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Hamilton Ont. (Trip Day 95)

Yes, we arrived home on Friday afternoon (Aug. 27/10) on our 95th day of this adventure. An so the trip is over you think. Well not exactly. It seems impossible to me to have this experience, and then not share the adventure with family and friends. There is also a strong urge within me to reflect quietly within myself as to what I have experienced. This I admit in advance could be personal, but never the less I'd like to make it public. The easy part is to share the hard data of the adventure. As many of you may know I like the computer spreadsheet programs. An so this trip gave the opportunity to track a number of parameters in a spreadsheet. These tracked items then produced the following summary page.

As for reflection this enters a completely different arena. It strikes me now that I entered this caravan thinking that the only things I would have in common was that I was human, and owned a Winnebago product. Well the ownership of a Winnebago products was true. However the human connection became far more involved. We met fellow RV'ers who were more then humans. They quickly became friends, and we quickly started to share our pasts with each other. All of us have had highs and lows in our past. And it was amazing how we could relate to their joys and pains. And so as I ponder about this, I wonder why has this experience happened to me? Why have I been so richly blessed to not only be able to have this trip of a lifetime, but also been allowed to so quickly enter into the lives of these 14 couples? And have I left a positive mark on my fellow travellers? In the 49 days that the caravan was together as a group. not a single off colour remark was heard, and yes the daily asking of a blessing before our meals together for me was greatly appreciated. It seemed like the prayer before the meal tied the awesome vistas of the day's travel together. Haven seen the beauty of this vast land, on more then one occasion brought tears to our eyes, and deepen our belief that this world truly belongs to God. And so I leave you with this picture. Singularly we are nothing, and uniquely different, but as a member of God's family we still can be unique, but blend into a master piece.

And as  such I leave you with this open invitation. Stop by anytime, (in person, or via my email box) and lets share a story.

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Port Huron MI (Trip Day 94)

With and early start, (8:30 am) and a late stop, (9:30 pm) we have managed to drive 450 miles. Two and a half hours of this trip were spent listening to truckers on the CB radio, while parked or crawling on Interstate 69. Yes it appears that there had been a truck accident on the road early this morning at 6:30 am. When Papa and Garba came along at 5:30 pm the interstate was still closed. What a jam up, as we were all rerouted off the interstate, and around the accident scene.

The only other nerve rattling event was trying to park this motor home in the dark, in a campground I have never been in before. Its done, all the fenders are still on, and the supper bell is ringing. Hopefully Garba will get her last day of shopping in, before the border crossing, and then actually arrive back in Hamilton on our 95th day of travel.

Rock Island IL (Trip Day 93)

With a good night sleep behind us, Papa and Garba were again on the road at 8:30am. The route had been adjusted last night to hopefully get us home on Friday or Saturday.The weather has changed a bit towards the cooler side, and traffic conditions on the interstate was lighter then expected. All in all a pleasant day to travel, For most of the day, I've had to leave the radio off and listen to Garba repeatedly singing SHOW ME THE WAY TO GO HOME. Yes I've gotten the message, having been on the road for more then 1/4 of a year, I have surpassed Garba's limit.

Today's KOA camp site in front of a lake.

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Forest City IA. (Trip Days 88, 89, 90, 91, 92)

Well its finally happened. Another milestone reached. Our motor home has been returned to its place of  birth. Forest City Iowa.

Our purpose for returning the motor home to its birth place, are minor and curiosity. The technical issues for the service center are small, but our desire to meet the people involved,  and the staff at the WIT office are on an all time high. Yes, it[s an understatement that we are enthralled with the Winnebago Organization. Getting here was a short drive on Saturday (Trip Day 88) through the corn fields. A remarkable higher number of windmills  dotted the landscape after we crossed the state line into Iowa.

To say it simply, its darn hot here today. I knew of no other way to cool Lou down then to take her shopping. With no Walmart in sight, I found the following substitute.

Once we located the Winnebago Service Center Park a site was located under a number of trees. An there in front of our motor home  was a familiar Journey owned by the Booth's. I'm sure you all remember that Barbra and Tony Booth were our Alaskan Caravan Hosts. Its actually like were still on the Caravan. Where they are, we constantly appear with no prearrangements. We're going to be shell shocked when we finally say goodbye after the service center has dealt with both our coaches. Unless a miracle happens ,this will  be the last time our paths cross in 2010, since they are heading south, and we are heading east.
The temperature on Sunday (Trip Day 89) was no lower then yesterday. After church we both had a snooze followed by a delightful social with the Booths under the shade of a Forest City tree. Current affairs, food, Alaskan Caravan, and the Grand Circle Caravan  issues were dealt with in great depth among other things.

Monday morning (Trip Day 90) found Peter at the service center counter at 7;00am. You'll remember that I was on a standby list, first come first served for the customer service same day window. Every day the service center leaves a small window open for customers who drop in with no appointment. Having been told that the service department opens at 7:00 am, I decided to go early at 6:30 am. Guess what. It looked like and RV Rally. The place was swarming with Winnebago motor homes.Yes, most had prearranged appointments, but when the door opened it was a mad rush. When my turn arrived at the counter I was told that there was no opening for me in Monday's window. The best that could be done for me today was to come back for an update later in the day. With that settled we decided to go for the factory tour at 1:00pm. Reservations were made for us by none other then Tony and Barbara. I have to admit that this is more a guy's thing, but Lou did come along. Good sport that she is. I tried my best to not get into trouble, but you all know how difficult that is for me. It didn't take long into the tour, that I was asked to hid my camera. Picture taking within the plant is forbidden. How was I to know. So as a result I have few pictures to show you from the maternity ward.

Since the tour started and ended at the WIT Visitor Center Office, it was also here that we met Pam Urbatsch, and Laurel Erickson. It was these fine ladies that had organized and put the Alaskan 2010 Caravan together. From our enthusiasm I'm sure that they understood how appreciative we were of their work in preparing the Caravan. Application forms were obtain, and everyone left with smiles on their faces.
A quick trip across the street at 3:30 to the service center and we were told that our appointment was set for Tuesday morning . And as promise the motor home entered the service bay at 11:00am. on trip day 92 and reappeared at 3:30pm. In the mean time puzzles supplied by Winnebago kept Papa busy.

After a side  trip for groceries and supper we returned to our site,, and analysed the maps for a more direct way home.

Jackson MN. (Trip Day 87)

As it turned out last night decision to stay at Kennebec SD. was not a bad one. For most of the night there was severe weather warnings, for the area 50 miles east of Kennebec. As a precaution I brought the Flag Pole in. (Oh yes, my pole is up every night.)

For those that weren't on the Alaskan Caravan they won't understand the bottom sock. That sock was given to me during the caravan as a recognition symbol of my interest in wind socks. Just another sign of how we bonded. Our drive today was uneventful. Besides being awed by the view, we spend a lot of time thinking about the coolest view we had experienced during our Alaskan Caravan.

Yes the temperature was again in the high 90F, with the sun pouring in on Lou's side window for most of the day. A jump into Walmart late in the afternoon helped in more ways then one. Tomorrow's drive will get us to Forest City, the birth place of our motor home. We expect to be there for a number of days, and at this time do not really know if internet will be available.

Kennebec SD. (Trip Day 86)

The day had a wonderful start. I awoke to find Garba on the computer talking to 2 grandchildren. I'm still not sure who was happier. The phone conversation, and the one yesterday resounded throughout our drive all day. Another thought in my mind was did I really have pictures of the Dakota landscaper that Jerry asked about last night. So not to disappoint him I went on a camera shooting trip and took over 100 pictures for him. However before I wet your appreciate, I got to show you what I had to go through. I'm sure the kids will remember how Papa loves these critters.

Here then is a sample of the pictures taken for Jerry. Yes Jerry it did require another climb to 3000'. but what a view through the Badlands National Park. in South Dakota. Another real WOW encounter.

Just in case you think this was the only thing we did, I also stopped to show Garaba a piece of real estate that we could look into. It comes with free air conditioning. You'll have to guess what Garaba's response was.

Just in case Garba would say yes, I had checked out an appropriate hat in Wall SD.

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