Parrottrek Journal 2005
May 22-25 -
The Trek has officially begun. We left on Sunday morning after breakfast with our family. We drove south to Malibu State Creek Park. This is the place where
they filmed the TV series M*A*S*H. This is our favorite show to watch on DVD and we fall asleep to it [pretty much every night. On our first day here we rode our
bikes as far into the hiking trail as possible, but since it was so overgrown we ended up having to walk the bikes more than half way there. About two and a half
miles later, we found the site where they filmed the show. It has been over twenty years since the show ended, and there have been a couple fires since,so the
area where their camp had sat was quite overgrown. On our initial visit we found the helicopter pad, and an old Jeep, the rest of the set was hardly
recognizable. We went back to our campsite and after watching several episodes in order to study the area we came back the next morning, on foot with the
bikes parked at home, and were able to visualize where everything was.
The Trek has officially begun. We left on Sunday morning after breakfast with our family. We drove south to Malibu State Creek Park. This is the place where
they filmed the TV series M*A*S*H. This is our favorite show to watch on DVD and we fall asleep to it [pretty much every night. On our first day here we rode our
bikes as far into the hiking trail as possible, but since it was so overgrown we ended up having to walk the bikes more than half way there. About two and a half
miles later, we found the site where they filmed the show. It has been over twenty years since the show ended, and there have been a couple fires since,so the
area where their camp had sat was quite overgrown. On our initial visit we found the helicopter pad, and an old Jeep, the rest of the set was hardly
recognizable. We went back to our campsite and after watching several episodes in order to study the area we came back the next morning, on foot with the
bikes parked at home, and were able to visualize where everything was.
One of the days we spent in Simi Valley we went to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. We were hoping to get to see Air Force One on display, but they
won't have the display open until the Fall. I guess we will have to come back here next year. The Presidential Library was very interesting, and quite
educational. We were both fairly young throughout Reagan's presidency, however Suzy did get to shake his hand in junior high. Yes the real man, not just his
statue,so it was nice to relive his presidency through movies and memorabilia. It sure would be wonderful if we could have another president like Reagan.
won't have the display open until the Fall. I guess we will have to come back here next year. The Presidential Library was very interesting, and quite
educational. We were both fairly young throughout Reagan's presidency, however Suzy did get to shake his hand in junior high. Yes the real man, not just his
statue,so it was nice to relive his presidency through movies and memorabilia. It sure would be wonderful if we could have another president like Reagan.
June 2nd -
We are sitting in the parking lot of a Flying J Truck Stop in Richfield, Utah. We left Vegas this morning and have driven for about five hours so far. It doesn't
feel like we have driven even half that far because the views are beautiful, and the roads are nice and smooth. Our goal is to get to Arches National Park in
the next day or so. We spent three days in Vegas visiting with our friends Chris and Karolyn as well as Tony, Allison, and Kylie White. We had a great time, the
weather was perfect! It was hot, but not too hot. It was in the nineties, so being outside was actually enjoyable. We spent a lot of time in the swimming pool,
and lounging around at the beach surrounding the pool. We met another couple at the RV park who were traveling with their amazon parrot. It is nice here in
Richfield. You can see snow on the mountains in the distance and there is green in the fields and trees! Such a nice treat after the brown of Vegas. The birds
are having a wonderful time as well. Bradley sits in the front window when we drive and he loves looking at everything. Abbey has begun to play with her toys
on the floor of the motorhome like a cat, she will entertain herself for hours doing this. Her newest thing is to chase after Frank's toes when he walks by and
attack them. The funniest part is that she won't bite my toes. Somehow, she knows the difference. In fact when I walk by, Abbey will run over and cuddle with
my toes. Well, we are off to complete our drive to Moab, Utah which is about 2 minutes from Arches. We will probably stay at a Rest Area tonight since it is still
a bit of a drive into Moab. It is so nice to be on roads out of California. We pay some of the highest registration fees in California yet our roads are the
WORST! It's weird to think we won't be back in CA until the end of the year. Can't to see what's in store for us in the meantime. Stay Tuned!
We are sitting in the parking lot of a Flying J Truck Stop in Richfield, Utah. We left Vegas this morning and have driven for about five hours so far. It doesn't
feel like we have driven even half that far because the views are beautiful, and the roads are nice and smooth. Our goal is to get to Arches National Park in
the next day or so. We spent three days in Vegas visiting with our friends Chris and Karolyn as well as Tony, Allison, and Kylie White. We had a great time, the
weather was perfect! It was hot, but not too hot. It was in the nineties, so being outside was actually enjoyable. We spent a lot of time in the swimming pool,
and lounging around at the beach surrounding the pool. We met another couple at the RV park who were traveling with their amazon parrot. It is nice here in
Richfield. You can see snow on the mountains in the distance and there is green in the fields and trees! Such a nice treat after the brown of Vegas. The birds
are having a wonderful time as well. Bradley sits in the front window when we drive and he loves looking at everything. Abbey has begun to play with her toys
on the floor of the motorhome like a cat, she will entertain herself for hours doing this. Her newest thing is to chase after Frank's toes when he walks by and
attack them. The funniest part is that she won't bite my toes. Somehow, she knows the difference. In fact when I walk by, Abbey will run over and cuddle with
my toes. Well, we are off to complete our drive to Moab, Utah which is about 2 minutes from Arches. We will probably stay at a Rest Area tonight since it is still
a bit of a drive into Moab. It is so nice to be on roads out of California. We pay some of the highest registration fees in California yet our roads are the
WORST! It's weird to think we won't be back in CA until the end of the year. Can't to see what's in store for us in the meantime. Stay Tuned!
June 3rd -
Arches National Park is amazing! It is enormous, and very fun to drive through and explore. We spent last night at a Rest Area about an hour away. It rained
all night long, and snowed up in the mountains above us, so that made for a bit chilly morning today. The Rest Areas here in Utah are very nice. The
buildings are new, and look like homes. While we drove further into Utah it began to snow on us at the top of one of the peaks we drove over. It was still
raining today when we arrived in Moab and it makes quite a mess on the motorhome and Jeep since all the roads are red dirt. The RV Park we are staying at
is quite fun. We have our own private Jacuzzi!!! We sat in it most of tonight since it's so cold, and the rain let up. Tomorrow is supposed to be a very nice day,
so hopefully we will get to see a bit more. We did drive through Arches today, and between rain storms we walked around and got a few pictures of the park.
Arches National Park is amazing! It is enormous, and very fun to drive through and explore. We spent last night at a Rest Area about an hour away. It rained
all night long, and snowed up in the mountains above us, so that made for a bit chilly morning today. The Rest Areas here in Utah are very nice. The
buildings are new, and look like homes. While we drove further into Utah it began to snow on us at the top of one of the peaks we drove over. It was still
raining today when we arrived in Moab and it makes quite a mess on the motorhome and Jeep since all the roads are red dirt. The RV Park we are staying at
is quite fun. We have our own private Jacuzzi!!! We sat in it most of tonight since it's so cold, and the rain let up. Tomorrow is supposed to be a very nice day,
so hopefully we will get to see a bit more. We did drive through Arches today, and between rain storms we walked around and got a few pictures of the park.
June 10th-
We arrived in Durango on June 8th. Yesterday we rode on the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. It takes you, surprisingly enough, from Durango
up into Silverton, Colorado. The views are great, the river was roaring, and there was a multitude of waterfalls. We had great seats on an outside gondola
which made the views that much better without windows or walls, but the ride up and back was a bit long. The long day did have a little to do with the fact that
we watched the wrong news report. Instead of watching the weather for Silverton which would have told us that it would in fact snow in the mountains, and the
temperature in Silverton was 50 degrees, we watched the Durango weather that informed us the temperature would be a beautiful 80 degrees. Dressing in
shorts and a sweatshirt was not the wardrobe to have. We should of worn our long underwear and parkas. We smartened up on the drive home however and
instead of keeping our outside seats we slyly found some seats in an inside car. It made the ride back about 40 degrees warmer than the ride there. Frank
actually fell asleep he was so comfy. We will stay here until June 14, and then make our way to our first official work site since we have hit the road. We will try
and get to Illinois fairly quickly, and do a bit of sight seeing there. The only things between us and Saint Louis are Kansas and Missouri. According to the map
Kansas doesn't have to much to see except wheat fields and tornadoes. Missouri may have more, we shall see.
We arrived in Durango on June 8th. Yesterday we rode on the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. It takes you, surprisingly enough, from Durango
up into Silverton, Colorado. The views are great, the river was roaring, and there was a multitude of waterfalls. We had great seats on an outside gondola
which made the views that much better without windows or walls, but the ride up and back was a bit long. The long day did have a little to do with the fact that
we watched the wrong news report. Instead of watching the weather for Silverton which would have told us that it would in fact snow in the mountains, and the
temperature in Silverton was 50 degrees, we watched the Durango weather that informed us the temperature would be a beautiful 80 degrees. Dressing in
shorts and a sweatshirt was not the wardrobe to have. We should of worn our long underwear and parkas. We smartened up on the drive home however and
instead of keeping our outside seats we slyly found some seats in an inside car. It made the ride back about 40 degrees warmer than the ride there. Frank
actually fell asleep he was so comfy. We will stay here until June 14, and then make our way to our first official work site since we have hit the road. We will try
and get to Illinois fairly quickly, and do a bit of sight seeing there. The only things between us and Saint Louis are Kansas and Missouri. According to the map
Kansas doesn't have to much to see except wheat fields and tornadoes. Missouri may have more, we shall see.
June 16th -
Kansas has a little more than wheat fields! In fact it has a great zoo. We stopped by the Rolling Hills Reserve today in Salina. It was roughly 100 acres, and the
best laid out zoo we have ever been to. All of the animals have huge enclosures, and all of them could be seen easily from the nice walkways that lead you
around. They had a petting zoo that had cows and pregnant goats and sheep. They had baby black bears that played next to a golden eagle (in separate
cages of course). The prairie dog display was great! They would all come out and stand when it was quiet, but as soon as a tram would go by they would all
start to bark, and dive for their holes. There was a baby leopard display, and in the middle of the display was a crawl hole that lead you into a glass room that
was in the middle of the enclosure. The baby leopards were practically within reach. Walking through the Reserve was a nice change from the 500 miles we
drove yesterday. It felt great to get out and stretch our legs. We are driving almost to the end of Kansas this evening, and into Missouri tomorrow. The rest
stops here in Kansas are like parks! All of them have picnic tables and enormous grassy areas. They even have dump stations! We are currently watching the
news which is full of thunder storm warnings and tornado watches. Hmmmmmm! I hope we don't get sent to Muchkin Land while we are here in Kansas. Driving
through a tornado wouldn't do the motorhome much good. Maybe we could get to Illinois faster with the help of Dorothy! Hope we make it out of Kansas
before the wind catches us!
Kansas has a little more than wheat fields! In fact it has a great zoo. We stopped by the Rolling Hills Reserve today in Salina. It was roughly 100 acres, and the
best laid out zoo we have ever been to. All of the animals have huge enclosures, and all of them could be seen easily from the nice walkways that lead you
around. They had a petting zoo that had cows and pregnant goats and sheep. They had baby black bears that played next to a golden eagle (in separate
cages of course). The prairie dog display was great! They would all come out and stand when it was quiet, but as soon as a tram would go by they would all
start to bark, and dive for their holes. There was a baby leopard display, and in the middle of the display was a crawl hole that lead you into a glass room that
was in the middle of the enclosure. The baby leopards were practically within reach. Walking through the Reserve was a nice change from the 500 miles we
drove yesterday. It felt great to get out and stretch our legs. We are driving almost to the end of Kansas this evening, and into Missouri tomorrow. The rest
stops here in Kansas are like parks! All of them have picnic tables and enormous grassy areas. They even have dump stations! We are currently watching the
news which is full of thunder storm warnings and tornado watches. Hmmmmmm! I hope we don't get sent to Muchkin Land while we are here in Kansas. Driving
through a tornado wouldn't do the motorhome much good. Maybe we could get to Illinois faster with the help of Dorothy! Hope we make it out of Kansas
before the wind catches us!
We will leave this afternoon and head towards Oklahoma for a small detour. We want to look at a couple of bus conversions. Frank has been looking at them
on the Internet for months and months, and we have found a place to test drive a few. We will definitely look at many many more before deciding on whether or
not we will make the switch, but it should be fun to research. Who knows where we may stay in the meantime.
on the Internet for months and months, and we have found a place to test drive a few. We will definitely look at many many more before deciding on whether or
not we will make the switch, but it should be fun to research. Who knows where we may stay in the meantime.
June 30th -
Our current home is in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. It is a much nicer area than Saint Louis. We were going to head down to Branson, but decided against it
once we arrived here. We meet some very nice people here, and have made quick friends. There are two couples. One of the couples works at a local boat
dealer here in Lake Ozark. Tom and his wife Coni invited us out last night for a boat ride down the lake, and to dinner with Rick and LaVerne. The weather was
great. We left around 6:30 and the boat ride to the restaurant was about 30-45 minutes. We had our own private tour of all of the homes on the lake. There
are some amazing homes here with their own private docks. The lake is enormous. We went to a fun restaurant called Dock Knockers that you can only get to
from the water. It had great food, and half price drinks for ladies. We watched the sunset during dinner, and headed home. We stopped down one of the many
coves, and put our feet in the water. It was as warm as bath water. The evening was great, so it was nice to sit out and talk for awhile without being cold. We
arrived back at the docks around 10:30. It was a wonderful experience. The boat was a 32 foot power boat with duel engines, and so smooth on the water.
They invited us to go out with them again and watch the fireworks over the weekend. Apparently they have a fireworks show each night of the weekend for the
Fourth of July. We will meet at 4:30 at Tom and Coni's campsite for a bar-b-que, and then hit the water again around 8:00. We are looking forward to it!!
Today we are going to a local Watermark since the weather calls for warmer temperatures. They have a long lazy river, a wave pool, and a bunch of water
slides. We drove by it yesterday, and it looks like a lot of fun.
Our current home is in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. It is a much nicer area than Saint Louis. We were going to head down to Branson, but decided against it
once we arrived here. We meet some very nice people here, and have made quick friends. There are two couples. One of the couples works at a local boat
dealer here in Lake Ozark. Tom and his wife Coni invited us out last night for a boat ride down the lake, and to dinner with Rick and LaVerne. The weather was
great. We left around 6:30 and the boat ride to the restaurant was about 30-45 minutes. We had our own private tour of all of the homes on the lake. There
are some amazing homes here with their own private docks. The lake is enormous. We went to a fun restaurant called Dock Knockers that you can only get to
from the water. It had great food, and half price drinks for ladies. We watched the sunset during dinner, and headed home. We stopped down one of the many
coves, and put our feet in the water. It was as warm as bath water. The evening was great, so it was nice to sit out and talk for awhile without being cold. We
arrived back at the docks around 10:30. It was a wonderful experience. The boat was a 32 foot power boat with duel engines, and so smooth on the water.
They invited us to go out with them again and watch the fireworks over the weekend. Apparently they have a fireworks show each night of the weekend for the
Fourth of July. We will meet at 4:30 at Tom and Coni's campsite for a bar-b-que, and then hit the water again around 8:00. We are looking forward to it!!
Today we are going to a local Watermark since the weather calls for warmer temperatures. They have a long lazy river, a wave pool, and a bunch of water
slides. We drove by it yesterday, and it looks like a lot of fun.
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!!!
We had so much fun on the 4th of July weekend. We did go out again on the fun boat to watch the fireworks. There were about 12 of us along for the ride, and
WOW was it amazing. There wereat least another 200 boats on the water around us, and many many more as far as the eye could see. We arrived at our
water location about 8:00 to get a good spot, and waited until the sun went down and the festivities began. What an experience that was returning after dark.
The speed limit on the lake is 30mph after sunset. We are used to our lake where it is 5mph. It was quite an adventure going that fast with so many other
boats around us going at that rate of speed if not faster. The rangers had their work cut out for them that night.
We have swapped information with everyone there in Lake Ozark, and have made tentative plans to meet up again next year for the 4th of July. It's so much
fun meeting new people, and having new friends to visit around the country. It was such an answer to prayer to find such fun people for the holiday. The week
prior we had no idea what we would be doing, but thought it would be nice if we could somehow spend it with friends, and we did!!
We had so much fun on the 4th of July weekend. We did go out again on the fun boat to watch the fireworks. There were about 12 of us along for the ride, and
WOW was it amazing. There wereat least another 200 boats on the water around us, and many many more as far as the eye could see. We arrived at our
water location about 8:00 to get a good spot, and waited until the sun went down and the festivities began. What an experience that was returning after dark.
The speed limit on the lake is 30mph after sunset. We are used to our lake where it is 5mph. It was quite an adventure going that fast with so many other
boats around us going at that rate of speed if not faster. The rangers had their work cut out for them that night.
We have swapped information with everyone there in Lake Ozark, and have made tentative plans to meet up again next year for the 4th of July. It's so much
fun meeting new people, and having new friends to visit around the country. It was such an answer to prayer to find such fun people for the holiday. The week
prior we had no idea what we would be doing, but thought it would be nice if we could somehow spend it with friends, and we did!!
July 6th-
We spent the night last night here at the Newell Factory in Miami, Oklahoma. They had free full hook-ups, however our little Trek felt very out of place. All of
the motorhomes around us were million dollar Newell's. The lot was closed when we arrived, but we walked around last night, and looked at the outside of all of
the new and used ones that they had on the lot. As we walked around them we noticed that they all had a doorbell. Not realizing what it really was Suzy pushed
on of them, and the door swung open. Her jaw almost hit the floor thinking that someone was answering the bell, but we then realized that it was the button to
activate the pocket door, and that one had apparently not been locked for the evening. Figuring that there were probably cameras around we decided against
taking our own tour. Almost all of them were 45 feet long, which is longer than we want, but they sure are nice. This afternoon we actually had a tour of the
facility, and watched them being built literally from the ground up. It was quite impressive. We found a used one there on the lot that was very nice, but a little
out of our price range. It did have one slide in the living room, but we really would like to find one with the perfect floor plan without any slides. As we walked
into another we meet a very nice woman who was looking to upgrade her Newell. At first we thought she was one of the sales people because she told us all
about them. She and her husband own a 1995 without any slides. They want to get one with two slides, and are looking for the perfect one to trade their
current one in for. When we told her that their Newell was almost exactly what we were looking for she invited us to come and look at it. It was beautiful, and oh
so perfect. It had a five foot walk-in closet in the back that would be perfect for all of our clothes, and the birdcage. We exchanged phone numbers and told
her to call us if she ever wanted to sell. Below is a picture. The paint job is nice and simple, and the interior is all beige with subtle black accents. This
afternoon we are planning on driving down to a Featherlite dealership that has a couple buses that we want to look at. The Newell's are nice, but they are still
technically a "motorhome" and we really want a bus. Maybe we will find something worthy down there.
We spent the night last night here at the Newell Factory in Miami, Oklahoma. They had free full hook-ups, however our little Trek felt very out of place. All of
the motorhomes around us were million dollar Newell's. The lot was closed when we arrived, but we walked around last night, and looked at the outside of all of
the new and used ones that they had on the lot. As we walked around them we noticed that they all had a doorbell. Not realizing what it really was Suzy pushed
on of them, and the door swung open. Her jaw almost hit the floor thinking that someone was answering the bell, but we then realized that it was the button to
activate the pocket door, and that one had apparently not been locked for the evening. Figuring that there were probably cameras around we decided against
taking our own tour. Almost all of them were 45 feet long, which is longer than we want, but they sure are nice. This afternoon we actually had a tour of the
facility, and watched them being built literally from the ground up. It was quite impressive. We found a used one there on the lot that was very nice, but a little
out of our price range. It did have one slide in the living room, but we really would like to find one with the perfect floor plan without any slides. As we walked
into another we meet a very nice woman who was looking to upgrade her Newell. At first we thought she was one of the sales people because she told us all
about them. She and her husband own a 1995 without any slides. They want to get one with two slides, and are looking for the perfect one to trade their
current one in for. When we told her that their Newell was almost exactly what we were looking for she invited us to come and look at it. It was beautiful, and oh
so perfect. It had a five foot walk-in closet in the back that would be perfect for all of our clothes, and the birdcage. We exchanged phone numbers and told
her to call us if she ever wanted to sell. Below is a picture. The paint job is nice and simple, and the interior is all beige with subtle black accents. This
afternoon we are planning on driving down to a Featherlite dealership that has a couple buses that we want to look at. The Newell's are nice, but they are still
technically a "motorhome" and we really want a bus. Maybe we will find something worthy down there.
July 12th-
Frank is helping set up the tent today in Denver, Colorado. This was originally going to be our first race, but boy are we glad we went to Saint Louis. We could
have done without the heat, but the people we have meet along the way are well worth it. The two couples we met in The Ozarks are definitely going to do an
event in November, and maybe even the Rodeo. We met another very nice couple at a rest stop that loved our motorhome. They are looking to downsize, so
we exchanged numbers with them as well. How funny would that be to sell our current motor home to them, and buy Tom and Erika's Newell. We wouldn't even
need to go through a dealership. That would be great. It is so much cooler here than Saint Louis, but much warmer than it was earlier this month in Colorado
when we took our train ride. It should be a great weekend. Today while Frank and Bob (one of our bosses) put up the Nitro Mall tent Shirl (Bob's wife) and I
went down to a local lake that had a wonderful beach. The day was perfect. We laid out all day and read and relaxed by the water, and when it would get too
hot we would go for a swim. The guys finished about 3:00 and we went back and picked them up and all of us came back down to the lake. We swam for
another couple hours, and then all went to dinner. Our little Trek's water tanks are so small and we are here for so many days that Frank and I have joked that
we should come down each night to the lake and rinse off, that way we wouldn't have to use the shower. It might work for today, but any longer and we would
start to smell funny.
July 13th-
We have finished stocking the tent, and are ready for another race. Suzy went down to a local casino with the girls to play penny slots. Neither of us had any
cash on us so she only took five dollars, but came home with $35.00 maybe we should think of changing careers. All of the people we work with are great, we
really are starting to feel like a family, and it's only been a short time. I guess when you spend that much time with anyone and actually get along you get
attached quite quickly. These next few weeks will be very very busy. We have three back to back races. They call them the West Coast Swing. Next weekend
we are off to Seattle, and then to Sonoma California where we will meet up with some family. It will be so odd to be back in California for awhile. We do not look
forward to driving on those darn roads again. After Sonoma though we actually have a week off. We aren't sure yet what we might do, but something very
relaxing sounds nice.
Frank is helping set up the tent today in Denver, Colorado. This was originally going to be our first race, but boy are we glad we went to Saint Louis. We could
have done without the heat, but the people we have meet along the way are well worth it. The two couples we met in The Ozarks are definitely going to do an
event in November, and maybe even the Rodeo. We met another very nice couple at a rest stop that loved our motorhome. They are looking to downsize, so
we exchanged numbers with them as well. How funny would that be to sell our current motor home to them, and buy Tom and Erika's Newell. We wouldn't even
need to go through a dealership. That would be great. It is so much cooler here than Saint Louis, but much warmer than it was earlier this month in Colorado
when we took our train ride. It should be a great weekend. Today while Frank and Bob (one of our bosses) put up the Nitro Mall tent Shirl (Bob's wife) and I
went down to a local lake that had a wonderful beach. The day was perfect. We laid out all day and read and relaxed by the water, and when it would get too
hot we would go for a swim. The guys finished about 3:00 and we went back and picked them up and all of us came back down to the lake. We swam for
another couple hours, and then all went to dinner. Our little Trek's water tanks are so small and we are here for so many days that Frank and I have joked that
we should come down each night to the lake and rinse off, that way we wouldn't have to use the shower. It might work for today, but any longer and we would
start to smell funny.
July 13th-
We have finished stocking the tent, and are ready for another race. Suzy went down to a local casino with the girls to play penny slots. Neither of us had any
cash on us so she only took five dollars, but came home with $35.00 maybe we should think of changing careers. All of the people we work with are great, we
really are starting to feel like a family, and it's only been a short time. I guess when you spend that much time with anyone and actually get along you get
attached quite quickly. These next few weeks will be very very busy. We have three back to back races. They call them the West Coast Swing. Next weekend
we are off to Seattle, and then to Sonoma California where we will meet up with some family. It will be so odd to be back in California for awhile. We do not look
forward to driving on those darn roads again. After Sonoma though we actually have a week off. We aren't sure yet what we might do, but something very
relaxing sounds nice.
July 24th-
Two events down from the West Coast Swing, and one to go. We are leaving tonight to try and get to the Marathon dealership in Coburg, Oregon. Yes once
again we have found a bus that is right in our price range, and not too scary. Most of the ones we have looked at have had either pink interior, or something
weird. The one in Oklahoma was pink and floral, so we quickly marked that one off of our list. We are quite confident the perfect one is out there somewhere,
it's just a matter of finding it.
Seattle was so beautiful. WOW! Definitely a place we wouldn't mind spending more time. Unfortunately we had to leave town too early to do much exploring.
We did get to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but Frank was quite disappointed by it. I knew he had his hopes up too high. Willy Wonka and Chocolate
Factory is one of his favorites, and usually the remakes aren't as good as the original. The place that we camped while at the track was completely surrounded
by trees. We were right on the return road, and we were able to watch the races while on our lunch break. At one point we were sitting outside watching them
in our lounge chairs and one of the Safety Safari guys came by and said we had to move, he claimed that in case a piece of one of the cars broke off we
would probably get hit by it. That would be just our luck - to get killed by a flying Funny Car engine.
Two events down from the West Coast Swing, and one to go. We are leaving tonight to try and get to the Marathon dealership in Coburg, Oregon. Yes once
again we have found a bus that is right in our price range, and not too scary. Most of the ones we have looked at have had either pink interior, or something
weird. The one in Oklahoma was pink and floral, so we quickly marked that one off of our list. We are quite confident the perfect one is out there somewhere,
it's just a matter of finding it.
Seattle was so beautiful. WOW! Definitely a place we wouldn't mind spending more time. Unfortunately we had to leave town too early to do much exploring.
We did get to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but Frank was quite disappointed by it. I knew he had his hopes up too high. Willy Wonka and Chocolate
Factory is one of his favorites, and usually the remakes aren't as good as the original. The place that we camped while at the track was completely surrounded
by trees. We were right on the return road, and we were able to watch the races while on our lunch break. At one point we were sitting outside watching them
in our lounge chairs and one of the Safety Safari guys came by and said we had to move, he claimed that in case a piece of one of the cars broke off we
would probably get hit by it. That would be just our luck - to get killed by a flying Funny Car engine.
August 8th-
California - here we come, or should I say here we are and here we go!!! Sonoma was great. We again had a great view in our campsites, but the hills were a
bit much. Luckily Frank's parents came up to visit us, and brought our scooter for the weekend. We coasted pretty much the whole way down the hill to work
each morning, but the incline back was about a 90 degree angle (only a slight exaggeration :-) It was fun to see family, and have a little time to spend with
them. We did have a lot of long days, but at the end of the event we had a few days off. Frank's grandparents came up to visit as well.
Our next trek will be a long one. It is 1900 miles from here to Brainerd, Minnesota. We have heard wild stories of this event, so we may be in for quite an
adventure. The weather is supposed be a bit hot. We don't mind the heat as long is it doesn't get as hot as St. Louis. Hopefully we will have some fun pictures
to post after Brainerd.
August 23rd -
The weather in Brainerd was gorgeous. In was just like a nice spring day, only in the middle of summer. There was apparently a cold front that came in for the
weekend, just in the nick of time. It had been 95 degrees all week before we arrived. I think the week of the races in Brainerd is the only vacation these people
get all year long. There were at least 2000 people camping, and their parties and music went all night long. There were police everywhere. The camping area
for the fans is nicknamed "The Zoo" and that is exactly what it is. There were a couple guys there that had a huge sheet of wood with three sets of holes
across the top. They called it the "Boob-E-Meter" and each set of holes got larger as it went across the board. The first one had "Oh" printed underneath it,
the second was "Oh My" and the third one said "Oh My God!" Apparently they had many woman asking if they could be measured. There were so many
people with crazy designed golf carts as well. Apparently that's the big rage there - to modify golf carts and have their own races in the grass. It was a very fun
week. Just listening to the people talk was funny. They all have that crazy Minnesota, North Dakota accent it reminded us of the movie Fargo.
Tennessee however was a different story. It was hotter than Hades there. With the heat index it got up to 125 degrees - no exaggeration at all!! We all thought
we were either going to melt away, or die. I can't believe it can get that hot anywhere. We sell a product in the store called Neck Coolers. They are a silicon
filled scarf that when put in ice gets nice and cold, and stays cool for hours. It goes around your neck, and is supposed to keep you about 10 degrees cooler
than the outside temperature. We usually sell about 200- 300 at each event. This event we sold over 1600 of them. Why anyone would purposely come to the
track and sit in the sun to watch the races in that kind of heat is beyond me. I now know what a turkey feels like on Thanksgiving as it bakes in the oven for 6
hours, except that our average day was 12 hours. We are soooo glad to be out of Memphis. I pray it isn't that hot in Indianapolis.
The home office of our company is in Indianapolis, Indiana so that is our current home. We are actually camped out back of the Main Gate facility for a few
nights. It's great too have a few days off. The next couple days we are going to do absolutely nothing. This Sunday night one of our Event Managers is having
a party at his home here in Indy for all of the employees. There are 16 or so couples that we work with at each event, and have gotten to know them fairly well,
so we are looking forward to spending some time with them outside of work, and not at an event. We usually don't have a lot of socializing time while we are at
an event, and everyone has a different travel schedule so we very rarely meet up with them on the road. Most of them work the various merchandise trailers,
so we see them even less often.
We toured the facility here a little, and were able to see how all of the shirts were printed. It sure is different from my old days of screen printing where you had
to do it all yourself. However the place I worked was considerably slower paced (Thank God)
California - here we come, or should I say here we are and here we go!!! Sonoma was great. We again had a great view in our campsites, but the hills were a
bit much. Luckily Frank's parents came up to visit us, and brought our scooter for the weekend. We coasted pretty much the whole way down the hill to work
each morning, but the incline back was about a 90 degree angle (only a slight exaggeration :-) It was fun to see family, and have a little time to spend with
them. We did have a lot of long days, but at the end of the event we had a few days off. Frank's grandparents came up to visit as well.
Our next trek will be a long one. It is 1900 miles from here to Brainerd, Minnesota. We have heard wild stories of this event, so we may be in for quite an
adventure. The weather is supposed be a bit hot. We don't mind the heat as long is it doesn't get as hot as St. Louis. Hopefully we will have some fun pictures
to post after Brainerd.
August 23rd -
The weather in Brainerd was gorgeous. In was just like a nice spring day, only in the middle of summer. There was apparently a cold front that came in for the
weekend, just in the nick of time. It had been 95 degrees all week before we arrived. I think the week of the races in Brainerd is the only vacation these people
get all year long. There were at least 2000 people camping, and their parties and music went all night long. There were police everywhere. The camping area
for the fans is nicknamed "The Zoo" and that is exactly what it is. There were a couple guys there that had a huge sheet of wood with three sets of holes
across the top. They called it the "Boob-E-Meter" and each set of holes got larger as it went across the board. The first one had "Oh" printed underneath it,
the second was "Oh My" and the third one said "Oh My God!" Apparently they had many woman asking if they could be measured. There were so many
people with crazy designed golf carts as well. Apparently that's the big rage there - to modify golf carts and have their own races in the grass. It was a very fun
week. Just listening to the people talk was funny. They all have that crazy Minnesota, North Dakota accent it reminded us of the movie Fargo.
Tennessee however was a different story. It was hotter than Hades there. With the heat index it got up to 125 degrees - no exaggeration at all!! We all thought
we were either going to melt away, or die. I can't believe it can get that hot anywhere. We sell a product in the store called Neck Coolers. They are a silicon
filled scarf that when put in ice gets nice and cold, and stays cool for hours. It goes around your neck, and is supposed to keep you about 10 degrees cooler
than the outside temperature. We usually sell about 200- 300 at each event. This event we sold over 1600 of them. Why anyone would purposely come to the
track and sit in the sun to watch the races in that kind of heat is beyond me. I now know what a turkey feels like on Thanksgiving as it bakes in the oven for 6
hours, except that our average day was 12 hours. We are soooo glad to be out of Memphis. I pray it isn't that hot in Indianapolis.
The home office of our company is in Indianapolis, Indiana so that is our current home. We are actually camped out back of the Main Gate facility for a few
nights. It's great too have a few days off. The next couple days we are going to do absolutely nothing. This Sunday night one of our Event Managers is having
a party at his home here in Indy for all of the employees. There are 16 or so couples that we work with at each event, and have gotten to know them fairly well,
so we are looking forward to spending some time with them outside of work, and not at an event. We usually don't have a lot of socializing time while we are at
an event, and everyone has a different travel schedule so we very rarely meet up with them on the road. Most of them work the various merchandise trailers,
so we see them even less often.
We toured the facility here a little, and were able to see how all of the shirts were printed. It sure is different from my old days of screen printing where you had
to do it all yourself. However the place I worked was considerably slower paced (Thank God)
On Saturday we drove out to Mount Comfort Airport and watched the Indianapolis Air Show. They had all sorts of Military planes and helicopters. We were
able to tour the inside of a Black Hawk helicopter, and quite a few others. They had a great air show with all sorts of acrobatic planes, and the finale was a
very impressive show by the Blue Angels. The different maneuvers they did were remarkable. We weren't able to get too many pictures of them, because of
their speed, and neither of us wanted to miss any of the show by trying to focus through the camera. The had their huge air traffic control headquarters out
there which is called "Fat Albert" I'm not quite sure what sort of plane he is but we was enormous. The Blue Angels did have of their maneuvers inverted
which was fun to watch. They must have to spend so many hours practicing to get each maneuver so perfect. At times it appeared that they were only mere
feet away from each other. If you ever get a chance to see them, it is more than worthwhile.
able to tour the inside of a Black Hawk helicopter, and quite a few others. They had a great air show with all sorts of acrobatic planes, and the finale was a
very impressive show by the Blue Angels. The different maneuvers they did were remarkable. We weren't able to get too many pictures of them, because of
their speed, and neither of us wanted to miss any of the show by trying to focus through the camera. The had their huge air traffic control headquarters out
there which is called "Fat Albert" I'm not quite sure what sort of plane he is but we was enormous. The Blue Angels did have of their maneuvers inverted
which was fun to watch. They must have to spend so many hours practicing to get each maneuver so perfect. At times it appeared that they were only mere
feet away from each other. If you ever get a chance to see them, it is more than worthwhile.
August 29th-
Nationals have arrived!! We began setting up the two tents today for "The Big Go". This race is supposed to be the biggest of the season. Last year was the
50th Anniversary so it was really big. They hope to do almost as well s last year, but they know they won't quite reach it since it was such a big celebration.
We had a fun party last night at Rob Bissonette's house. He is the Event Manager for this race, so that means that he has to deal with all of the logistics of
where our trailers will be placed and who will work where. We had a great time with all of our co-workers. We had a huge bar-b-que, and Suzy played
bartender for the evening. That was a lot of fun. Hopefully everyone will be able to work tomorrow. :-)
The next few days will be very long so it was nice to have one last night of relaxation before the races begin. The gates open at 7:00 every morning, and the
races don't end until 10:00 each evening. We are usually open for about an hour after the last race, so that will be a long six days, but we are up for it
Nationals have arrived!! We began setting up the two tents today for "The Big Go". This race is supposed to be the biggest of the season. Last year was the
50th Anniversary so it was really big. They hope to do almost as well s last year, but they know they won't quite reach it since it was such a big celebration.
We had a fun party last night at Rob Bissonette's house. He is the Event Manager for this race, so that means that he has to deal with all of the logistics of
where our trailers will be placed and who will work where. We had a great time with all of our co-workers. We had a huge bar-b-que, and Suzy played
bartender for the evening. That was a lot of fun. Hopefully everyone will be able to work tomorrow. :-)
The next few days will be very long so it was nice to have one last night of relaxation before the races begin. The gates open at 7:00 every morning, and the
races don't end until 10:00 each evening. We are usually open for about an hour after the last race, so that will be a long six days, but we are up for it
Here are a few pictures of our fellow MainGate
employees. All of them do the entire circuit with us,
some pull the trailers of merchandise, some work in
the store with us, and a few of them work at the home
office.
Upper Left: Kurt and Phyllis Hanson
Above Center: Shirl Kase, Vicki Smith and Martha
Upper Right: Lavina, Rob, Doug and Verna
Left: Jim Maxey, Steve Cermac and Bruce
Right: Sue, Danny and Lavina (with Toby in her arms)
Candy and Rick, and Martha
employees. All of them do the entire circuit with us,
some pull the trailers of merchandise, some work in
the store with us, and a few of them work at the home
office.
Upper Left: Kurt and Phyllis Hanson
Above Center: Shirl Kase, Vicki Smith and Martha
Upper Right: Lavina, Rob, Doug and Verna
Left: Jim Maxey, Steve Cermac and Bruce
Right: Sue, Danny and Lavina (with Toby in her arms)
Candy and Rick, and Martha
 |  |  |  |  |  |
May 21st - Our last night in Buellton -
We had the greatest send off party with about 50 of our dearest friends.
There were so many memories shared and stories of old times told. We, no
surprise, had it at Antonio's Pizza. Being there tonight with all our friends
and family was Not having to run and grab the phone, or check on the other
tables around us to make sure the waitresses were doing their job felt... ...
odd, for lack of a better word. We took tons pf photos of everyone and had
everyone fill in their info into our traveling phone book. Hopefully we will be
able to fill it in with lots of new friends that we meet out on the highways of
America.
We had the greatest send off party with about 50 of our dearest friends.
There were so many memories shared and stories of old times told. We, no
surprise, had it at Antonio's Pizza. Being there tonight with all our friends
and family was Not having to run and grab the phone, or check on the other
tables around us to make sure the waitresses were doing their job felt... ...
odd, for lack of a better word. We took tons pf photos of everyone and had
everyone fill in their info into our traveling phone book. Hopefully we will be
able to fill it in with lots of new friends that we meet out on the highways of
America.
December 2004 - A Dream... A Notepad... and A Huge Leap of Faith -
Welcome to what I hope will be a continual journal of all our adventures in the up and coming life that we plan on living. We currently own and operate a very
successful pizzeria in a small town in California where we have pretty much lived our whole lives. After careful planning and lots of thought, we have decided
that the time has come to sell it due to the fact that it's a very desirable business and we are ready for a change of work, scenery and life experiences. Over
the last six months we have penciled everything out on our plans of traveling the country and know that it might just work out. Of course right now it's just a
dream but if you know Frank and I, like I know Frank and I, anything we put our minds to, we accomplish! So, back to the journal. Since we do live in sunny
Southern California, the snow days here are very limited. In fact in our town you have to drive up to the top of Figueroa Mountain, 18ish miles away, in order
to play in the fun white stuff. So since we each had the day off, not a common occurrence lately, we decided to pack up the Jeep and drive up the mountain. It
was really cold and snowed on us most of the time, but a lot of fun.
Welcome to what I hope will be a continual journal of all our adventures in the up and coming life that we plan on living. We currently own and operate a very
successful pizzeria in a small town in California where we have pretty much lived our whole lives. After careful planning and lots of thought, we have decided
that the time has come to sell it due to the fact that it's a very desirable business and we are ready for a change of work, scenery and life experiences. Over
the last six months we have penciled everything out on our plans of traveling the country and know that it might just work out. Of course right now it's just a
dream but if you know Frank and I, like I know Frank and I, anything we put our minds to, we accomplish! So, back to the journal. Since we do live in sunny
Southern California, the snow days here are very limited. In fact in our town you have to drive up to the top of Figueroa Mountain, 18ish miles away, in order
to play in the fun white stuff. So since we each had the day off, not a common occurrence lately, we decided to pack up the Jeep and drive up the mountain. It
was really cold and snowed on us most of the time, but a lot of fun.
January 1st 2005 - Tournament of Roses Parade -
I have lived in California all my life, minus the first two months were I lived in Oregon, and the only place I've ever watched the Rose Parade is in the warm
confines of our home, minus last year when we bought tickets to watch it from the bleachers on Colorado Blvd. This year we decided to go back to the warm
confines of home, since our seats were a bit cold and getting out of them to use the potty was not an option. However today our living room was parked on the
parade's path. It was awesome! We arrived last night and got situated. All of our neighbors are really, really close and none of us could put out our slides, but
who cares. Once the blinds were closed we had no idea how close the neighbors were. We sat up half the night watching all the people outside stake their
claim on the pavement in front of us. They would set up chairs and tables and cots with about 20 blankets each and try to get comfy in order to grab some at
11:00pm the brave locals didn't sleep much, but they too were having a great time. Around 1:00 or so we crawled into bed, with the heater on, and set the the
floats before we saw them. The morning was a little warmer for our outdoor neighbors, but I still wanted to make hot cocoa for all of them, but alas only had 4
packets. We highly recommend watching the parade from the front seat of a motorhome, on Colorado Blvd, with hot cocoa in hand still in your PJs.
I have lived in California all my life, minus the first two months were I lived in Oregon, and the only place I've ever watched the Rose Parade is in the warm
confines of our home, minus last year when we bought tickets to watch it from the bleachers on Colorado Blvd. This year we decided to go back to the warm
confines of home, since our seats were a bit cold and getting out of them to use the potty was not an option. However today our living room was parked on the
parade's path. It was awesome! We arrived last night and got situated. All of our neighbors are really, really close and none of us could put out our slides, but
who cares. Once the blinds were closed we had no idea how close the neighbors were. We sat up half the night watching all the people outside stake their
claim on the pavement in front of us. They would set up chairs and tables and cots with about 20 blankets each and try to get comfy in order to grab some at
11:00pm the brave locals didn't sleep much, but they too were having a great time. Around 1:00 or so we crawled into bed, with the heater on, and set the the
floats before we saw them. The morning was a little warmer for our outdoor neighbors, but I still wanted to make hot cocoa for all of them, but alas only had 4
packets. We highly recommend watching the parade from the front seat of a motorhome, on Colorado Blvd, with hot cocoa in hand still in your PJs.
The snow is so thick, we actually sank in it
Hooray! Here comes the sun
March 2005 -
The Buellton house is getting emptier by the day just as we get more excited about our new adventure beginning as each day passes. After carefully looking
over each offer we received on the restaurant and consulting our accountant, we have accepted an offer and are currently waiting for escrow to open on
Antonio's Pizza. If it opens on time, barring any delays, we should close at the end of April, which coincidently is that same time frame we closed when we
bought it back in 1996. We hope to hit the road on July first and head towards Colorado for the July 15th drag race in Denver. Thank you Jesus that
everything is working out so well. Neither of us can believe our dream of traveling is really coming true. It just shows that a lot of hard work and a plan early on
in life really does pay off. Our philosophy has always been, never wait to save money for the future and we are so thankful we listened to ourselves way back
when.
April 2005 -
The restaurant is officially in escrow and will only be ours for another thirty days (April 30 is the scheduled date to close escrow). We will be moving into our
motorhome sometime this month so that we can adjust to living in it full-time and that we can get our house cleaned out for the future tenants. It will be a great
way to see exactly what we need and what we don't need to make it our new home. It will be a bit of an adjustment since it is only 8 1/2 feet wide and 30 feet in
length, but we are very optimistic. It is one thing to stay in it occasionally for a week or two at a time where you can live without little things for a day or two, but
who knows what it will be like living permanently in it, which is exactly why we are moving into it early and while it's still in the driveway. Check back with us in a
couple months and see how it pans out. :-) Call us crazy, but we have no doubts it will be as fun as we are expecting.
Our plan now is to leave around the beginning of June and head up to Oregon to the Monaco factory. We have been having problems with the front entry door
to our Trek, for some reason it doesn't like to close and that is a key issue when driving down the road. The plant supervisor has contacted Frank and has
arranged for us to show up at the factory and they will perform the work whenever we arrive and send us back out on the road in a timely fashion. It will be fun
to see the plant where our motorhome was built and more importantly it will be nice to get all the things fixed, there are too many little things to mention. They
said they would even show us how the new ones are built. Maybe we can give them some pointers on how to run their operation a little more efficiently and not
have as many problems from the get go. Once we leave Oregon, we have until the middle of July to get to Colorado for work. What a crazy thing it is that we
will have so much time and be able to do whatever we want. What a dream come true. From there, we will be following the rest of the circuit for 2005. We will
log over 11,000 miles between July and December and then have about 2 months off. Keep in mind we have almost every other week off before that as well,
so our work schedule will be a piece of cake... we hope. Once February comes back around and we are still having fun out on the open road, we will begin the
following season in February 2006 and work an entire season with Main Gate and the NHRA. There are 23 events so we will work @# weeks a year and have
the rest off to play around the country and enjoy our lives and each other.
Change of plans:
Surprise, surprise, we have changed our plans yet again!!! We have discovered that Monaco has technicians at many of the NHRA events so there is no need
for us to make a special trip, a couple 1000 miles out of our way, to the factory for our repairs. In fact while we were in Vega,s trying out another event with
Main Gate, just to make sure the first one wasn't just a honeymoon phase, the Monaco technicians adjusted our door while we were at work. What a great set
up. Let's hope that they are a little better with their mobile repair facility then they are with their dealership repair facilities. Positive thinking, positive thinking. :-)
May 2005 -
Escrow has closed on our restaurant!! We are now unemployed!! Well, only temporarily..... It is very strange adjusting to having very little responsibility, but
surprisingly very fun. Frank is so cute, he doesn't know quite what to do when we wakes up in the morning. He does go in for a couple hours each day to help
out Mark, the new owner, but Mark has caught on to everything so fast he doesn't need to much of Frank's help. Thank you God! We know it isn't our
restaurant anymore, but it was our baby for so long it's nice to see some competent buy it and run it. We are a little selfish in the fact that we love the food so
much we want it to be here when we come back to visit, hee hee hee. We have been living in the Trek for almost one entire month now and surprisingly, it has
not been that hard to adjust to. We decided that once we had it packed up for the Las Vegas race we would not move out of it, even when we were back in
Buellton. However I do wonder what all the neighbors think, at least the ones that don't know what we are doing. Oh well it gives them something to talk about I
guess. Camping out full-time has actually been a lot of fun. We hardly notice the house is still there, and we never go inside except to show it to potential
renters. This way it stays nice and clean. Speaking of clean, the motorhome is great because it only takes a few minutes to clean it and it feels very cozy and
comfortable to hang out in it. We have about three weeks left here in town and then we will be hitting the road. I still have a couple weeks left at the horse
ranch training my replacement - Which happens to be my sister-in-law Renee who is doing an awesome job. This change has seemed to be rewarding for
everyone. Renee, who has happily been a stay at home mom up until this point, can set her schedule around the girls' school and sports schedule, so their
family time isn't diminished at all.
The Buellton house is getting emptier by the day just as we get more excited about our new adventure beginning as each day passes. After carefully looking
over each offer we received on the restaurant and consulting our accountant, we have accepted an offer and are currently waiting for escrow to open on
Antonio's Pizza. If it opens on time, barring any delays, we should close at the end of April, which coincidently is that same time frame we closed when we
bought it back in 1996. We hope to hit the road on July first and head towards Colorado for the July 15th drag race in Denver. Thank you Jesus that
everything is working out so well. Neither of us can believe our dream of traveling is really coming true. It just shows that a lot of hard work and a plan early on
in life really does pay off. Our philosophy has always been, never wait to save money for the future and we are so thankful we listened to ourselves way back
when.
April 2005 -
The restaurant is officially in escrow and will only be ours for another thirty days (April 30 is the scheduled date to close escrow). We will be moving into our
motorhome sometime this month so that we can adjust to living in it full-time and that we can get our house cleaned out for the future tenants. It will be a great
way to see exactly what we need and what we don't need to make it our new home. It will be a bit of an adjustment since it is only 8 1/2 feet wide and 30 feet in
length, but we are very optimistic. It is one thing to stay in it occasionally for a week or two at a time where you can live without little things for a day or two, but
who knows what it will be like living permanently in it, which is exactly why we are moving into it early and while it's still in the driveway. Check back with us in a
couple months and see how it pans out. :-) Call us crazy, but we have no doubts it will be as fun as we are expecting.
Our plan now is to leave around the beginning of June and head up to Oregon to the Monaco factory. We have been having problems with the front entry door
to our Trek, for some reason it doesn't like to close and that is a key issue when driving down the road. The plant supervisor has contacted Frank and has
arranged for us to show up at the factory and they will perform the work whenever we arrive and send us back out on the road in a timely fashion. It will be fun
to see the plant where our motorhome was built and more importantly it will be nice to get all the things fixed, there are too many little things to mention. They
said they would even show us how the new ones are built. Maybe we can give them some pointers on how to run their operation a little more efficiently and not
have as many problems from the get go. Once we leave Oregon, we have until the middle of July to get to Colorado for work. What a crazy thing it is that we
will have so much time and be able to do whatever we want. What a dream come true. From there, we will be following the rest of the circuit for 2005. We will
log over 11,000 miles between July and December and then have about 2 months off. Keep in mind we have almost every other week off before that as well,
so our work schedule will be a piece of cake... we hope. Once February comes back around and we are still having fun out on the open road, we will begin the
following season in February 2006 and work an entire season with Main Gate and the NHRA. There are 23 events so we will work @# weeks a year and have
the rest off to play around the country and enjoy our lives and each other.
Change of plans:
Surprise, surprise, we have changed our plans yet again!!! We have discovered that Monaco has technicians at many of the NHRA events so there is no need
for us to make a special trip, a couple 1000 miles out of our way, to the factory for our repairs. In fact while we were in Vega,s trying out another event with
Main Gate, just to make sure the first one wasn't just a honeymoon phase, the Monaco technicians adjusted our door while we were at work. What a great set
up. Let's hope that they are a little better with their mobile repair facility then they are with their dealership repair facilities. Positive thinking, positive thinking. :-)
May 2005 -
Escrow has closed on our restaurant!! We are now unemployed!! Well, only temporarily..... It is very strange adjusting to having very little responsibility, but
surprisingly very fun. Frank is so cute, he doesn't know quite what to do when we wakes up in the morning. He does go in for a couple hours each day to help
out Mark, the new owner, but Mark has caught on to everything so fast he doesn't need to much of Frank's help. Thank you God! We know it isn't our
restaurant anymore, but it was our baby for so long it's nice to see some competent buy it and run it. We are a little selfish in the fact that we love the food so
much we want it to be here when we come back to visit, hee hee hee. We have been living in the Trek for almost one entire month now and surprisingly, it has
not been that hard to adjust to. We decided that once we had it packed up for the Las Vegas race we would not move out of it, even when we were back in
Buellton. However I do wonder what all the neighbors think, at least the ones that don't know what we are doing. Oh well it gives them something to talk about I
guess. Camping out full-time has actually been a lot of fun. We hardly notice the house is still there, and we never go inside except to show it to potential
renters. This way it stays nice and clean. Speaking of clean, the motorhome is great because it only takes a few minutes to clean it and it feels very cozy and
comfortable to hang out in it. We have about three weeks left here in town and then we will be hitting the road. I still have a couple weeks left at the horse
ranch training my replacement - Which happens to be my sister-in-law Renee who is doing an awesome job. This change has seemed to be rewarding for
everyone. Renee, who has happily been a stay at home mom up until this point, can set her schedule around the girls' school and sports schedule, so their
family time isn't diminished at all.
February 2005 -
Well, it's official!! The restaurant is for sale, the add is out in the paper and the calls are flooding in. Hooray! We are also in the process of renting out our
house that we bought back in 1997, a mere 5 months after we got married. Boy time sure flies when your having fun. It's wonderful that we have had so much
interest on the restaurant, but we have only had a handful of people look at the house, but we are quite confident both will be off our hands before our
departure date which seems to change on a weekly basis. We have had two garage sales and have sold most of our belongings that won't be coming with us
on the road. It is amazing how much "junk" we have accumulated in our 8 years of marriage while living in this house and will only be taking the bare
necessities. I think that we had three sets of pots and pans. Who needs that many pots and pans! Especially when we hardly ever cook! One doesn't have to
cook much when the menu of a restaurant is at your fingertips.
The motorhome is getting some more warranty issues taken care of,again!!! :-( . I certainly hope that we don't have many more issues with the Trek once we
hit the road. It would be terrible to be stuck somewhere unable to get to our next location because of mechanical errors on a brand new coach.
It is definitely a love/hate relationship with this darn motorhome. We love the floor plan and design of the motorhome, but we are less than impressed with
Monaco's level of craftsmanship and quality control. Enough said!! Note to self, and anyone reading, never buy another Monaco product again!
We are really excited about our initial career on the road. We will be working for a company called MainGate Inc. We will follow them to all the NHRA events
around the country and assist them selling NHRA licensed merchandise. We will start out working in the store that is 4,000 square feet. It travels via
semi-trailer from race to race and no we don't have to drive anything other than our little house on wheels. It is quite impressive how the whole system works.
We will be working in the same building with the same people each week, but our location will change every weekend. We are greatly looking forward to seeing
the majority of this great country in less than a year! We worked at the Pomona event earlier this month to try it out and see if it was something we would enjoy
and lucky for us it was even more fun and enjoyable than we expected it to be.
Well, it's official!! The restaurant is for sale, the add is out in the paper and the calls are flooding in. Hooray! We are also in the process of renting out our
house that we bought back in 1997, a mere 5 months after we got married. Boy time sure flies when your having fun. It's wonderful that we have had so much
interest on the restaurant, but we have only had a handful of people look at the house, but we are quite confident both will be off our hands before our
departure date which seems to change on a weekly basis. We have had two garage sales and have sold most of our belongings that won't be coming with us
on the road. It is amazing how much "junk" we have accumulated in our 8 years of marriage while living in this house and will only be taking the bare
necessities. I think that we had three sets of pots and pans. Who needs that many pots and pans! Especially when we hardly ever cook! One doesn't have to
cook much when the menu of a restaurant is at your fingertips.
The motorhome is getting some more warranty issues taken care of,again!!! :-( . I certainly hope that we don't have many more issues with the Trek once we
hit the road. It would be terrible to be stuck somewhere unable to get to our next location because of mechanical errors on a brand new coach.
It is definitely a love/hate relationship with this darn motorhome. We love the floor plan and design of the motorhome, but we are less than impressed with
Monaco's level of craftsmanship and quality control. Enough said!! Note to self, and anyone reading, never buy another Monaco product again!
We are really excited about our initial career on the road. We will be working for a company called MainGate Inc. We will follow them to all the NHRA events
around the country and assist them selling NHRA licensed merchandise. We will start out working in the store that is 4,000 square feet. It travels via
semi-trailer from race to race and no we don't have to drive anything other than our little house on wheels. It is quite impressive how the whole system works.
We will be working in the same building with the same people each week, but our location will change every weekend. We are greatly looking forward to seeing
the majority of this great country in less than a year! We worked at the Pomona event earlier this month to try it out and see if it was something we would enjoy
and lucky for us it was even more fun and enjoyable than we expected it to be.
WE ARE NOW ON THE ROAD!!!
Our first weekend out we went to see a race at Mesa Marin Speedway in Bakersfield California. One of our friends is on the pit team of the #9 Greg Voigt car
in the Southwest Series of NASCAR. After the race we went a little bit further east to Lake Isabella and Kernville. What a crazy road on the way out here. The
two lane road to get here is very narrow and has a cliff wall on one side that sometimes hangs out over the white line. It was a very slow and nerve-racking trip
in the motorhome. Lake Isabella is...well....ugly! There are hardly any trees or plants and everything is brown. Even after all the rains that we have had this
year. Because the lake was so unappealing we decided to head further north to Kernville. It is much nicer here. Still brown, but we are camped right next to the
Kern River and it's FREE! We have absolutely no neighbors, and great nature views as far as the eye can see. However we are a bit lonely out here with no
one around so we will head out tomorrow to more populated places. The official "hit the road date" is close!! We are so excited and this trial run was great. We
didn't have restaurant worries, which no matter how many times I say it out loud, I still can't grasp it. It took about 3 days before Frank realized "The restaurant
may never call me again, and I can't tell you how wonderful that makes me feel." I can see a little more stress leave his body everyday. Even the birds are
happier since they get to be with us all day every day whether they are inside their cages in the dinning room, or outside hanging from a perch under the
Easy-Up. Wow, we are really doing this! I have bruises from pinching myself so much.
Our first weekend out we went to see a race at Mesa Marin Speedway in Bakersfield California. One of our friends is on the pit team of the #9 Greg Voigt car
in the Southwest Series of NASCAR. After the race we went a little bit further east to Lake Isabella and Kernville. What a crazy road on the way out here. The
two lane road to get here is very narrow and has a cliff wall on one side that sometimes hangs out over the white line. It was a very slow and nerve-racking trip
in the motorhome. Lake Isabella is...well....ugly! There are hardly any trees or plants and everything is brown. Even after all the rains that we have had this
year. Because the lake was so unappealing we decided to head further north to Kernville. It is much nicer here. Still brown, but we are camped right next to the
Kern River and it's FREE! We have absolutely no neighbors, and great nature views as far as the eye can see. However we are a bit lonely out here with no
one around so we will head out tomorrow to more populated places. The official "hit the road date" is close!! We are so excited and this trial run was great. We
didn't have restaurant worries, which no matter how many times I say it out loud, I still can't grasp it. It took about 3 days before Frank realized "The restaurant
may never call me again, and I can't tell you how wonderful that makes me feel." I can see a little more stress leave his body everyday. Even the birds are
happier since they get to be with us all day every day whether they are inside their cages in the dinning room, or outside hanging from a perch under the
Easy-Up. Wow, we are really doing this! I have bruises from pinching myself so much.
| One of the waterfalls near our campsite |
| Our campsite on the river. We have the Easy Up set up so the birds can play outside! |
| A view of the M*A*S*H set from the top of the helicopter pad. |
| Frank and Cody feed the wild rabbits |
| Our trip begins as we leave the driveway |
| An old rusty Jeep still sits below. |
| Frank shakes hands with President Reagan outside the library <---------- Suzy poses with a piece of the Berlin Wall. Thanks to Ronald Reagan it no longer stands between East and West Germany ------------> |
June 6th -
We explored more of Arches National Park and made our way over to Canyonlands National Park as well. We had no rain at all today or yesterday and the
skies were beautiful and clear. We took a three hour Jeep ride on the "Shafer Trail" which climbs from the base of Canyonlands to the very top and you are
only allowed on it if your vehicle is equipped with four wheel drive. This was an awesome trip. We did not need to put the Jeep in four wheel drive, but the
views were awesome. It would be the equivalent of starting at the base of the Grand Canyon where the Colorado River is, and driving to the very top of the
Canyon. There were many views that were literally breathtaking! Yesterday, we floated for 10 miles in a canoe down the Colorado River. This evening we
met some very nice neighbors Fred and Sue, who also have a Trek Motorhome, and travel with birds!! What a coincidence the names were similar to ours as
were the birds. It was fun to see what other people do with their birds on the road, hopefully we will keep in touch as they too are full-time RVers.
We explored more of Arches National Park and made our way over to Canyonlands National Park as well. We had no rain at all today or yesterday and the
skies were beautiful and clear. We took a three hour Jeep ride on the "Shafer Trail" which climbs from the base of Canyonlands to the very top and you are
only allowed on it if your vehicle is equipped with four wheel drive. This was an awesome trip. We did not need to put the Jeep in four wheel drive, but the
views were awesome. It would be the equivalent of starting at the base of the Grand Canyon where the Colorado River is, and driving to the very top of the
Canyon. There were many views that were literally breathtaking! Yesterday, we floated for 10 miles in a canoe down the Colorado River. This evening we
met some very nice neighbors Fred and Sue, who also have a Trek Motorhome, and travel with birds!! What a coincidence the names were similar to ours as
were the birds. It was fun to see what other people do with their birds on the road, hopefully we will keep in touch as they too are full-time RVers.
June 27th -
We have finished our first event since we have been on the road, and the third event that we have worked for the company. We had a good time, but boy was
the weather hot. It was about 98 degrees each day, and the humidity has quite high. The humidity wasn't bad, except for the fact that the city is so full of smog
that there was absolutely no fresh air. Today Frank is out in the heat helping them tear down the tent that we worked in. They started early this morning to try
and beat the heat. We do have air conditioning in the tent, so it isn't as bad in the store, but the poor fans that sat out in the heat in the stands must have
been cooked by the end of the day. The store was setup right outside the staging area so we could see the cars lining up behind our tent to get ready for
each race. It's amazing how loud, and fast the cars go. The ground beneath our feet in the tent vibrate each time the Top Fuel or Funny Cars go down the
quarter mile track.
Before the race we did get to spend a little time in the city. We went in to the top of the arch one evening and watched the sunset. Another day we took a
horse drawn carriage ride around the water and out to dinner. Luckily the temperature was perfect to be outside on the days prior to the race. We also spent a
couple days at the different Anheiser-Busch attractions. We toured the Brewery one day and were quite amazed at how much beer they process at each
location. They walked us through the entire process from growing the grain to taste testing. That was quite different at 11:00 in the morning to sample beer.
The following day we drove out to Grant's Farms where the family previously lived. It has now been turned into a zoo with many great animals, and even a bird
show. We were able to bottle feed baby goats in the petting zoo who also liked to eat your clothing. They even had two severe macaws. We had never seen
an Abbey at a zoo before. These miniature macaws looked almost as spoiled as ours. Now we know who to will our birds to in order to ensure they have many
more years of happiness after our passing. Frank was ready to move in the old Anheiser mansion and run the bird show himself.
We have finished our first event since we have been on the road, and the third event that we have worked for the company. We had a good time, but boy was
the weather hot. It was about 98 degrees each day, and the humidity has quite high. The humidity wasn't bad, except for the fact that the city is so full of smog
that there was absolutely no fresh air. Today Frank is out in the heat helping them tear down the tent that we worked in. They started early this morning to try
and beat the heat. We do have air conditioning in the tent, so it isn't as bad in the store, but the poor fans that sat out in the heat in the stands must have
been cooked by the end of the day. The store was setup right outside the staging area so we could see the cars lining up behind our tent to get ready for
each race. It's amazing how loud, and fast the cars go. The ground beneath our feet in the tent vibrate each time the Top Fuel or Funny Cars go down the
quarter mile track.
Before the race we did get to spend a little time in the city. We went in to the top of the arch one evening and watched the sunset. Another day we took a
horse drawn carriage ride around the water and out to dinner. Luckily the temperature was perfect to be outside on the days prior to the race. We also spent a
couple days at the different Anheiser-Busch attractions. We toured the Brewery one day and were quite amazed at how much beer they process at each
location. They walked us through the entire process from growing the grain to taste testing. That was quite different at 11:00 in the morning to sample beer.
The following day we drove out to Grant's Farms where the family previously lived. It has now been turned into a zoo with many great animals, and even a bird
show. We were able to bottle feed baby goats in the petting zoo who also liked to eat your clothing. They even had two severe macaws. We had never seen
an Abbey at a zoo before. These miniature macaws looked almost as spoiled as ours. Now we know who to will our birds to in order to ensure they have many
more years of happiness after our passing. Frank was ready to move in the old Anheiser mansion and run the bird show himself.
| Feeding time at the zoo |
| Abbey's fellow family |
| Frank's audition for the bird show |
| A carriage ride down the waterfront |
| The view from the top of the Arch |
| The Beautiful St. Louis Arch |
| Tom our driver and gracious host! Our co-captain Rick |
| Dock Knockers in the background |
| Frank relaxing on the water |
| Another fun evening on the water with friends as we watch the fire works on the Fourth of July!! |
| The 1995 45 foot Newell |
| Frank test driving a bus |
| A Newell being built - Slides are installed first |
| Camping under the trees of Washington |
| The Nitro Mall in the middle of the 'pits' |
| The chassis of a Funny Car |
| The top half of a Funny Car |
| The stacks of T-shits to be printed |
| The machines that print our merchandise - up to 16 colors per machine |
| The completed stacks of T-shirts from that day |
| The home offices of Main Gate |
August 28th-
The last few days have been great! We have actually had a bit of time to ourselves, and have ventured out into "Indy" as all of the locals calls it. On Friday
we went to The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, or otherwise known as the home of the Indianapolis 500. It was very educational to see how the Speedway has
progressed after all these years. We took a tour of the track in a little bus, and walked around all of the cars that had won previous Indianapolis 500 races.
The entire facility is funded by only one race a year! That's crazy. They now have a Nascar race once a year as well, so that income is apparently icing on
the cake.
The last few days have been great! We have actually had a bit of time to ourselves, and have ventured out into "Indy" as all of the locals calls it. On Friday
we went to The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, or otherwise known as the home of the Indianapolis 500. It was very educational to see how the Speedway has
progressed after all these years. We took a tour of the track in a little bus, and walked around all of the cars that had won previous Indianapolis 500 races.
The entire facility is funded by only one race a year! That's crazy. They now have a Nascar race once a year as well, so that income is apparently icing on
the cake.
| Start/Finish line, and only bricks left to represent "The Brickyard" |
| The "Winner's Circle" |
| The first car ever to win the Indy 500 |
| Corner one of the Indy 500 track |
| Suzy and Frank test out an Indy car. They sure are small, and low to the ground! |