On the Road Again

You may have noticed I'm ridiculously unreliable with my blogging.  I have a bunch of excellent excuses (poor wifi, frustrating blog platform, excessive laziness) but it would be wonderful if we could all agree to tactfully ignore my failings and move on. 

After Colorado (gee...was that really six months ago? ....ahem) we aimed toward the Dakotas after a cool stop at Devil's Tower, a seriously unique park. 

Indian legend says marks are from a bear chasing indian maidens up the rock.

We blasted through the Badlands in the Dakotas, 

I can't even mention Badlands without humming Springsteen

explored the Black Hills area 

The Needles in Custer State Park, Black Hills, SD

and loved the town of Spearfish so much we spent a week there, left, and then went back later for another week.

Lunchtime

We moseyed through Minnesota, adored the upper peninsula of Michigan (Pictured Rocks National Seashore was amazing), 

Gorgeous turquoise water

Best views are from a boat.

The water really is this color and crystal clear.

and finally cruised into Canada via Quebec.

Quebec was awesome for Patrick so he could speak his native French.

Wandered all over Canada and finally arrived at our destination of St. Johns, Newfoundland.

Iconic Painted Houses of St. John's

St. John's Newfoundland

 On the way back we ate lobster in Maine, met up with old friends in Vermont, and went to Charlotte, NC where Patrick had some meetings.  We foolishly stopped in an RV dealership and Patrick once again impulsively traded in our 25’ Tiffin Wayfarer for a 36’ Tiffin Open Road Allegro. It’s lovely; it has a fireplace, king size bed, washer/dryer and all the conveniences we could possibly ever want or need.  

Upgrade Number 4

Of course, this doesn’t mean that Patrick won’t keep yearning for something new in a month or two, and I definitely had to put blinders on him as we drove past the Tampa RV show on the way out of town last week.

After Charlotte we spent time at the beach in Destin, then wandered our way home to Florida for the holidays. After one week we packed up and went to the Keys but we had kind of a good excuse as they were installing new flooring in the house while we were gone.  Thanksgiving and Christmas were low-key and relaxing.  Well, if by relaxing you mean I made five quilts...

For Patrick

For Hudson

For Baby Caroline

For Madeline

For Baby Aria...who's not a baby anymore. See above laziness/procrastination excuses.

...and Patrick bought and restored a motorcycle (1979 Triumph Bonneville Special for you gearheads out there) that he planned to race on the vintage motorcycle circuit until he realized the race dates all conflicted with our planned travels.

I know nothing about motorcycles except ....this is one.

I’ll let you decide which one you think is prettier. 

So the motorcycle might be for sale in the future, but the quilts won’t be. (Everyone always says “You could sell them!” but no one really wants to pay the price of my blood, sweat, tears, and creative cursing).

The moment the tree was put away Patrick’s feet got itchy and we started packing up.  First stop was Atlanta so I could see my kids and old friends. However, after driving through Atlanta traffic with a 36-ft RV towing a Jeep Wrangler, we may never return.  I lived there long enough to know that it’s NEVER NOT rush hour, but the bus is so wide it feels like you’re inches away from swaying semis and maniacs who think it’s ok to swerve in front of you at 65 mph as if we’re a nimble little Smart car that can stop on a dime. SPOILER:  We’re NOT.  

Patrick and I never argue or even raise our voices to each other (all credit to him – the man is a saint) but midway through the city after several heart-clutching, shrieking, gasping, HELPFUL driving tips from me, he firmly suggested that I might want to go sit in the back. I did and closed my eyes for good measure until it was over.

I know I'm biased, but isn't that the sweetest face and prettiest blue eyes?

We survived and arrived at the Holiday Harbor Marina for the weekend.  On previous trips we’ve had a hard time finding a place to stay as most RV parks are located far outside the city, but Patrick found this place on Lake Allatoona that was close to the kids and it was pretty much deserted. Lake Allatooona is an Army Corps of Engineers reservoir and they lower the water level in the winter so it looks a little like someone pulled the bathtub plug.  

Jason Bateman is out there somewhere.

One of our favorite shows “Ozark” is filmed in this area so it was fun to explore and see if we recognized any of the views.  An interesting side effect of watching this show (and we’re anxiously awaiting the new season in March) is that Patrick and I are now convinced that any tiny, odd business we come across that doesn’t seem very viable is a money laundering enterprise.  

Not sure why the Marina had dinosaur sculptures scattered about, but Tilly enjoyed lifting her leg on them.

Boating and Dinosaurs...they just go together.

We had dinner with the kids at an Indonesian place in Buckhead and it was amazing! Sawyer recommended it and it was so fun to eat foods that were totally different and delicious.  We ordered a couple of sampler meals and it came like this…tiny bites of several different things and it was all delightful.  I don’t know how successful we’ll be at finding Indonesian restaurants as we traverse the U.S., but we’re definitely going to try and add it to our repertoire.

Couldn't begin to tell you what half of this was, except it was all DELISH!

We watched the football playoffs and were disappointed that neither of the teams we were rooting for made it, but enjoyed our homemade pot roast and mashed potatoes on a very cold day in Atlanta. Also, I brought my sewing machine with me this trip, so I worked on some more quilt blocks and it made me seriously happy.

We're currently in Red Bay, AL where the Tiffin Mfg. plant is located. Patrick is having some special lighting installed on the bus, making a few tweaks, and picking up some spare parts and then we're off to Graceland, because ELVIS!  Duh. You can't be this close to the home of the King and not go.  

And then we are Mexico bound!! We're going to explore Baja Mexico for about a month, so PLEASE check back in to make sure we're still alive and send ransom money if needed.  

Adios!