We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Mom, Dad and I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. We hope you have a joyous holiday. Today we arrived in South Carolina and will be spending Christmas and New Years with David & Trevor and their family and friends. If everyone of you has been as good as me this year then Santa won't be putting any coal into any of your stockings.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great Play Day With Emma & David

Today Mom and Dad took me to Martinez, Ga, near Augusta, to see cousin Heather and her children Emma and David. Emma and David gave me a Christmas bag with 5 new toys. What a wonderful surprise! We didn't get to see Ken as he was out of town attending his grandmother's funeral. We went to lunch and then played in the leaves in their backyard. What fun!!!! I had a great day but was so tired I slept all the way back to Greensboro.

Sightseeing In Georgia

Boy have we been busy sightseeing in Georgia. Our first excursion was to Eatonton, the hometown of Joel Chandler, who wrote the famous Uncle Remus stories about Brer Rabbit. We went to the Uncle Remus cabin and, as you can see, I got my picture taken with a statue of Brer Rabbit. In the background you can see Uncle Remus' cabin. We have toured around Eatonton, Greensboro and Madison viewing the history and seeing some beautiful antebellum homes along Georgia's Antebellum Trail. Greensboro is a town that has been burned down twice, once by Indians and then by General Sherman on his march through Georgia. Madison is the only town Sherman did not burn down on his march to the sea. A friend lived in Madison so Sherman spared it.

We spent today in Atlanta where we visited Stone Mountain, the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield Park and the Martin Luther King Jr National Historic site. As Mom and Dad always do, they took a picture of the graves of MLK and his wife to go in their Historic Grave album.

Sunday we are going to Augusta so I get to play with Emma and David. Later friends.........

Good Bye Florida, Hello Georgia

After 8 1/2 wonderful weeks in Florida visiting family and friends, today was moving day. We are now on the shores of Lake Oconee in Greensboro, GA. We set up and Mom got into the Christmas spirit so she and Dad hung icicle lights on our trailer. Its funny that we had to leave Florida and come to Georgia to get warmer temperatures. It was at freezing when we left Florida this morning. While we are here, we plan to visit with cousin Heather and her family, husband Ken and their children, my buddies, Emma and David. Mom also has us scheduled to do some sightseeing in Atlanta. Dad wants to go to Eatonton and see the Uncle Remus cabin. Stay tuned for updates on our Georgia activities......

Suwannee Christmas Lights

These are some pictures of the Christmas lights at the Spirit of the Suwannee RV Park. They advertise 5 million lights but we think that is a conservative estimate. It is a fantastic Christmas light display and I am glad we were able to see it.

Long Day Getting Back To The Suwannee

This morning we left Wauchula, FL, bright and early, headed back to the Suwannee River. BUT...We had to make a stop at Camping World in Tampa to replace a tire on the trailer. As luck would have it, Camping World didn't have the correct tire in stock so they had to get their distributor to deliver one. The tire was delivered as all of the techs were going to lunch. After spending 5 hours there we were finally on the road to Suwannee. We had to laugh as we were heading North on I-75. We were the only RV going North. All of the other RVs on the road were heading South. The snowbirds are arriving in Florida.

We sure enjoyed our time at the Peace River Resort in Wauchula. I enjoyed my time with my buddies Snickers and Taffy. Mom and Dad enjoyed their time with friends, John & Marcia and to finally meet Judy and Bob in person.

While here at Suwannee, we will be getting to see Christmas lights. The park has a drive-thru Christmas light display with over 5 million Christmas lights. If you all are good, maybe I can get Dad to post some pictures of the lights on the blog.

Take care.....

Happy Thanksgiving

I want to to wish all my friends and family a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you have a wonderful holiday with plenty of turkey. I am practicing eating turkey. Hopefully I will get a big juicy drumstick. Thursday we are going to Seminole, FL to spend Thanksgiving with Aunt Laura (Dad's sister) and Uncle Dave and their poodle, Rusty. I hope Rusty wants to play.

We are really enjoying our time here at Peace River. We have seen Stumpy the alligator, a majestic hawk, some deer and a wild pig. Early this morning, one of the wild pigs broke one of the park's water lines so we were without water for awhile. I am a little sad today as my friends Taffy and Snickers left today. It has been fun playing with them over the past six weeks at the various parks we have been to. Mom and Dad finally got to meet Judy and Bob, who they have corresponded with over the past year. Mom and Judy grew up in Emporium, PA so they have a lot of old times to talk about.

We will be at Peace River for one more week before we head back to the Suwannee River.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY VETERANS' DAY

Mom, Dad and I want to wish a happy Veterans' Day to all our veteran friends and family. We are so very proud of your service to our country.

We are now leaving the hustle and bustle of Orlando and the Disney World area to settle on the quiet banks of the Peace River in Wauchula, Florida. We will be here until December 1st enjoying the peace and quiet. My friends, Taffy and Snickers, are here also so I have them to play with. They are so much fun. Several other new friends we met in Orlando are also here.

Since we sold the trike, Dad has taken over the back room (garage area) of the trailer. Mom calls it,"the man room". Friends tell Dad he needs to get a small refrigerator for "the man room" so he can keep his beverage of choice cold. They even carpeted the room. I guess I want Dad to be comfortable so he will continue to help me with the blog.

This is all for now, so again "Happy Veterans' Day".

Three, Two, One...BLAST OFF!! Mickey Too

Sunday we had a road trip to do some sightseeing. Our first stop was the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. What a place! I got to see a space shuttle, all the rockets NASA has used in the past and the Astronaut Memorial, honoring all of the astronauts who died doing NASA work. We also visited the Canaveral National Seashore in Titusville, FL. On our ride, I also got to see a four point buck, a wild pig and two alligators. This was a wonderful and exciting day for me. We still have one more week in the Orlando area, so stay tuned.

Today Mom and Dad went to Disney World. I didn't get to go but they did get me a Mickey Mouse chew toy to play with.

Florida Has Gators

I didn't know what an alligator was until Mom and Dad took me to the Alligator Farm in St Augustine, FL. Mom insisted we get a picture with a real live gator. Mom is holding a live 2 1/2 yr old rare white gator. Thank goodness his mouth was taped shut because I didn't want to be his lunch. It is reportedly good luck to touch a white gator.

We are now in the Orlando area for the next three weeks. My friends Taffy and Snickers are also here so I have some friends to play with. Mom and Dad's friends John & Marcia and Matt & Connie are here also. Mom and Dad plan to visit friends who live in the area. We also plan to do some sightseeing but I won't be allowed to visit with Mickey Mouse at Disney World. We will be going to the Kennedy Space Center. That should be a "real blast".

Take care everyone and be safe!

YOU AINT GONNA BELIEVE THIS.....

Today, Mom and Dad sold our Goldwing trike thus ending our motorcycling days. The manager of the RV park expressed an interest in the trike. He made them an offer that was too good to be true so they accepted. So much for my trike riding days. Now that they sold the trike, I hope they don't decide to go and change my name.

Way Down Upon The Suwannee River

Today we left Holt, FL and came to the Spirit Of The Suwanee Music Camp RV Resort on the banks of the famous Suwanee River near Live Oak, FL. Much to my surprise, my friends Taffy and Snickers were here waiting for me. It it great seeing them again and playing with them. They are so much fun. I will be able to play with them here in Florida at various parks for the next seven weeks. LIFE IS GOOD!!!!

We enjoyed our time in Holt, FL. Mom and Dad got to spend a lot of time with their dear friends, Cliff and Dee Florence. They have been close friends for a long time. I also got to spend some time on the beach among the sea oats at the Gulf Islands National Seashore with the snow white sand.

BACK IN FLORIDA

Today we arrived back in my birth state of Florida. We will be in Florida for the next nine weeks. We really enjoyed our time in Louisiana visiting Harold and Nina Denton and their family. Mom enjoyed holding and feeding Harold and Nina's newest great-grand daughter. The Dentons really made us feel welcome.

Right now we are in Okaloosa County, Florida. This is the county where Mom and Dad were in the Air Force, met and got married. Both boys, David & Trevor, were born here and Dad was a cop here for more than 11 years. We will be here for 4 days then we head for the Suwanee River area to meet up with some of our RV friends, both two legged and four legged.

Take care friends!

Hello From "Nawlins"

Hello everyone. Thursday we arrived in Abita Springs, Louisiana. We are at a nice quiet, secluded RV resort North of Lake Pontchartrain. Today we went to New Orleans to do some sightseeing. We toured the French Quarter and I got to eat some beignets at the famous Cafe Du Monde. The beignets were OK but I liked the powdered sugar best of all. I had so much powdered sugar on me I was almost all white. While in the French Quarter, Mom and Dad bought me some neat sunglasses. Don't I look cool with these shades on? We also found the grave site of the famous Voodoo Priestess Marie Laveau. Imagine a Voodoo priestess buried in a Catholic cemetery. We also toured the Chalmette Battlefield where in 1814 Colonel Jackson defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans.

Mom and Dad have been able to visit and spend some time with one of Dad's former colleagues, Harold Denton and his wife Nina. Dad and Harold talk about the "good old days" and some of the "not so good old days".

The weather here is beautiful but it is also love bug season and they are everywhere. Later folks!

Paddle Faster, I Hear Banjo Music !!!!

After two wonderful weeks in Oklahoma, we hit the road this morning. We had a great time at Grove, Oklahoma. Grove calls for a return visit. We got the defective landing gear on our trailer replaced. After a year of problems with it, it now works like it is supposed to so Mom and Dad are really happy about that. Mom and Dad did hit the casino one time in Grove. They joined the casino's players club and each got $5.00 free play. Because Mom's birthday is in September, she got an additional $20.00 free play. They played the penny slots for a few minutes and left happy with $37.00 in winnings. Aren't they the big gamblers? We are now headed for Abita Springs, Louisiana with two stops before we get there. Tonight we are at a fish camp park West of Little Rock, Arkansas. Dad thinks there are some similarities to "Deliverance" here. Tomorrow we will be spending the night in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Mom and Dad say they really like Vicksburg with it's Civil War history. I will talk to you from Louisiana.

Greeting From Monkey Island, Oklahoma

Hello from Monkey Island, Oklahoma. We are enjoying our relaxing time in Grove, OK, on the shores of Grand Lake with its 1,300 miles of shoreline. This is a beautiful area. It is also home to the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe. There are numerous casinos in the area but so far Dad has been able to keep Mom out of them. This is also the home of the Seneca-Cayuga Tobacco Company, makers of Dad's favorite smokes, "Sky Dancer" cigarettes. Mom and Dad were able to get a private tour of the plant to see cigarettes being made. They were fascinated by the process as it is totally automated from start to finish. There is a trike shop here so Dad has been able to get some overdue maintenance done on the trike. Once hurricane Ike blew by, the weather has been ideal, cool mornings and warm afternoons.

In keeping with Mom and Dad's hobby of looking for historical graves sites, we have visited some in the area. One day we found the graves of infamous outlaws Ma Barker and her sons. We also went to Bentonville, Arkansas and found the grave of Walmart founder Sam Walton. We also saw his original store. We have one more relaxing week here before we head for Louisiana.

Its My 2nd Birthday

Happy Birthday to me. I am now 2 years old and what a two years it has been. I have traveled more than 21,000 miles to 42 states and 6 Canadian provinces. I have been to the four corners of the contigous United States. I have ridden across the Golden Gate and the Mackinaw Bridges. I have ridden to the tops of Pikes Peak in Colorado and Mount Washington in New Hamsphire. I have walked on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean at the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick. I have been to Las Vegas, Mount Rainier, Mount St Helens, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Zion, the Grand Tetons, ridden through a giant redwood tree and fed the deer at Medina Lake. Along the way I have made countless new friends, two legged and four legged. But most importantly, I have kept Mom and Dad on the straight and narrow. For my birthday, Mom and Dad treated me to a great steak with a tasty bone.













We are now headed to Oklahoma for a two week rest back on flat land. Happy Birthday to me and here's to another year of fantastic adventures. So please stay tuned......

WOW! Yellowstone, Grand Tetons & Jackson Hole

Well, we made it to Yellowstone, what a park! We saw some really big buffalo, elk and deer but no bears. One buffalo got so close to our truck Mom could have pet it. We saw "old Faithful" do her thing. The park has so many geysers, including the mud volcano. Some of the geysers have a strong sulphur odor. Yellowstone will be a return trip for us in the future. Its an awesome park! We then toured the Grand Teton National Park. After seeing Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons were okay. The peaks are beautiful but we did not see any wildlife. We also did some shopping and sightseeing in Jackson Hole, WY. It is quite a resort town but with the old West flair.



But, best of all is that I made friends with 2 wonderful kids, Thayne and Rena, from Manitoba, Canada. They were so much fun to play with. They left to go home on Monday so I was left to play with Mom and Dad and Buddy, the RV park owner's dog. We are now spending the night in Utah as we travel to Gunnison, CO where Wyatt Earp once lived. I hope everyone has a nice Labor Day holiday.

Winding Down Our Washington Visit

We are winding down our visit to The Evergreen State of Washington. Tomorrow we start our trek to Boise, Idaho and then on to Yellowstone, The Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. While here, we did visit British Columbia. Mom and Dad bought me a new toy, my own RCMP Mountie Bear. One day, Mom and Dad triked over to the Bavarian community of Leavenworth, Washington. It was too hot for me to ride with them so they had me stay home and guard the homefront. When they got back, they posted the sign they bought "CAUTION KILLER CHIHUAHUA ON DUTY". They liked Leavenworth but still prefer the Alpine village of Helen, Georgia. On Sunday, Mom and Dad triked to Seattle. They were amazed at how active the downtown and waterfront areas were for a Sunday. They found that Seattle is real proud of their parking lots as they charge $7.50 for the first 30 minutes. In keeping with their hobby of locating grave sites, they found the grave sites of "Green Hornet" star Bruce Lee and his son, Brandon Lee. Of course being near Seattle, we have seen quite a bit of rain the past couple of days.

"I Pooped In Paradise"

"I pooped in Paradise" is what's printed on doggie T-shirts being sold in the store here at the Paradise RV Resort in Silver Creek, Washington. We arrived here Saturday to a packed park. Washington is the 38th state we have visited since starting our life as fulltime RVers. Sunday we headed out to visit the famous volcano, Mount St Helens. On the way, we met up with Bigfoot. We had to be real nice to him. Mount St Helens is quite a view. A lot of the forests have regrown but there are still remnants of the eruption. Today we went to Mount Rainier, the highest point in Washington. It was real cool, literally, seeing the glaciers. The clouds were pretty low so we couldn't see the peak of the mountain, but it still was awesome. Wednesday we head North to tour the Seattle area and visit British Columbia. Take care my friends!!!!

Our last California stop was in the Redwood National Forest at Klamath. What a neat area, Pacific Ocean beaches on one side of the road and giant redwood trees on the other side. I have now seen the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. I wasn’t real excited about the ocean as the crashing waves scared me. The redwoods are big beautiful trees. “Next to Redwoods, everything else is a weed”. As you can see from the picture, we drove through the redwoods, literally. From California, we are now in Oregon. This morning we stopped to see Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the US, 1,943 feet deep. It was created 7,700 years ago when Mount Mazama erupted then collapsed into itself. We are now enjoying Oregon from the East side of the snowcapped Cascade Mountains.

San Francisco....Been There, Done That

We are currently in the California Delta area where we are enjoying the cool mornings. Saturday morning we rode the trike to San Francisco to do the tourist thing. We wanted to go to Alcatraz but when Dad went to buy the tickets for the boat ride out there, he found that they were sold out until Friday, August 1st. Can you believe that? Why do so many people want to tour an old prison on a rock in San Francisco Bay? We then decided to take a trike riding tour of the city where we saw Chinatown, Fishermans Wharf and the famed cable cars, among other things. We rode down Lombard St, the crookedest street in the country. In keeping with their hobby of finding historic grave sites, Mom and Dad took me to Colma, CA, home of all of San Francisco's cemeteries. They say there are more people below ground than above ground in Colma. We found the graves of Marshall Wyatt Earp and Baseball Hall of Famer Joe Dimaggio. We left San Francisco by riding the trike over the Golden Gate Bridge.

This morning, one of Dad's old co-worker buddies, Claude Taybi, came by and had coffee with Mom and Dad. Dad and Claude spent alot of time talking about the good old days. After that, Mom and Dad rode to Fairfield, CA and toured the Jelly Belly Factory. I wasn't allowed to go but I did get a Jelly Belly toy. This is the only "Jelly Belly" jelly bean factory in the world. They make over 145 million jelly beans every day and it takes up to 6 days to complete each jelly bean. Jelly Bellys have only been around since 1976 but the company has been making candy corn since 1900.

From news reports, we see where we left the Yosemite area just in time. There is a large fire between Mariposa, CA and Yosemite National Park. This is real close to where we had been staying.

In a couple of days, we will be heading North to the Redwoods National Park in Klamath, CA. Stay tuned.

BUSY AT BASS LAKE

Boy have we been busy since we arrived at Bass Lake. This is a beautiful area with all of the ponderosa pines. Saturday, Mom and Dad went to the Yosemite Mountain-Sugar Pine Narrow Gauge Railroad where they were treated to a steak dinner, a ride on a logging train and then entertained at a hootenanny by a campfire. They really enjoyed the evening. Sunday, we took a 71/2 hour ride on the trike on the Sierra National Scenic Byway through the

Sierra National Forest. We made a lot of stops to view the spectacular scenery. Mom even made a picnic lunch for us. Yesterday we left the RV park at 7:00 am to tour Yosemite National Park. Our first stop was to see the giant sequoias. Man are those big trees. As you can see in the picture, I am tiny compared to the trunk of one of those trees. It would take me a month to leave my scent around the trunk of one tree. Mom bought me a stuffed park ranger toy to go with my collection of stuffed toys from our travels. After touring Yosemite and all its splendor, we rode through Tioga Pass to visit Bodie, a California Gold Rush ghost town. When the mines were depleted, the citizens walked away from the town, leaving everything behind. California created a historic park to preserve the town as it was when the citizens left. It is an authentic ghost town. We are now resting up for our the next leg of our California excursion Thursday when were are off to Isleton. While there we will be touring San Francisco, Alcatraz and riding the Golden Gate Bridge. Until then......

More From California

We enjoyed our visit to Soledad Canyon. It was the first RV park on our Western swing where they actually had green grass growing. I got to lounge on the cool green grass and enjoyed every minute of it. While we were at Soledad, Mom and Dad toured the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. They found it very interesting. They also saw Reagan's grave and toured retired Air Force One, which was used by Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush.

We are now at Bass Lake, nestled in among the Ponderosa Pines. Since we are halfway through our California excursion, we thought it would be appropriate to take my picture at the exact geographic center of California. We are enjoying this beautiful area. We will be visiting Yosemite National Park and riding the Sierra Vista National Scenic Byway. I will be posting more pictures and updates as we go along, so please stay tuned.

Fun In California

Hi Everyone. The first leg of our California excursion is coming to an end. Tomorrow morning we leave for Soledad Canyon. Our time at Wilderness Lakes has been a blast. I have been able to have a lot of quality playtime with my friend Chloe. I really enjoy her company and being able to play with her. This is third state where I have met up with Chloe and been able to play with her. I sure will miss her when we leave tomorrow.

Mom and Dad have also had fun here at Wilderness Lakes. One day they and their friends, Ron & Fran, and Matt & Connie, played "Gilligan's Island" by renting a pontoon boat for a 5 hour cruise on Diamond Valley Lake. Before they left for the cruise, they kept talking about all of the fish they were going to catch and what a great fish dinner they were going to have that evening. Well let me tell you, when they got back I did not see any fish and they did not have a fish dinner. From the picture, don't they look a lot like the "Gilligan's Island" misfits?

Mom and Dad also road the trike to San Juan Capistrano to see the mission. They also drove by Trevor's old office there. In keeping with their hobby of looking for historic grave sites, they did find the grave site of "The Duke", John Wayne. The also did something they said they would NEVER do and that is ride the trike on I-5 in Southern California.

Keep checking back for our California adventures.

Trike

CALIFORNIA

We have finally escaped the extreme heat of the Arizona and Nevada deserts. We are now at Wilderness Lakes, just outside Sun City, CA. While it is hot here during the day, the nights and early mornings are cool. It is great! I can now get outside to play. My playmate Chloe, who I played with in New Mexico and Arizona, is here with her Mommy and Daddy. We played alot yesterday afternoon after we got set up. Mom and Dad don't have alot planned except to enjoy the change in climate. Thursday they are going out on Lake Diamond, on a rented boat, with some friends. Chloe, just arrived, so I will sign off so we can play.

HAPPY 4th OF JULY

Happy Independence Day from Bullhead City, AZ. We only thought it was hot in Las Vegas. We rode up to the old gold mining town of Oatman, AZ this morning. We left at 6:30am, temperature was 90 and when when we got back at 9:30am it was 102. The town of Oatman is having their annual contest of frying eggs on the sidewalk. Mom and Dad knew that it would be really hot on the day of the contest so we tried to do it ourselves to see if it would really work. As you can see in the picture I'm frying my breakfast egg. It really is hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk. We didn't get to see any wild burros in Oatman but we saw where they had been.....POOP. Tomorrow night we will watch the fireworks from our campsite. Hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday.