VW in the long term parking lot it was just after midnight.  We were on I-90 flying low at 75 mph by 12:15 am, and back at the Newell by 1:50 am.  The temperature was in the high 30's, but it was (and still is) windy, which made it feel much colder.  Thankfully I had left (intentionally) our fireplace heater set at 62º F in our absence, so the interior was very hospitable.  We soon had the bedroom and bathroom heaters going to remove what little chill there was.  We were in bed and drifting off to slumberland by 2:15 am.

All in all our day was very uneventful, and now I sit back in my familiar morning seat looking out the passenger side window in our salon while composing today's missive.  We are tired, but I know there will be a few naps for me today in between all the things I need to do so we can once again roll our wheels Wednesday towards new horizons and new adventures.

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The day after.....

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6:48 AM (PCT) - Monday - October 9th - 66º F, 34% humidity, wind 11 mph out of the north.....forecast high for Ontario, CA today is 86º F, and in Livingston, MT where we will end our day it will be 55º F (30º F right now).

We awoke the morning after the wedding to light streaming in our bedroom window......all the wedding plans had gone off without a hitch, and at the end of the night the bride and groom were quite happy and amazingly relaxed....... 

Our kids left to right:  Kate, Chris, Laila (newest addition to our family), Tim, Sharon and Meredith......our family keeps getting bigger!

......I ordered another large pot of coffee from 'room service'.....it was there within 3 minutes of me hanging up the phone......I guess that would be the least one might expect for $14.95, no?

Our daughter, Kate, had arranged to host a Sunday brunch at her home in Ontario (used to be our home) at 11 am, and we had one errand to run prior to that so we were in our car heading south to the local Trader Joe's by 10 am.   We arrived at Kate and Nick's home just before 11 am, and within 20 minutes the house was full of the sound of many friends and relatives.  It remained that way until close to 2 pm when one by one we began to say our 'until next times'........by mid afternoon it was just us, Kate, Nick and the kids.....time for a nap!

One of the downsides to our nomadic lifestyle is that we miss a lot of face time with our grand kids.  Sure, we see them on Instagram almost every day, but they don't see us, and whenever we are in town we go through that 'who are these strangers wanting to hug and kiss us?' thing for about a day each time.  Well, Sunday was the payoff when I was able to spend a lot of time holding Brayden (Sharon's son) and Jolene (Kate's daughter)......we have resolved to talk with each of them at least once a week via 'Facetime' on TLE's iPhone, so they won't forget who we are and what we look like this time.

As I sit here (Monday) at the dining room table  composing my latest missive I look around and see that our former home is now our daughter and son-in-law's home.....it looks nothing like our home did.....they have made it their own.  Our home now has wheels, and it awaits our return later today.  It is always a little bittersweet when we must once again bid adieu to our children and their families.  My heart is warmed with the knowledge that my kids are doing well.....they are raising amazing children, and are leaving their mark upon this world.  They all get along so well, and that is all we might ask, right?  They are each other's best friends, and that, in the end has always been our 'end game' with our children.

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The day of.....

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7:16 am (PCT) - Sunday - October 8th - 57º F, humidity 42%, wind  - CALM......clear blue skies.....forecast high for Riverside this day is DOWN to 87º F......an 11 degree decline over yesterday's actual high.....thank goodness!  We received news just a few hours ago that TLE's oldest brother, Read, had just passed after 15 months battling cancer.....he was a good man, and a friend to all.....he will be sorely missed.....RIP Read.....you are in a better place!

Saturday morning began with Room Service delivering a large pot of actually very good coffee to our room accompanied by a bagel and cream cheese.......isn't Room Service wonderful?  You must pick up the phone and wonderful things appear at your door!

TLE left for a mani/pedi around 9:15 am leaving me to watch some college football and take at least one nap.  When she returned around noon we walked downstairs to the Las Campanas Mexican restaurant on the ground floor.  They offer alfresco dining, so that is what we chose......of course......

.....we ordered one bowl of Ceviche de Camarones to share, and one large margarita to share.....

......all too soon our lunch was over and it was time for the first round of wedding day festivities......endless pictures of the wedding party in every imaginable pose......

.....the Mission Inn is an amazing place with so many unique venues......below is the exterior of the 'chapel' where Tim and Laila exchanged vows.....

Front row with TLE and my sister, Jill

Philip, my youngest brother, and his wife Jeannie.....my sister, Hilary, took this picture

And here comes the bride!

The KISS

Man and wife

After the wedding with TLE, Tim,  and Jill

The first dance.....Mr. and Mrs. Hockwald

 In the ballroom with Hilary, her daughter, Stephanie and TLE

.........we had a wonderful evening of good food, good company, and a lot of dancing......by 10 pm TLE and I called it an evening....I'm sure the festivities went on until the wee hours.  

So, our baby boy is married and has begun the rest of his life with an amazing woman who we are both proud to call 'daughter'.  It has been a whirlwind of activity since we landed at John Wayne International just a few days ago, and we are now on the home stretch.  We are both tired, but so happy for the time with family and friends.....our cup runneth over!

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