Spring - 2023

 

Well, 2023 came in like a fire cracker!  Nothing bad but we have been busy, busy, busy.  Let’s get right into it.  At the beginning of the year, I took Terry to the Train Station (Yellowstone show reference).  Just kidding...kinda.  I took her to the train station here in Benson where she hopped on and headed to Michigan.  Except for the change of trains in Chicago, it's a direct ride.  This is the second year she did this and both years, she missed her connecting train.  But Amtrack was kind enough to put her up in a high-end hotel for the night.  She wanted to be there for her mom's birthday.  What a good daughter.

While she was gone, some of us decided to go and see the Sandhill Cranes over by Wilcox Arizona.  It was a short ride, but everywhere we looked, they weren't there.  Well maybe next year.  But on the way back, we saw a bunch of metal sculptures in this field.  They were dinosaurs of all types.  So, we stopped and wandered around checking them out.  Here are the pictures of that.

While Terry was still in Michigan, I had new suspension installed on the RV.  This time it's the RoadMaster Slipper springs with Shocks system.  This will help settle down the trailer after a bump or three.  We can definitely feel the difference in the truck.  

Well, finally Terry came back.  Now she has time to rest (two weeks or so) until the next adventure to Vail Colorado.  But before we can go to Vail, we have to go to South Dakota to get our driver’s license renewed.  One of the requirements to getting your license renewed, is you had to have stayed in South Dakota for one night within the last year.  But we didn't think about that when we left Montana last year.  So now we have to drive there, spend the night and then get our licenses, instead of doing it all through the mail.  The trip to Rapid City was wonderful NOT (unless you compare it to the trip back then yes it was wonderful!).   On the way up, (this was all done at the end of January) the wind had to pick up quite a bit.  Sometimes it was hard to see the road with the blowing snow.  At least it wasn't snowing.  When we went to get the license, Terry grabbed the mail that was delivered to our mail service to prove we get mail there (our renewal came to that address too), but she didn't get any mail that had her name on it.  Just mine.  So, I had to fill out a form stating that she lived with me.  That was the only hiccup we had but did extend our time at the DMV by 2 minutes, making the whole time about 15 minutes.  I love that DMV.  Now for the drive back.  It was about 3 billion times worst then the drive up.  We had some light snow but the winds were way stronger.  We got stopped on one road because of an accident and then about an hour later, they told us they were closing the road down, but I can take a road a mile back and get on I-25 from there.  When we got to that road, they were closing it too.  So, we had to drive back about 30 miles and take another road to I-25.  I-25 was really bad, there was a lot of spots that turned into white-outs, but only for a short few seconds at a time.  When we were closer to Cheyanne, we saw an accident on the northbound lanes involving a couple of ambulances.  Another 10 miles or so, they were closing that side of the road.  Soon after that, we saw both sides were closed.  We barely made it through that.  Once we hit Colorado, the roads were fine, but there were still idiots on the road.  We decided to get off I-25 and take HWY 287 to Denver.  I don't know if it was the right choice or not, but it did have less idiots...I think.  

We had padded a couple of days in our travel in case of issues like weather.  While we stayed in Denver, we went to the Colorado Mills Mall and checked out a car museum they had in the mall.  Since we were veterans, we got in for free.   Here are the pictures for that.  We also had a rock chip in the windshield repaired and also replaced some fluids in the truck.  After all that, off to Vail we went.

We had a two-bedroom timeshare for us and Michael and Kara.  Oh, did I say Michael and Kara was coming to visit?  Well, they were.  Terry wanted to go skiing on her birthday.  She turned ## years old!  Happy Birthday Terry!  Nothing special went on except for skiing and some games.  After that weekend we headed back to Benson.  The first part of that drive was nice.  Here are those pictures.  After all, we had to get ready for the Quartzsite Rally later in the month of February.

Not long after we got back, Steve was voted in on the "Board of Directors" for the park and Terry was voted in as Secretary for the "Cactus Wrens". This committee does fund raisers and manages all the entertainment money. This is why we have bands almost every weekend. 

We met up with our friends Lester and Robin and caravanned to the Rally in Quartzsite.  This rally wasn't very good mainly because of the weather.  If it wasn't cold, then it was windy or rainy or any combination of the three.  One day we went down to check out a Spiral Labyrinth.  I broke out my drone and got some arial pictures of it.  Everyone was wondering if the drone would fly in the strong winds (about 15 - 20 MPH), and it did just fine.  When we were leaving the rally, I found out I had a propane leak in the regulator.  So, I tracked down the GD RV Techs to see if they had one, and sure enough they did and they replaced it for me.  Also, during the rally, I asked if they had any propane detectors since ours was coming up on its 5-year expiration date.  They had those too.  Good thing, because as soon as we got back to Benson, it started beeping.

Did I mention the weather in Benson this year sucked.  I seemed colder than any other year.  In fact, it snowed twice, once with about 2 inches of snow and another one with 4 inches of snow.  It's not uncommon to get a dusting of snow once in the season, but nothing measurable!  That's ok though, because in a couple of weeks we head to Vegas for my birthday.

Off to Vegas we go.  Again, we obtained another 2-bedroom timeshare for us and Michael and Kara. Oh shoot, I don't think I ever mentioned that Michael and Kara got married.  They went to the courthouse to get it done.  They plan on having a reception this August in the mountains of Colorado.  We even got invited! So, we will be there, right after our Alaska trip.  Oh, back to Vegas.  I got to show my son how to play Craps, and how to lose in Craps too.  We also did a hike in the Valley of Fire State Park outside of Vegas.  Here are the pics for that.   

What I didn't mentioned while we were in Vegas, we had a casita blow up in the park.  It burned down 2 RVs and part of another casita.  Luckily everyone survived.  One person was in the casita when it blew, but only received some burns on the hands and feet.  The park rallied around them; a bunch of money and materials were donated and someone donated a motorhome to them.  What a park.  Here are those pictures. 

I think like a day or two after we got back from Vegas, Terry was on the road again for a girls night out in Tucson.  She did stuff, gambled a little, checked out some touristy stuff and then came home the next day.  I think that's all I'm privy too.

After that we had time to finish our Casita's repairs.  We finished the storage room, bathroom and finished hanging the outside lights.  Just in time to head to another Rally.  This time in Tucson.  Again, nothing special happened.  Hung out with friends, won a GD floor mat, and had a mini concert with "The Border Hookups".  This wasn't the first time we saw then.  I think we saw them like 5 times so far.  If you get a chance to see them, do it.  They are really good and they travel all over North America and their schedule is on their website.

Since we were heading to Alaska, we decided to replace our 3 pane glass shower door with a new retractable shower door.  It's called the Nautilus Retractable Shower Door.  Check it out, you might like it.

I received some bad news this spring too.  My sister called to let me know my brother passed away.  He had terminal cancer, so we knew it was coming.  I didn't know my brother that well, but I do feel sorry for my sister and her son.  Hopefully the pain retracts quickly for them.

Well, that should do it.  We head out Memorial Day and work our way up to Great Falls, MT for the start of our Caravan to Alaska.  Stay tuned!