Hi from Branson MO.
Wanted to tell you all about our night in Carthage MO.  We made some new friends here and I wanted to tell you all how nice it is to meet friends from all over the country.  We were in a nice RV Park and parked next to us was a Pace Arrow Vision Motorhome.  In case you all don't know that is exactly what we have.  This one was a bit bigger but the same year as ours. Of course, Jack had to go out and talk.  You all know him.  Was the best thing he could have done.  We were able to connect with Kevin and Sheryl.  We talked decorating and problems and Kevin gave me lots of info on blogging.  So if you are reading this Kevin, thanks a bunch.  Hope to see you sometime.
We got into Branson on Monday and have been enjoying all that Branson has to offer.  We have been to three shows and they were all wildly different.  We have also explored "The Landing" and downtown Branson.
We figured out our shows and decided to go on the Branson Scenic Railroad so Tuesday we booked our tours and picked up our tickets.  Wednesday night we went to see the "Baldknobbers".  This is the oldest show in Branson.  They have been performing for 59 years.  It is a family based show and very heavy into country.  We had a lot of fun at this show and it was a good start to our Branson experience.
Thursday found us up and about and ready for a show in the afternoon.  This time we went to see "Puttin' on the Ritz".  These were songs and dance from the 20's and 30's .  These were very talented entertainers.  We both thought of our parents.  Jack said he could hear his Dad singing some of these songs to his Mom.  I could just see all my aunts dancing and singing!!!  We had a real good time at this show.
Friday we took the Scenic Railroad and I'm sure you all know how much we like to take trains.  This was disappointing.  There really wasn't anything to see except trees.  Now if it was October and the leaves had started to change this would have been beautiful but alas it is only September and everything was green.  We had tickets for Friday night to see the Legends Show.  It was Jerry Lee Lewis, Patsy Cline, The Blues Brothers, Aretha Franklin and Elvis.  These performers were really good also.  This show as a lot of fun.  We sang and clapped and clapped and sang and just had fun.  Could have listened for another hour at least.
Today we walked around the RV Park and looked at the lake then we went to downtown and walked in and out of all the stores.  They are revitalizing the downtown and it was fun to walk. They have a real old fashioned 5 & 10 with lots and lots of goodies to look at.  We went crazy with card and dice games and also candy!!!  Just a nice way to while away 2 hours .  Had dinner tonight at Famous Dave's Bar B Que.  That's located at The Landing so we walked and looked at some stores and they were having a craft show so we looked at some of the booths.
We are camped at Branson Lakeside RV Park. This is run by the city and is a really nice Park.  We love the location of the Park.  We really could walk to downtown and The Landing from here.
Well, you are now up do date with us.  We will be leaving on Monday and making our way to New Smyrna Beach.  We expect to be there by Thursday October 1st. 

Well, now we are up to September 1st.  We pulled out of Wilsonville heading due south.  Went as far as Ashland, OR.  Stayed two nights and explored the area.  Friends of Scott and Erin recommended we see Jacksonville, OR and we spent a nice day wandering around the town.  Very historic and lots to do and see.  We had lunch there and took a trolley tour.  On the way home we rode around Southern Oregon University then went back and got ready to head to California. 
The next day we went to Sacramento.  That was interesting as the only place Jack could find to stay was in the Fairgrounds in Woodland, CA.  Was ok, had all the hookups and we were there for 3 nights but only was in the campsite Thursday night and Saturday night.  We spent Friday and part of Saturday with our friends Pam and Bill over in Castro Valley, CA.  It was so much fun to catch up with them and there was a wee bit of wine consumed. 
Sunday morning we were up and out of the campsite and turned east.  Went to Nevada and then turned south heading to Las Vegas.  Spent the night in Hawthorne, NV.  Really nice RV park and we could walk to Safeway and do a bit of shopping.  Las Vegas here we come.  Got there on Monday and stayed until Friday.  It was HOT!!!  We decided to stay in Vegas and extra day and take a bus tour to the Grand Canyon.  Busy week.  Tuesday we had tickets for Blue Man Group and it was wonderful.  I highly recommend this show.  I wasn't really into it but knew that Jack had always wanted to go but boy am I glad I went.  It was great and we had great seats.  I booked them online and they had a deal so we basically got 2 tickets for the price of one.  Figured the seats would be ok but they were better than ok.  We were in the 4th row center.  One row behind the splash zone.  The next day we had to be at the pick up area at 5:50 am for our trip to Grand Canyon.  Long ride but so worth seeing.  We are glad we took the time and went but next time we would go to the West Rim instead of the South Rim. We didn't get home until 10:45 that night.  Way, way too long.  Needless to say Thursday was a really lazy day.  We just relaxed and then went down town to walk Freemont St and had a lovely dinner at The Grotto in the Golden Nugget.  I highly recommend this restaurant. 
Friday morning we left for Zion National Park.  Had a really nice RV park about 14 miles outside of the park and got ready for our adventure.  Saturday found us heading for Zion National Park at 8:30.  We got in and found a place to park.  Think we were really smart to go then.  There is a shuttle bus that takes you around the park.  It's an on and off deal as they only let cars go so far.  We had a sort of plan and went first to the Museum and watched the film then back on the shuttle and went to the Court of the Patriarchs.  I promise you will love the pictures whenever Jack gets them loaded!  Next stop was the Lower Emerald Pools Trail. That was about a half mile hike one way.  We made it in one piece and then stopped for lunch.  There is a beautiful Lodge there and the food was really nice.  I had a great salad.  More vegis than lettuce and that is unusual.  After lunch we were back on the shuttle and went all the way to the Temple of Sinawava and the Riverside Walk.  This is 1 mile hike one way.  We made it.  Took our time and drank plenty of water.  Temperature was hovering in the high 90's.  We decided that we were good with what we had seen.  Most of the other trails were way out of our league and believe me there are enough pictures to satisfy all.  We were really tired when we got home but it was so worth it.  We had an nice dinner and decided that we could walk up the the RV Park store and have an ice cream since we hiked 3 miles!!!! 
Well, guess what, you are all caught up.  We are working our way to Florida with some stops along the way so stay tuned.

Really trying to catch you guys up on our summer.  We got back from Hawaii in time for Jack's birthday.  We met Erin for lunch the day before his birthday on the river in Portland.  Had a really great time with her and really enjoyed our lunch.  Was going to split the bill with her but she paid!!!  So nice to have an adult daughter.  Saturday was Jack's actual birthday and we just relaxed and then went out to dinner.  I took him (ha ha) to Cheesecake Factory and so you know that was not so good on our waistlines but really great on our taste buds.  Sunday Jack and I went over to McMinnville OR to the Evergreen Air Museum and spent the afternoon there.  Jack had a pretty wonderful birthday weekend.  Later that same week we went over to the coast for the day.  We had a great time just walking around.  Jack watched this "old guy" catch a 34" long Coho salmon that weighed close to 25 pounds.  He was mesmerized. This was really the first time I have been to the coast and not needed a jacket.  Have I mentioned the heat.  We had a very hot summer.  Almost the hottest on record and it was lovely except that all the beautiful green was brown and the fire danger was in the high high high zone. 
Erin, Jack and I took a ride to Albany to go to the storage unit.  We had a few things to put in storage and Jack wanted another airplane.  While he was looking for what he needed Erin and I went through some of the Christmas decorations and she took some.  She also took two stand up fans for her house.  On the way home we saw an announcement on I-5 that there was a fire in the northbound lane.  Fortunately we were able to take back roads up pass Salem.  We only added about 30 minutes to our trip.  We heard later that they finally were able to open one lane at 5:45.  So glad we took the back road.  That same week we went back to Albany to visit with Scott's parents.  Went to their new house and had a great visit then the four of us went over to the Air and Art Show at the fairgrounds.  When we went outside we noticed smoke and were afraid another wildfire had broken out but it wasn't that, the wind had shifted and this was the smoke from all the fires north of us.  When we went home we noticed that the further north we went the thicker the smoke was.  Back down to Albany a couple days later for lunch with our friends Pam and Doug.  Had a great visit and a lovely lunch.  Spent a couple of hours just talking.  We had a great summer of visits and this wasn't our last but saving that for another post.
Went up to have lunch with Kili and Erin on Tuesday and stayed for Tuesday night dinner with Erin, Scott and their friends.  Such a good time.  We will be on the road the following Tuesday.  We started our pack up or at least we thought about packing up.  Went to John Barleycorn's on Friday night to see Bryan and say goodbye.  Then Monday night we met Scott and Erin back at the restaurant on the river for a farewell dinner.  Time to start our way back to Florida for the winter.  I will pick it up there next time but you are almost all caught up!!

Hi all,
I'm back!  We arrived in Oregon on the 15th of June and parked at the same RV park in Wilsonville, OR that we stayed at two years ago.  We parked, set up and immediately went up to see Erin. We had a nice dinner and visit with both Erin and Scott.  We played with Bozly in the back yard and watched him try to catch the squirrels.  We were really impressed with all they have accomplished around their house.  Of course, as we all know there is plenty left to do.  Later that week we were able to help Erin out with Boz and Scott's brother's dog.  They boys were away at a music festival and Erin had long days so we went up and let the two dogs out and fed them.  They couldn't be more different.  Bozly is hyper active and Carly is a love bug.  Just wants to be petted.  So funny.
We were also able to meet up with Jack's cousin and his wife who were in Portland visiting their son.  We all got together for brunch and now Sean and Erin have met and I hope they keep in touch.  He is there teaching. 
We were able to connect with our friends Susan and Tom and spent 4th of July weekend with them in Springfield OR.  They moved from Hawaii right after we went on the road so we hadn't seen them in awhile.  We had a lovely time and also survived the 4.8 earthquake.  We were sitting out on their lanai and all of a sudden everything started moving.  Susan was inside and she said later she thought a plane had crashed.  Came to find out later on that the epicenter was right over the hill from their property.
Jack had to have some major dental work done while we were in Oregon and so we spent a couple of weeks just chilling out.  He has been a real trouper but I know how uncomfortable dental work is. 
We were able to visit Hawaii for 10 days.  We stayed with Gay and had a good time.  Did a lot of lunches and dinners with friends.  I sprained my knee about 2 weeks before we went so I spent a lot of time with ice on my knee.  Thanks Gay for putting up with us.  We really enjoyed our visit and it was so much fun catching up with friends.  Never enough time to see everyone.  I tried but with a bum knee and needed the ice time. 
Well, quitting for now.  Will continue on maybe tomorrow or Tuesday and get us through Oregon.
Hope you all have a great Labor Day.

So here it is the 2nd of September and I haven't blogged all summer.  I left you all hanging in Edmonton and now I want to catch you all up.  We left Edmonton and headed south to Banff area.  We stayed in a nice little town east of Banff and Lake Louise called Canmore.  We went over to Lake Louise and walked around the lake.  It is so beautiful, the color of the lake is such a pretty white green.  Hard to explain but the glacier grounds up the rock to a fine talc like substance and that makes this milky green color.  We went into the hotel and had a bite to eat and then went back to Banff.  True ski town with lots of stores and lots of bars.  We walked around and did a little shopping then stopped for a drink.  Funny story.  We got to the bar which was upstairs and decided to try to sit out on the porch.  We walked out and this couple said they would move over so we could sit down.  The man told Jack he had waved to him while he was taking pictures and sure enough Jack looked at what he had taken and there he was waving away.  They were Americans and sat and talked with us for a couple minutes.
After Banff we went back to Canmore.  We explored Canmore and the Nordic center.  That evening we went out and had ha lovely dinner.  We went over the TransCanada Highway and what a ride.  We have some beautiful pictures of the Canadian Rockies but unfortunately no pictures of wildlife because we didn't see any wildlife.  We entered the US in Washington and spent some time in Bellingham.  We explored Bellingham.  We also visited with Ann and her children.  I have known Ann since she was born and it was wonderful to spend some time with her and her children.  She is a wonderful woman and mother.  We went down one night and took them out to dinner  and had such a great visit we went back down for another evening. 
We left Bellingham and drove to Olympia Washington for two nights.  This was just supposed to be a rest stop but we decided to visit the capital building and the waterfront.  So glad we did. Beautiful capital building and we were able to walk around inside and take more pictures.  Then we went down to their boardwalk and walked around that and of course then had dinner.
The next day we went to Oregon for the summer.  That's a blog for another day.  I promise to catch you up!!  Please keep reading.