WEDNESDAY 10.30.19 NEW MEXICO / ARIZONA

In a word, today was terrifying. There is just no other way to put it.

We knew we had a long haul today because we wanted to make it home even though we had a little over 400 miles to go. When towing, 400 miles is a lot, at least for us.

We were up early since we had so far to go. I started getting the inside ready for travel and Walt started on the outside. In just a few minutes he was back in. He informed me that the truck and trailer were covered in ice and that it was only 22 degrees outside. This is not good. Still, he was determined we were going. I had second thoughts but kept them to myself. I won't do that again!

As we made it to the main road we hit a few patches of black ice but we could see the Interstate and it was moving fast. Great, lets hit the road!

We weren't on I-40 too long before we saw a tractor trailer overturned.. Hmmmmm,,,,this isn't good. A very few miles more and we saw another one jack knifed, We were hitting patches here and there so Walt slowed way down. Further down the road we started seeing tractor trailer after tractor trailer either jack knifed or turned over on it side. By this point I'm a nervous wreck.

At one point we pulled off the side of the road to give Walt's white knuckles a rest. It was scary just being on the side of the Interstate because we never knew if a tractor trailer would slide into us. 

After awhile traffic started moving again, slowly, but moving. Walt got out and walked across the lanes of I-40 and where we were the road was dry. Just a ways down the road and it was really icy so I begged him to get us off the road. We pulled into an abandoned gas station with 15 other truckers parked all around us. When they started moving out, so did we. 

About 15 miles down the road we were at a standstill. Traffic was backed up for miles but we didn't know why. Finally a tractor trailer pulled up beside us and he had his window down. I asked him if knew what was going on. Having a CB he was in touch with truckers up ahead. There was an accident involving three tractor trailers and they were turned over on the road. All I could do was sit in the passenger seat and cry. I know that didn't help Walt at all but I was scared to death. All in all we saw about 40 - 50 tractor trailers either jack knifed or turned on their sides. Several demolished their trailers and their loads were all over the place.

We kept going at a steady pace finally and watched the temperature rise slowly. Very. Slowly.  Out of the ice and bitter coldness we were making headway.

 The Welcome to Arizona sign never looked so good! I even got in about an hour and half of driving time....on completely dry roads of course.

We made it home after being on the road for 9 hours. It was a long day to say the least. We took only what we needed out of the trailer to get us through the night.

If felt good to be back in our bed again!

So the trip was a huge success! We had a great time, got to see family and friends and had experiences we'll never, ever forget.

We hope you enjoyed the journey.

SUNDAY 10,27 - 29.19 OKLAHOMA / NEW MEXICO

Today is very special day. We are going to see someone very special to me. And now to US. And especially to Boss!

We are headed to Norman, Ok to see LaVon. I met LaVon in 2008 when she and her husband Don were the chaplains for the park we were in near Casa Grande, AZ. We were parked side by side and LaVon and I hit it right off. Instant friends and we've never lost touch.

Last year on our way east we stopped and met Don & LaVon for breakfast. They met Boss at that time too. It was always fun during these years when I would talk on the phone with LaVon because I could always get her laughing really hard and Don would look at her and say, "You're talking to Snookie aren't you?" He knew every time. Sadly, Don passed on 11 months ago. I certainly felt his absence.

So we stayed from Sunday to Tuesday morning and we had a blast! We talked and laughed and we ate very well. She had a pot roast in the crock pot and her lovely home smelled wonderful when we first walked in.

We were able to meet two of her grandchildren. Names I've known for years and now I could finally put a face to the names. Not that I haven't watched them grow up to be young adults through pictures.

LaVon fell in love with Boss and Boss fell in love with LaVon. Simple as that. If LaVon moved to another room, Boss followed. He sat or laid by HER chair. She pet for him hours on end which made for a very happy Boss.

Walt fell in love with LaVon and LaVon fell in love with Walt. It was like they had known each other for years. This trio had a wonderful visit!

What made this visit especially nice is the fact that we had been to the Creation Museum and we had questions. LaVon can explain things in the Bible like no one I know. I've called her many times over the years with questions and she's always given me satisfactory answers in a way that I understood. I am so thankful for her.

Monday night I kicked LaVon out of the kitchen and I made dinner for all of us. Shrimp, kielbasa and green beans and Old Bay and garlic mashed potatoes. She enjoyed it very much and that made my heart happy.

Tuesday morning came much too soon. We did some picture taking because with me and LaVon, well that is just a must!  Now Lavon is pretty tall, unlike me and Walt.  We always have a laugh in the difference in height between the two of us.

When it was time for her and Walt to get their picture LaVon remarked that may she should pick Walt up....so she did!

After tearful so longs, we hit the road and there's bad weather ahead.

We drove till we got to Tucumcari, New Mexico. We stayed at the Elks Lodge there and they aren't open on Tuesday's. There was already a motor home there and the fellow came over and asked if we knew how to pay since there wasn't anyone in the Lodge and there wasn't a drop box. Another free night of camping I guess.

Before we closed the door for the final time that evening it had started raining lightly and it was COLD outside.

SATURDAY 10,25.19 ARKANSAS / OKLAHOMA

We had an easy run today. Only three hours to Checotah, OK. We stayed at another Corp of Engineer Park, again on a lake. I think COE parks have a requirement of water like KOA's have the train tracks. We'll take a COE park any day!

When I called to see if there were any openings the lady assured me there were plenty available. She asked if we wanted to make a reservation and I declined since it was such a short run for us and maybe we would decide to go further after all. She said that was fine and if the campground office wasn't open we could pay the fee to the camp host.

We got in early afternoon and had our pick of spots. We got all settled and found that the camp host wasn't there. 

Another camper stopped by to admire Boss and told us they were gone for a few hours but would be back and would stop by our site.

A site, one down and across the street will be in this park for two weeks. They are new to full timing in their RV and had lots of questions after learning I was a full timer for 10 years.

Back at home Walt was outside and took notice that the guy moved his truck. Not far, just a truck's length deeper into his site. A few minutes later we heard this loud crack and two large limbs fell off the tree and the limbs landed right where his truck was. Of course we went over and he said when he went in he heard the cracking noise and thought it would be better if moved his vehicle. He did just in the nick of time. He cut the tree limbs with a hack saw, since the camp hosts were off site and he didn't have access to their chain saw, so he made do.

We didn't have cable at this site and only a few TV channels by antenna so we played a game and called it an early night.

We never did see the camp host and the office wasn't open at 7:30 so we figured this was just a free night of camping.

FRIDAY 10.25.19 TENNESSEE / ARKANSAS

Blue skies! This makes traveling so much better.

Today we landed in Maumelle, Arkansas. We are staying in our first Corp of Engineer Park. We love it! We are in the first row along the lake so we have a nice view. There was an expanse of land between the sites and the lake so I took my book, my chair and camera and sat lakeside.

I saw this blue heron fly in and I walked towards him and he didn't seem to mind me a bit. 

However, when my phone rang that crazy ring it must have startled him and he took off. Of course he flew right in front of me and I couldn't get the camera up fast enough and trying to fiddle with the phone too.

Hot dogs on the grill tonight! It was so beautiful with leaves changing on the trees just across the lake that we stayed outside as much as we could.

Oh yeah, since we are card carrying America the Beautiful seniors we got the site for only $9.00. Half price! We will definitely be staying at more Corp of Engineer parks!

In the morning there was a mist over the lake.

 This was a great place to stay

THURSDAY 10.24.19 TENNESSEE

Didn't get out of the state of Tennessee liked we hoped but we made it as far as Hurricane Mills. It was a rainy day and we once again opted for a KOA because it was easy on and off. This KOA did have prerequisite train tracks but luckily no trains came through during the night and if they did we didn't hear it.

It's getting harder to make dinner for some reason. I know the rain has a lot to do with it because I just won't ask Walt to go through the trouble of getting the grill out. We had sandwiches last night so while we could have done that it just wasn't what we wanted. Walt started with the fridge and the next thing I know he's pulling stuff out. We're having omelets and Walt makes a great omelet! I started chopping peppers, tomato and onions up and he readied the ham, cheese and eggs. We ate like a king and queen!

The weather is supposed to clear tomorrow so we want to get an early start.

Today we packed up and started moving west. We had checked the 10 day weather forecast for the roads ahead and its getting colder. We had every intention of going to Nebraska to see friends there but the weather is just turning too cold for us. We were both disappointed that we won't get to see Patti & Rod and JoDee and Steve but we have to beware of snow.

We made it to Knoxville, Tennessee today without incident. Gas prices are coming down and that's a good thing. We are staying in a KOA Kampground which neither one of us thrilled with. They are just so expensive after relying on Passport America for half price camping, It was a decent park and every space had a deck type structure you pulled up against.

We took Boss for a walk but that was a challenge with all the squirrels around. After getting back to the camper we stayed put for the rest of the evening. We had cable TV so at least we were occupied with a large amount of channels to choose from.

Didn't even think to take any pictures.

TUESDAY 10.22.19 KENTUCKY THE ARK ENCOUNTER PART 2

These pictures depict what life was like for Noah and his family.

I really didn't expect this.  Much more plush than what I thought those times were like.

Growing their food.

A rather pre-historic looking bird.

As I said earlier, I can't imagine being here in the height of the summer season when thousands of people are here.  It was very pleasant with few hundred that were here today.

Now we did have to wait in line at Emzara's Restaurant.  It was a buffet style restaurant and we heard from several people that we talked to that it was well worth the money and that the brussels sprouts were out of this world.  Now, I love brussels sprouts, they are my favorite vegetable.  I was truly disappointed.  Everyone at our community table also them on their plate and the plates all went back with the sprouts still on them so I wasn't the only one.  The rest of the food, while plentiful, was typical buffet food.  It filled our bellies and that was enough.

We took some to take more outside pictures.

Oops, almost forgot.  On two different occasions we had people notice our sweatshirts and come up to us and ask what part of Delaware we were from.  They each lived or had lived in our home state.  One from Rehoboth Beach in southern Delaware and one from Bear in the northern part of the state.

We hope you enjoyed the trip to The Ark Encounter.

TUESDAY 10.22.19 KENTUCKY THE ARK ENCOUNTER

THE ARK ENCOUNTER (Part 1)

Today we woke up excited because this is the day we go to see The Ark. This has been on my bucket list ever since I heard about it.

Lucky for us were about 10 miles away so it took no time at all to get there.  The rain had moved out and it was a pretty day with big patches of blue sky and big white clouds.

We were able to get on the shuttle bus as soon as we got there. We each had our royal blue "Delaware" sweatshirts on so that in case we were separated we would be able to spot each other easily. Remember this, it comes into play later.

Before we went to the ark itself, we stopped in the visitor center. We watched a movie all about how the Ark Encounter came to be. It was quite interesting. We do wish it had more of the actual building of the ark.

There's other things on the property besides the visitor's center and the ship. One can ride a camel or a zip line, pets some animals in the petting zoo and buy some ice cream all within a short distance of each other.

On the property there is also a full sized restaurant that serves an all you can eat buffet.

A million people a year come to Williamstown to see the Ark Encounter. I would imagine its very busy in the summer. Today it wasn't crowded at all. At times there was no around us, on the grounds and in the ark. We liked it this way very much. We never felt rushed or that we were in someones way.

Having gone through the rest of the visitor's center we headed out towards the one thing I couldn't wait to see. 

When we first set eyes on the ark we were amazed and in awe of the size. At 510 feet long, 85 feet wide and 51 feet high it is quite impressive.

Along the walkway leading up to the ark are replicas of 2 elephants, 2 giraffes, 2 lions and a fourth but I don't remember what it was.

The closer we got it became more apparent just how enormous this structure is. Massive. Everything about it is BIG! The size of the center beam, the the size of the ribs, just simply everything.

Walking in with most of the people who came on the same shuttle and after seeing the movie together we walked as a group kinda, sorta.. I couldn't help but notice that as we approached the entry way to the ark that couples clasped hands and we gathered in a file.....and entered the ark two by two.

I can't describe the feeling I had when we entered the ark other than magical or perhaps spiritual would be a better word.

We passed the "12 stones" and stopped to read the plaques.

WOOD!  EVERYWHERE!

Cages for the small animals.

This is where grains were kept to feed Noah and his family.

Walt, ever the carpenter, checking out how it was built. 

This is where the small reptiles were kept.

Water was kept in these.

Two of each.

The sheer size of the timbers used was just unbelievable.