Who We Are

We sold our home in June, 2007, and spent the next 7 1/2 years traveling full time in a Cross Roads Fifth Wheel. (We had been traveling during our summers for several years before going full time.) We loved the full-time lifestyle! Each summer we spent a month or two volunteering in State Parks, first in Indiana at McCormick's Creek State Park, near our family, then in later years as the grandchildren got older, at the Bluewater Lake State Park in New Mexico. We spent 6 months each winter at Cactus Gardens RV Resort in Yuma, AZ, where I worked mornings in the park office. The remaining months were spent on the road, seeing this great country of ours. Our favorite places are our National Parks. Anita loved photography and the freedom of digital photography, taking sometimes hundreds of photos in a day. We hiked as much as our legs will allow. We also really enjoyed square and round dancing as we travel across country, and meeting all the wonderful people who dance and/or travel.

But as in all things, there comes a time for change, and we decided it was time to create roots once more. In the fall of 2014, we purchased a home in Cactus Gardens, and in the spring of 2015, sold the 5th wheel. Anita also retired in the spring. We will continue to travel each summer, but for a shorter period of time. We hope to continue blogging about those trips, but it will obviously be on a more limited basis than in the past.

Please explore our past posts if you are interested in traveling this great country. You'll find an index in the left column. We hope you enjoy our blog, and appreciate all comments

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Heading West

We left McCormick's Creek on Labor Day, September 1, at dawn. We've had a good stay this summer camphosting at the park, and enjoyable trips with the grandchildren, but it's good to get our "itchy feet" back on the road.

Monday, we traveled north toward Topeka, IN to the Crossroads factory for some repairs to the 5th wheel on Tuesday. The drive up the back roads was relaxing, through farmlands for a large portion of the morning.

Son, Tom, and wife, Liesel, were to meet us for lunch. After two detours and a mix-up on restaurants, we finally reached each other in Middlebury for lunch at the Amish Essenhaus restaurant.
The food was served family style, Fried Chicken with all the trimmings. By the time dessert came, we weren't sure if we could hold it or not, but we each managed to eat a piece of their delicious homemade pies.
















The complex also offers shops, walking areas, carriage rides and even a garden planted in the pattern of a quilt.














This whole area of Indiana is Amish country. At times, we felt we were seeing more horse drawn vehicles than cars and trucks on the roads.




Tuesday morning, the Crossroads repair manager was at our door at 6 a.m. as promised. The repair needed was more extensive than we had thought it might be, and took all day Tuesday. We were so impressed by the Crossroads staff's service, expertise, and hospitality towards us. The whole experience from beginning to end could not have been better.

The manager offered us a tour through one of the five production plants, and took us from the conception of a fifth wheel through to a look inside a finished ready for sale model. We came away with even more of an appreciation for the Crossroads RV construction than before.




















While the repairs were being made, we visited with family in nearby Milford.

We left Topeka this morning, and are camped in the rain at Utica, IL. The remnants of Hurricane Gustaf are headed this way, and the forecast is for 2-4" of rain, lasting through Friday morning. We'll decide in the morning whether to try to move on, or to wait till the rain ends.

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