Upstate New York

 I'm getting lazy, too long since the last entry.  Moving east, we stayed in 3 separate areas of New York.  First, we camped near Lake Chautauqua in the western part of the state.  It's a lovely area, and we were invited for a visit with some MacDill friends if we were passing through, so of course, we stopped!  After a few days there, we headed east to the Finger Lakes region to stay at a campground we've used a couple times before when visiting the area, Cayuga Wine Trail Campground, formerly Snedacre's.  We were there for 10 days through the 4th of July holiday.  After that, we moved on to someplace new, the Saratoga Springs area.  We'd been in the Adirondacks before, but never this particular area.  We were at Saratoga RV Park, about half way between Glen Falls and Saratoga Springs.  It was a great week, some pics from the last few weeks.

Atheneum Hotel at the Chautauqua Institution

MacDill friends Brian and Michelle

Nice waterfall hike to Taughannock Falls near Ithaca, NY

Buttermilk Falls.  Lots of folks came out during the Heat Dome, almost 100 degrees

I honestly don't remember the name of these falls, somewhere in the Finger Lakes region

I lucked into an open mic night on Seneca Lake

Seneca Lake from Wagner Vineyards

Moving on to the Saratoga Springs area, we had to visit the final residence of 

President Grant.  He was finishing his memoirs, suffering from late stage 

throat cancer, and a wealthy friend put him and his family up on

Mount McGregor in this house/hotel.  He was photographed sitting

right where I am.  The actual chair he was sitting in is inside.  We got a personal

tour of the downstairs where he lived and wrote for the final 6 weeks of his life.  His bio on 

Netflix was really good.

View from the top of Mount McGregor

The actual flower arrangements used for Grant's funeral, 

fresh cut flowers individually dipped in wax still recognizable after

140 years

Grant Cottage

Our spot at Saratoga RV Park, nice corner lot

Ohio - Put-in-Bay and Madison

 After Michigan we checked out Put-in-Bay, OH on Lake Erie.  It's a little town on a little island, not far off the coast from Toledo.  Some folks liken it to the Key West of the North.  I've never been to Martha's Vineyard, but something tells me it's more the Martha's Vineyard of the Midwest.  Very cute, plenty to see and do.  We stayed at Bass Island State Park right next door to a friend from MacDill that spends summers there as a volunteer camp host.  After three nights on South Bass Island, we headed east a few hours to check out Madison, OH (also on Lake Erie) and visit old friends Hank and Rhonda Talikka.  Some pictures from the last week.

Loaded up on the Miller Ferry to South Bass Island

Idyllic harbor at Put-in-Bay

The monument to Oliver Hazard Perry's victory over the British Lake Erie squadron during

the War of 1812

Put-in-Bay's replica of the Southernmost Bouey in Key West, FL

South Bass Light House

When we got over to the island, it was mayfly season.  They were everywhere, thousands of them

coated the motorhome

The tourist snapshot spot, at our state park

Hank and Ronda, friends we met at MacDill probably back in 2012 or so

I was invited to play guitar and sing at our campground for a bunch

of younger folks that are seasonal renters.  One of the kids, Olivia, made me

this Thank You card, telling me I was "Rilly Good"!  High praise, 

and the portrait is the spitting image

Summer 2026 - Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan

 As spring draws to a close, we're on the road up north.  Our first stop back in May was at Bauer upholstery in Dubuque, IA.  We bought a new theater seat and had the couch and captain's chairs rebuilt.  It looks great.  Next, we headed to friends Craig and Mary's in Spread Eagle, WI.  Next, we swung out to Door County for a week at a really nice spot in Egg Harbor.  After that, we parked at Don and Chrissie's in Marquette.  Then, we stopped for a quick visit in Grand Rapids to visit Joel and Tania, friends from when I was stationed in Tampa.    We're currently on South Bass Island, OH, so I gotta post some pictures and get caught up.

Bauer Upholstery.  They got the entire job done in a day, even had a 50 amp electrical connection!

Before...

After

Next stop, Rockford IL for a relaxing 2 weeks at Sugar Shores campground.

Laurent House in Rockford.  A Frank Lloyd Wright project.

Snug as a bug in Spread Eagle.  Craig and Mary store their rig in the barn and

have a great parking area for guest RVers.

Craig and Mary Johnson

Door County lighthouse

The Superior Bowl in Marquette.  Those are wood beams, pretty epic.

Cascade in the Michigan Upper Peninsula (UP)

Birthday dinner for Chrissie, entire Schmidt family assembled

Joel and Tania, friends from Tampa when I was still in uniform

On the Road Again - Looking Back at 2025

 So, no blog entry since we came off the road back in 2019.  Lots of water under the bridge!  We spent some time traveling in the Endeavor, part time, while I was telecommuting.  That amounted to a few local trips in Arkansas and a few partial winters in Florida.  After spending the entire 2024-2025 winter in Florida, we returned to Arkansas determined to get a newer motorhome, sell the house, and hit the road again.  We found a 2018 Tiffin Phaeton, sold the house, and headed west.  Summer 2025 was spent in Colorado, Montana, and Banff National Park, Alberta Canada.  Last fall, we checked into MacDill for the season on November 1st and fell back into our old rhythm (warm weather, the beach, sitting out with friends, karaoke, trivia, and lots of guitar jam nights.  I'll catch up on 2026 in the next entry.  Some photos of the past few years...

Our first motorhome nestled in at her home on Enchanted Valley Lane, North Little Rock.  We spent a lot of years traveling in her, but at 21 years old it was time to upgrade.

In April 2025, we went down to New Iberia, LA and purchased our Tiffin.  Two months later we'd be "home free", with no belongings that wouldn't fit in a 10x20 storage unit and our new motorhome.

Old and new rigs together, but only for a couple weeks while sold the Endeavor.

529 Enchanted Valley Lane, our home for 6 years.  Longest we lived anywhere.

New rig, Happy Birthday to me!

One of our first stops on the 2025 trip, the US Air Force Academy campground (after a few days 

in Albuquerque).

Friends Paul and Jan took us Jeeping in the Bridger Range, Bozeman, MT.

Downtown Banff

On the way back from Banff, we stopped on the east side of Glacier National Park

Out with Paul and Jan

After Glacier, we hit Grand Tetons National Park

Funny thing happened outside Jackson Hole, WY.  We picked up a rock about

golf ball size and had to have the window replaced.  Here's a pic with the old one taken out.

On our way east, we stopped in Wichita so Laurie could catch up

with old friend Carla Chapman.

Some badlands on private land, Western Kansas

Stopped in to see Brad on the way to FL

Gotta stop at the Ho Hum on the way south, probably the 10th time we've stopped 

here in Carabelle, FL

After filling in almost the entire map in our old RV, I decided what the heck and

bought a new one.  These are our travels from 2025.  Not too shabby.  We did a shakedown trip out to

see John and Phyllis in Raleigh, then the big trip out to Banff.