From the North Sea to the Pacific

This is moments after we finally arrived in LA - 2743 miles and we are here.  The site is actually at the end of a runway for LAX - so perhaps not the most peaceful site we could have found - but it is convenient in meeting with Karen's daughter Helen and boyfriend Rob who are flying in from New Zealand Saturday morning at 6:30am.  Saves me having to try and negotiate this motorhome through the airport to pick them up.  They are but a short taxi ride from here.

We left Tucson on Wed., drove to Phoenix and found the resort that we had booked.  As we arrived, they informed us that they had had a power surge and that the electricity was out for most of the park.  They were working hard to get it back up - but couldn't say when.  Because I wanted to have time to see Margaret, an old friend from Michigan Girl Scout days, I decided to stay in the park anyway.  So, while sitting curbside waiting for an escort to my site, who should show up at my door - but Margaret.  It was absolutely great seeing her again...

While chatting with her, Uncle Hersch and LaDonna called and said that they would be over later that evening to see us.  So we managed to fit in a Dinner with Margaret, her Mom Deloris, and partner Kathy prior to seeing Uncle Hersch and LaDonna in the evening.  Next day it was a full out 'Howell' day.  Dwayne and his wife, Gene and his wife, and Uncle Hersch and LaDonna all met us for lunch.  That evening we had dinner with Carolyn and Ted - and I still managed a couple hour visit with Margaret.  The only one I didn't manage to see was Aunt Betty and Mary (who had just flown in that day) as she was under the weather and we decided not to put anyone at risk - her or me.  Needless to say, I think that Karen is pretty well 'Howelled' out for awhile.  Got to give her credit - if your not part of this family - it can be a bit overwhelming at times...

Back at the park - they still were fighting the power issue - on our first night - they were working just outside the bedroom window - trying to install a temp generator to keep the park lit.  Needless to say, they underestimated the amount of draw - and blew out 2 generators trying.  Finally about 3am - they gave in.  So the next day - they brought in another generator - about the size of a house - parked it again directly outside the bedroom window and began the process again.  It caused quite the stir in the park - and I think everyone came to look at it.  So we spent the afternoon staring out of the motorhome at the people who had come to stare at the machine.  With all of this fun going on about me, I decided to see if I could get a discount on our nightly rates (seeing as sleep wasn't in the cards for us) and the park kindly decided that due to all of the problems they would give us our visit free gratis...so I guess I can't complain.  Got a place to dump, fill the water tanks and by the evening of the second day - we even had power.  Just a bit noisy - but that just trained us for our next site in LA - so no problem there.  I do believe sometime that if it weren't for bad luck - we would have no luck at all - but it was still a great visit and the site was absolutely beautiful - if you ignore the hum and fumes of the generator next door.

The benefit of all of that was that I woke up early and decided to pull out around 5am - to get through Phoenix prior to rush hour.  By 8am - we were at the California border and by 1pm - we were in LA.  Along the way was some lovely scenery, and some fairly ugly bits.  As we entered Cal, we had to stop at the border Agriculture Center for inspection.  Karen was driving and this was the first time she had seen something like this between the states.  First, she thought she didn't have to stop - even though the sign definitely said 'ALL VEHICLES MUST STOP!' - so after I convinced her that this applied to her she stopped - then while trying to figure out how to roll down the window - the agent passed her through - but she wouldn't go - as she still wanted to roll her window down - needless to say - he was getting a bit frustrated as was she and I.  Finally, we managed to understand what he wanted and off we went.  Small bits of panic within what turned out to be a lovely day.

So here we are, waiting for Helen and Rob and then we will be off on part II of the trip.  Looking forward to that - and we will definitely keep you posted...

In Tucson they have Pink Mountains, and other interesting facts...

Hello to all.  Here we are, traveling on from Tucson to Phoenix - visiting with family and friends who live here in the winter along the way. Monday night we had a marvelous home cooked meal.  Aunt Margaret hosted Uncle Al & Alice, Sandy & Brian and Karen & I for dinner and it was delicious.  Karen and I have been surviving on basically microwaveable food on the trek west - which is fine - but nothing like home cooking...While sitting over coffee and a brownie - Karen noticed the sunset on the mountains in the distance and what a beautiful color it was - hence the picture.  We had some great times just catching up - which I must admit I really enjoyed.

On the Tuesday - Elton and I went in search of a bike shop to fix the two bikes that we had borrowed from Jim and Maur.  Nothing like the blind leading the blind.  Uncle Al saying - I know there is a bike shop around here someplace, Brian press ganged into checking the yellow pages and coming up with out of business shops who haven't taken their number out of the phone book yet, and us needing Sandy to finally come home, find a shop and verify that they existed prior to us driving there.  It was fun anyway - driving around Tucson with Al.

In the afternoon - Sandy, Margaret, Karen and I went off for a scenic drive through the Saguaro National Park.  I know that Karen has already told you about the Saguaro - but suffice it to say - that it wasn't what I was expecting.  I think westerns make you think that they are dotted about - one here and one there.  Not so - at least not at the park.  As you drive further north towards Phoenix - yes - but in Tucson - they abound.  The park was scenic - hard to capture in a picture, the company excellent.  It was a fabulous day for the drive - although chilly.   We took a picture next to one of the mature Saguaro's - which shows just how tall some of them get.  You can tell that they are not small and yet they seem very graceful.  They live around 200 years starting from a seed no larger then a poppy seed.

Today - we arrived in Phoenix to a power outage at the RV park that we had booked at.  It's not that we couldn't find another park - it's just that this is the park that an old friend - Margaret Britain is at visiting her Mom and I did want to see her along with the family in the area.  So we have put up on the site - even though there is no power, the weather is an unseasonably cold at 35 to 40 degrees so we have needed to run the generator to keep warm, they had workman working outside our unit until after 2am in the morning to no avail running a generator for their light - but not for us, and Uncle Hersch recommends I don't attach the water as they are forecasting more freezing weather for tonight.  Welcome to Arizona - home of the Winter sun. 

A Happy Interlude... Karen

I know that I usually keep my nose out of this blogging business but I really wanted to add my penny's worth into the pot! I am sure that, by now you have a reasonable understanding of Felicia Howell speak... if you can understate things... then do it.
WELL! The last few days on the road before arriving in Tucson were truly A NIGHTMARE.. centred around a most stubborn individual who persisted in driving across 100's of miles of Texan land, coughing, sputtering, sneezing ...probably f...ting and the rest! ( For those with delicate countenances please obliterate the last sentence from your minds!) Anyway, needless to say it was not long before I also suffered from said infection. Now, as people know I do pride myself in taking care of the sick - but there is a limit! When Lei refused to speak to myself or Maur I knew that the limit had been set. So, I left things alone for 1/2 hour and then continued to take her temperature whilst she emitted the most perfect purple hue frm her cheeks.Some forced medication and at least the temp came down significantly and she took th driver's seat! Needless to say not long after it was my turn to burn up and join her with coughing and spluttering and feeling I had had a few rounds with an elephant. And yet we drove on....through Texas, New Mexico and into  Arizona.

Saguaros in The Saguaro State Park



Uncle Elton , a serious moment

On arriving into the park in Tucson we were greeted by Sandy, Lei's cousin and before long we had reversed the RV into its spot and were having fun chatting with Aunt Margaret, Uncle Elton and Alice and Brian and Sandy. What a lovely night catching up with each other and reminiscing. looking at old photos and trying to work out who was who in them from way, way back. After feeling so sick and not really eating for a few days we really enjoyed the fine dinner Aunt Margaret served.

After much cajoling Lei finally went to Docs .. yippee and got some very strong and very expensive antibiotics! $200 for 10 pills. Worth every cent if they get rid of the germs. She has had two now and appears improved. She says shes a lot better but then again she always says that.... Watch this space.

Sandy was patient teaching us how to put up our awning which ... I pray I will remember for when we need it. I am not well known for my master mind memory! As you will see in the photos we were are in The Saguaro State Park which protects the Saguaro plant. I was enthralled at the scenery and the sheer numbers of these magnificent plants. They grow up to 50 ft and live for 200 yrs... amazing. I thought they just grew alone in the desert but there are forests of them and they are fascinating.

Back to the RV and another lovely meal from Sandy and lots more fun and laughter. Home for a sleep now we no longer feel as ill. Ummmm  Phoenix tomorrow





Nightmare on Winnebago Street...

It is Friday morning - we are in Texarkana, Texas.  For the past few days (since arriving in Cincinnatti) I have been feeling a bit under the weather.  Feels like a cold coming on - so when I wake up the Friday morning - I am running a fever, coughing and generally feeling very poorly.  Karen does what we all do - she calls Maureen to diagnose my condition.  Before I know it - I have Karen staring down my throat - confirming all sorts for Maureen who decides it could be strep throat...or it could be a cold.  I have a thermometer shoved in my mouth every 15 minutes until finally Karen got a 100.9 reading and decided that she would drive me in this Winnebago to the nearest hospital - and trying to get Maur to back her decision so I will go along with it.  Not only will I not go along with it - I think I finally refused to talk to either of them - for fear that they would cook up some new scheme.

Needless to say - what I did need was a little bit more rest.  I stayed in bed until about 11am.  Then Karen said we needed to take the RV to the nearest Walmarts to pick up the medicine that Maur recommended and I figured once we have broken down the campsite - why not just hit the road and get as far down the way as possible.  So that is exactly what we did.  We left Texarkana and did a short day - settling into an RV park just west of Fort Worth in a town called Weatherford. 

Karen began showing similar symptoms to me - which made me think it wasn't anything more serious than the cold.  Maur had us pick up a bunch of medication - which Karen faithfully slings down my throat every 4 hours...as well as her own.  I shall not go into all of the gory details of our illnesses - suffice it to say that it is a good thing we sorted out the toilet systems. 

Me getting ready to pull out of Weatherford

This morning - we left Weatherford and began the trek west - going down past Abilene, Midland, Odessa and finally stopping for the night somewhere called Van Horn...all of this after we both got sick in the night and Karen was again sick while we were driving.  Troopers that we are - we never let it put us down - as we have to make Tuscon for the beginning of the week, Phoenix afterwards and still be in LA for Friday.  I can say that if ever there was a country that defies logic for settling down in - the land we traveled through called West Texas is it...no offense to our Texas lovers out there - but I can find no reason in the world to live anywhere near here.  Apart from cotton fields, wind farms, oil refineries, and nodding donkeys - there ain't much...Hopefully - today will bring new sites to renew my love of the diversity of this country as we are awaken to what I think are the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas.  Far prettier than yesterday's trek. 



A nodding Donkey along a West Texas highway 



We are on the Road again...

I know that I have been a bit lax when it comes to updating this blog - the main reason being that for the past month - my routine has been pretty much the same - I get up - make coffee - lounge about watching the world wake up (in this case - the world consists of Maur, Jim, Sam and Karen) and then go see Dad.  In between these exciting moments - I played with the puppies, and helped Karen get the Motor Home fitted out.

Needless to say - it was hard going - but someone had to do it...

On Sunday we got together with my nephew Richard and his wife Barb to celebrate his 40th birthday which occurs this week. God - I must be getting old if Richard is 40 already.  It has been really great just relaxing at Jim's taking life on a day by day basis - but it is time to head on.  Since we have been at Jim's, his washer, new dryer, stove, home electric circuits, wireless router and just about every other electrical appliance has had to be either repaired or replaced.  We are now known as Lei and Karen - the Rack and Ruin twins - although I don't think that we quite deserve this nickname.  Other than the home electrical circuits shorting out (mainly due to too heavy a draw on the home circuits by my Motor Home),  I don't think I was responsible for the other stuff.  Jim tried to blame me for the dryer - said the 2 loads I did without emptying the fluff was the cause - but I am not buying it. 

So Tuesday morning - we left Michigan for warmer parts - although it has been slow finding the warmer bits.  We stopped in Cincinnatti on Tuesday night - had dinner with a friend from Hilton Head and put up in a county park that is open year round if all you want is electrics.  No water, toilets or sewage - so the fact that we got up early and managed to skip off without paying for the site (we left so early - I didn't get dressed - just put my robe and slippers on and hit the road - boy - do I love the RVing thing...) didn't bother me too much.  Couldn't see paying $15 to park overnight - which is about all that site had to offer.  We set our sights on Jackson, Tenn. where we spent the next night.  To get there though - we had to go through a snow storm in Kentucky - lovely to look at - but definitely not the WARM I was looking for. 

 Once again, our site in Jackson gave us electrics - but for the rest - we were out of luck.  Now we are a bit desperate to get to the warmer parts.  I am sure that they are out there somewhere - we just need to get far enough south to find them.  On Thursday we got to Texarkana where when we pull into a RV park whose full service sites were exactly that - full service.  Great  - no need to complain any more about not getting full service with the sites.  No more issues with water or sewage - except for one small problem...When Maur was showing me everything about the motor home that they had gone over with her - it was just too cold to go outside and cover those misc. bits like - water systems, sewage hookups, hot water heater, etc.  So now - we arrive in Texarkana in the dark - I haven't a clue on what to do - and Karen is politely standing there - wondering how I ever managed to direct men in building cars and tractors when I couldn't organise myself to learn how to fill my water system and get the toilet in operation.

It took a couple of calls to Michigan - the first to Maur who said - "if you read my notes about winterising it - just reverse all of that and it should be fine".  Thanks Maur - the logic was flawless - but perhaps just a bit beyond me.  I got everything working on city water - but couldn't get my water pump or heater to work.  The next morning on Friday I called a service rep I met prior to leaving Michigan at the RV site where we purchased the home.  With minimal effort and seemingly endless patients - she walked me through it all and we now have a functioning motor home.  I am sure that there are little odds and ends that we will learn about as we go along - but for now - it is fully self contained and that makes everyone happy.

And the Puppies grow...

To show how confused I have been - I thought that this blog had been posted to the site long ago - and just realised that it was hanging about in draft form...so I have posted it along with another one that languished in drafts - I will try and catch up to now.  Sorry about that...

Sorry for the long delay in posting.  Things have been much fun here, as Abbey, Jim and Maur's dog had 3 puppies! They were born 16th December, the day after mum passed away and so they became a distraction in the sad times. Abbey is a very small dog, a cross between a Miniature Poodle and a Shitzhu. She produced 3 very cute pups. One is a fudge colour, one sandy and the third is pure black. Life has been so funny watching these grow and I am full of admiration for the way dogs nurture their little ones. Abbey has been a very good mother in feeding and tending to her little ones. we were all like little kids when we were waiting for the eyes to open! The black one was always the first to do everything_ open eyes, grow the needle like teeth, get up and move around, get to the teat!!!  Her hair is very soft and thick, in fact all the puppies have fabulous coats.

I know that puppies grow fast but I swear these were growing before our very eyes..they were always feeding and Abbey was so patient. In fact as these grew Abbey visibly thinned. It certainly has taken it out of her.  Shows what motherhood is all about.  We had planned on taking the the sandy haired one with us on this road trip as well as back to Scotland - but sense took over and we realised that we risked this poor puppy to Quarentine on arriving into the UK.  That - and the realisation that they must travel into the UK in the cargo compartment - which I was hopeing to avoid.  So - Karen and I have decided not to take a puppy with us on our travels.  I would have loved to take one - but this is the far more sensible options...as you can see by the video - they would definitely be a handful...

So in the meantime - we watch them grow and play with them.  The black puppy has been named Ms Emma Black, and will go and live with Becca and her brood...The toffee colored one (the darker of the two) has been named Coffee and will definitely remain with Sam, Jim and Maur.  The last one, we were calling her Cassi has yet to be claimed - although many have tried.  I wouldn't be surprised if Cassi wasn't still in St Charles with Mom and sister when we return.  Maur was developing a soft spot for her as well as Coffee when last I looked. 

May you all have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!!!

Happy New Year to all.  We celebrated quietly last night with just the family.  Becca and her family came round to keep the noise level high enough so that you would have thought that we were at a full grown party of 100 drunks - but no - it was just 4 kids and a few crazy adults.  Jim and I spent time with Dad prior to the get together and he was pleased we weren't suggesting that we take him from the home to go to this party.  Actually - based on the noise level - I think I would have enjoyed his place as well.  We took some pictures of the passing of 2010 - the one of Jim and Dad is a better one of Dad than his and mine - so that is the one I decided to download...

We have yet to get our motor home back from the repair shop - Karen is quickly losing patience with me  as the last time I called they were still waiting on authorisation from the aftermarket warranty company.  I think I am going to have to be a bit more forceful on Monday when they open again after the holiday.  What should have been a couple of day repair has turned into over a week - and I really want to get it back to the house so that we can start fitting it out for the journey.

Now, I have gotten many emails/facebook messages about these puppies that I mentioned.  Sam has a dog - Abby - who is a cross between a shih tzu and miniature poodle.  She gave birth to three lovely puppies just after Mom passed and we are deciding whether to have one.  It would be great to take it on our travels with us this year - and we are working out the details of how to get it back home to Scotland without going through quarantine.  Once we are sure that we can do this - then we shall grab one and go...I have attached a photo of them just so that you have the opportunity to go ahhhh!!!

Becca (Jim's daughter) has already selected and named the black one - she will be Balla...Maur and I will arm wrestle over the other two (I suspect that she will get first choice and I will take the remainder - which is OK with me...) but Karen and I haven't named her yet - waiting for final confirmation that this is all going to work out as well as getting to know her personality prior to lumbering her with a name that doesn't fit.  We shall keep you posted on what is happening once we know.

So 2011 is for beginnings.  May all of you experience joy and prosperity in the coming year.  I am hoping to visit with some of you over the coming months and am looking forward to that.  So - keep your eyes peeled for us in your neighborhood!!!