Better late than never

YEAH BABY we are finally writing. Thanks for being patient, it took me a while to figure ot this whole blogging thing and how to add pics. Now I am good to go. So here goes nothin.

After a rough start (a dead battery before we even drove off and Jimmy fried the electrical inverter on the way out of San Diego) we are well on our way!! Only 11 days out and we are almost RV pros…ok maybe not but we sure are learning a lot.

Here is a quick background about us and our bus the Moose. We have never slept a night in an RV before we decided to take this 5 month trip. We really are not camping type people. Our dogs are old and very frail; they currently take 5 different prescriptions between the two of them and at home spend 23 hours a day on our couch. Now we are asking them to ride in a big bus for 5 months and spend their days outside on dirt or asphalt or whatever else the bus is parked on that day. Needless to say Dixie did not eat for the first 2 days of our trip, probably trying some kind of hunger strike.

Our “RV” is actually a converted charter bus. The inside looks like a log cabin. The builder Mike Kadletz named his creation Moose Creek Motorcabin, and dang if this thing aint cool!!

Back to the trip…Jimmy drives this thing like he has been driving forever; he backs up and turns corners like it is nothing. I freak out just going straight. Luckily he likes driving so I only have to do a little and keep him fed. [She feeds me well. I am happy -J.]

The dogs are traveling great and enjoying sleeping most of the time. Dixie is finally starting to eat again but only if I feed her by hand. Chief ….is Chief [Great dog!! -J]. Still growls at me…only a great dog for Jimmy!!! He sleeps in the padded, air conditioned luggage bin and is happy as a clam (no problem eating…surprise surprise). We have made a make shift fencing system for them when we are at the campsites which is a work in progress. The first day they got out and roamed the campsite while we were gone. Luckily they like to stay close to home and they were by the RV when we got back. We got chastised a bit by the management and got the heck out of there as quick as we could. Our second one we thought was great because they didn’t get out while we were gone (7 + hours)…well it was until Dixie followed me out that night. So we still need to work on fortifying it a bit. Third time is the charm…

We have been quite busy and sightsee in whirlwind trips. Zion and Brice were beautiful. Jimmy is already tired of me taking pictures of everything (and sometimes nothing) but I like every shot even if I have take over 900 already [You have no idea how much I loath that camera. I want it dead –J]. Thank goodness for digital cameras and CDs or else it would be quite expensive. I’ll try to add some of my ‘good’ pictures [you will never see any pictures they are lost forever after she takes the shot. SO frustrating!! – J].

We had lots of fun with Jimmy’s friend Michael (Fish as Jimmy calls him and Mikey as all the girls call him) in Sun Valley, Idaho. We fly fished in the Wood River where Jimmy lost his sandal [most frustrating sport of all time… Roilyn is really good at it, I suck royally - J]. We didn’t catch anything but had fun trying [I caught every branch on that river –J]. We also saw some beautiful lakes, mountains and countryside. Michael taught us how to Trundle which is ….um…….yea…..finding big rocks and throwing them down the hill. It is safe since there is not much at the bottom except trees and a river and more rocks but fun???? I’m not so sure….but the boys love it so I guess it is as fun for them as ice skating in the outdoor rink would have been for me [Ice skating is lame –J]. We had a great time with all of Michael’s friends….Thanks guys for making us feel right at home. Mrs. Fisher was a great host and we enjoyed getting out of the bus and staying with her (even if her dog was mean to Dixie- Well…Dixie didn’t notice much…..most of the time she was wondering who everyone was growling at.).

'Trundeling'....FUN!!!!

Yellowstone was awesome; it took us forever because I wanted to see every single thing. Many of the geysers and pools were the same but I didn’t care and don’t worry because there are pictures of EVERYTHING [EVERYTHING!!!!! –J]. I took over 300 I just the bottom half of Yellowstone [I know – J]. We never made it to the top half because we [NOT WE] …ok I wanted to see everything. I was trying to find the ‘Morning Glory Pool’ which my Papa said was his favorite. Nope…we never found it but we saw every other stinkin pool. OH!!! And we saw buffalo( yes that is one behind us). Our first one we [NOT WE!!] took a million pics of then we turned the corner and there were hundreds more buffalo. They are HUGE!! I can’t wait to see a moose because I think they are even bigger.

‘Old Faithful’ was faithful for us and quite cool. Jimmy’s favorite of the day. He is so patient as I’m trying to take a picture of it with us in it, he ended up missing some of the excitement…but don’t worry because there are plenty pictures to reenact the moment. Hehehe…… [I am speechless…- J]

Now we are driving through beautiful Montana. BEAUTIFUL it is. So much open road…open curvy road where my husband likes to take the corners fast and wide [hater - J]. I have spent much of the day picking things up that have fallen from his WILD driving!!!! We will really be glad to get to our campsite today as we have been driving over 7 hours and are not there yet. The land out here is just beautiful in which words or pictures just don’t do it justice [but that didn’t stop us from taking LOTS of pictures!! – J]. Miles and miles of rolling hills attached to miles and miles of sky. Just so peaceful!!! God has made so many beautiful things for us to enjoy. We are both so grateful we have been given this awesome opportunity of a life time. [Well said!! – J]

We miss you so send us a line on our little blog. Thank you for your prayers as we have not hit anything other than bugs (we may have hit a bird today) L so sad!!! All in all we are doing great and we along with the other travelers, pedestrians, locals and most of the animals have been safe with us being on the road AMEN!!!!

[Thanks for reading this and thanks to my beautiful wife for writing this, she did a great job and it kept her away from her camera for an hour or so. Thanks sweetheart!! –J]

With lost of love,
[Jimmy] and Roilyn