Our Maiden Voyage - Roadtreking across the Country

We spent 24 days away and had an amazing time.  It was so wonderful to spend time with family along the way and with our California family, meet new people and make new friends.  Some days were beautiful, some days were grueling.  We saw rain, hail, sleet, snow, near hurricane strength winds and SUNSHINE!  We loved the sunshine! We drove 4,909 miles round trip.  We used 362.248 gallons of gas and averaged 13.55 miles per gallon.  Not bad considering we drove through the high winds, snow and mountains!   Now we are back, unpacked, laundry done and the RV cleaned up and stored for our next adventure.  Where will we go next??? Thanks to all who have followed our trip!  If you have any questions or suggestions, please comment. For the map lovers: Eagle Point Campground, Cumberland, WI Last night on the road. The ride out. The basic Round-Trip

We seem to be pretty consistent in our departure times.  We left Kearney, Nebraska about 9:00 am.  It was  dreary, chilly, and rainy most of the day.   We drove through Iowa, Minnesota and crossed the Mississippi River into Wisconsin.  I love seeing all the American Flags across the Country.  We have covered many miles of I80!  Today's project was some weaving... We didn't have a plan.  Just a hope that we could find a place to stay when Rick got tired of driving.  We made it to Cumberland, Wisconsin and found a really nice City Park Campground, Eagle Point Campground , to stay.  The beauty, serenity and sunset (YES, the sun made an appearance for us at the end of the day) is a perfect way to end our journey.  Tomorrow we have about 4 hours and we will be home!   We have had an awesome time!  And if you notice in the pic, Rick is even smiling!!   I will do one more post from this trip after we get back with all the mi...

We slept in today!  First time in months! We needed the rest!  Just 13 hours from home now... Today we decided to explore Kearney.  Our first stop was the Archway Monument .   This first pic is for all my quilter friends! What a FANTASTIC place!  This archway cover I80.  You literally drive underneath it...Oh, and by the way, there is a radar detector monitors your speed as you do!   It was truly a step back in time to the pioneering days.  Before I80 and Route 30 existed!  It is lifelike.  You can feel yourself right there with the people of that time.  And the experience goes on bringing in the Tin Lizzy, drive-in theaters, fiberoptics and a cafe you might have found back in the day.  It is a place we would definitely visit again.  Enter the automobile...and roads that now span coast to coast... So many more conveniences...But is life any easier? What a lovely little town.  The downtown is what you might expect a do...

Today, when we awoke, I prepared an omelet and grapefruit for breakfast and then  I decided to try a new recipe... I'm all about figuring out what I can make in a crockpot. We had some over-ripe bananas and I wanted to try some kind of banana bread...but without the fuss.  I found website: The Lazy Slow Cooker .  What a wealth of ideas!  One was a banana bread made with a cake mix!  It was super easy and did not require many ingredients.  I chose a fudge cake mix and added dark chocolate chips.  It was yummy!  It had to cook in my crockpot for about 3.5-4 hours.  This brought us to our first pit stop.   While fueling up, I took the bread out and put the fixings for tacos in the crockpot.  1/2 pound of browned ground beef, 1/4 chopped onion, sloppy Joe seasoning, 1 can of diced tomatoes and a little water.  Then we were off again.   The ride today was a bit more dreary - clouds, fog, and that nasty "S" word...SNOW!  Wh...

Today was all about crossing State lines!  Thankful once again for a beautiful day!  It did get a bit windy, but all-in-all it was good. We began our trip from Wells, Nevada.  The landscape has just been breathtaking.  Rick and I decided to listen to a book I had picked at random from an Audible sale shortly before we left.  It is called "In An Instant" by Suzanne Redfearn.  So far, we are on chapter 75 and there is still 2 hours and 40 minutes left in the book!  We listened yesterday and again today.  Definitely a good choice and a very odd book, but it is keeping our attention! We drove through Utah and stopped for fuel in Evanston.  This was the town we were not too pleased with on Easter Sunday.  However, we were at the other end of town this time and it seemed quite nice (and the gas station bathrooms were clean!  Not something you can count on regularly.) A beautiful ride through Wyoming.  I am always amazed at the vast...

What a crazy, wonderful week!  We spent this last week with our daughter, Kate (that just got married) and her family in SUNNY California.  I am missing my morning walks in the sun already!  This year, I had a walking buddy - our beautiful granddaughter!  She and I spotted the prettiest flowers in the neighborhood each day before we headed to the park.  We had also promised to take her shopping for her birthday while we were there.  And in the process, she and Poppy were able to ride the carousel!  So glad we had time to make these precious memories!   While in Lake Tahoe for the wedding, she picked up a bunch of little seashells.  I wanted her to have some kind of keepsake for the little shells.  So, since her parents weren't excited about adding a fish to their menagerie, I decided to improvise... This is the outcome.  I love the way they turned out!  And no feeding or cleaning required!  Poppy spent the week building he...