1st Posting - Tuesday, January 13

Well, it's our 17th day out (Tuesday January 13) and finally getting around to starting the blog. There really has not been much of interest to share as traveling across the country to get from Elkhart to somewhere warm and sunny involves a lot of driving and little time for exploring.  Simply too cold to stay anywhere along the way.

The exception has been two great visits with Ellen's cousins in Texas - more detail below.

The following is a quick review of what has happened since leaving home just to get caught up. We hope not to bore you for long with our day by day detail.

It's raining pretty hard at the moment here in Apache Junction, AZ and we are stuck inside the RV. Good time to get this thing going - here it is.

We left Sunday, December 28.  Long drive. Uneventful. Good weather. Stayed one night in Sikeston, MO.

Monday December 29 we drove to Texarkana, Texas. Good weather. Actually had some sunshine when we arrived at the RV park and able to sit outside for a glass of wine (or 3) before dark. Weather looked good the next morning and not being in any hurry to get anywhere we stayed a second night. Found an off-leash dog park for Breezie to burn off some energy. Discovered a good old Texas barbecue joint on the way back.  Yee Haw!

"Buddies" at the dog park

Wednesday December 31 we drove to Melissa, TX just north of Dallas. Today was cold. We wanted to find a spot for two days as close to McKinney, TX as possible. Ellen has two first cousins living in Texas and she has never met either of them. They are Uncle Chuck's daughters and he lives in North Carolina. Cousin Terri and family live in McKinney and the RV park in Melissa put us just 20 minutes away. We were invited to their home on New Year's Day for football and food. Great visit with family and we felt a connection right away. Thanks, Unc!

Parker, John, Ellen, Terri, Jim, and Robert

Cousins Ellen and Terri

Friday January 2 we drove to Austin, TX. to meet with Cousin Michelle and her family. A fairly long drive in rain and heavy traffic due to construction. Found a very nice RV park about 15 minutes from their home. Saturday we visited them for a late lunch. Breezie came along to meet their new puppy ,a German short haired Pointer named Champ; and they had a blast!!!!! Had lots of sunshine (ate outdoors on the patio) and a great time. Don't know why it has taken so long to meet my (Ellen's) first cousins. We are truly connected. Unc, you did good!

Ellen, Jim, Michelle, and John

Cousins Michelle and Ellen

Breezie and Champ playing tug of war

Time for a nap

We stayed in Austin a third night so I (Jim) could wash the RV and watch football on Sunday. Kind of a day of rest.

Monday January 5 we continued our travels to the Southwest. Another long driving day got us to Fort Stockton, TX. Uneventful. Good weather. Decent sun and warmth during the day but still below or near freezing at night.

Tuesday January 6 we drove to Las Cruces, NM. We always stop in here to meet up with Sue Cobb and have the RV serviced at a big Ford Dealership that is willing to work on RV's.  All I needed was an oil and filter change and a general inspection of motor, chassis, and fluids. Scenery is beautiful but the temperatures are just too cold.  So we cut our 3 or 4 day stay to just two.

Ellen and Sue with a "wine glow" on

Thursday January 8 we headed for Arizona and Lost Dutchman State Park just outside of Apache Junction at the base of Superstition Mountain. We had a 7 day reservation but got into our site two days early so will be here for 9 days. The weather for the most part has been good but not great. Sunny skies and cool temps. Today, as mentioned above, it rained a lot. However, it cleared up late afternoon and the sun came out in time to give us a beautiful sunset. Good weather looking out the next 10 days.

Superstition Mountain from our campsite

Southwest Sunset

Lots of coyote action the last few nights and early mornings.  The howling seems to be coming from right outside the RV. Breezie just howls along with them when she hears it. We think she is part coyote anyway. Can't wait to get the results back from her DNA test my sister Beth and Niece April gave us as a Christmas gift. Then late this morning while setting up the blog we spotted three coyotes in the vacant camp site in front of us. It was raining too hard to get a picture from the RV. What great luck to see them so close up!

More later..................