Making More Transitions

     When last I wrote for the Hurley Travels blog I talked about being fluid, exploring a different phase in life for Jerry and me.   Well, quite a bit of that changing and flowing has happened in the last four months.  Also, I took some time to consider whether our Hurley Travels blog should have its last chapter.   If we were ceasing our life on the road, did I want to also cease writing here about our life???   It took me a few months, but I've decided there are still episodes to record. We are planning to keep on exploring in various ways.   So, here I am moving along into the next mode for Hurley Travels.

     But first, it just wouldn't be right if we didn't say a few words about turning this corner away from RVing.  Jerry and I absolutely loved our ten years of being on the road.  There are volumes of wonderful memories that we couldn't have experienced without the culture that is available among RVers.  We appreciate the people everywhere along that road that are the special ingredients.  There are so many unique, interesting and indescribable facets of those ten years that make us smile all the time.  

     This past winter was quite a moment in time for us.  We had the feelings of uncertainty last fall about how many more roads we would travel in Ferd.  But neither one of us was ready to say yet.  Regardless of where the next spring would take us, we began our travels in November with repairs on Ferd and also had him polished up nicely in Nacogdoches at our favorite facility, Motohomes of Texas. That 1995, 36-foot, no-slide, Foretravel diesel pusher was feeling and looking good.  It turned out to be a very nice last winter in Texas and Alabama.  After considering a trip to Florida, it seemed best for us to make the winter stop in Gulf Shores, Alabama.  While settled in our spot at the Gulf Shores State Park we contemplated how much longer we'd be traveling as RVers.  We had some time to discuss and vacillate about what our next steps would be.  We came to the conclusion we would end our RVing adventure.   But I have to say we'll miss those desert gatherings and stops along our route to see old friends. Those times can't be matched.  Thanks friends!  You know who you are.  There will be other ways, I hope, to stay in touch and visit occasionally.

     Once we adjusted to our decision to sell Ferd, we started making plans for the change.  The story isn't quite this simple, but to keep it short and sweet,  we returned to Indy, found a buyer and turned over ownership in a matter of a couple of months.  We did hold onto Ole Yeller (the loyal towed Jeep) for a while.  It was hard to cut that final string.   But actually, the good result was that the same young family owns both the motorhome and our Jeep.  We're glad to see them enjoying the fun that connects them.

     It will take some getting used to this new phase in our lives.   But…onward we go.  Pretty quickly we made more plans. We're thinking we'll still travel… to those places we missed in the motorhome, right?  So we need a "highway car" that's roomier and more comfortable for those trips when we'll now be  staying in hotels.    Anyway, we took that step, too.   Here's a shot of Jerry making the transition from Ole Yeller to Vinny (the new CRV). 

     Speaking of transitions, we made a major one in mid-July. We purchased our new home, just a few miles northeast, in Fishers, Indiana.  Our little condo was just right for the time we were on-the-road, but we were looking for more space now that we didn't have our home on wheels.  Usually older folks downsize, but these two went the other direction!  We now have a home with a big garage that has space for the cars, a motorcycle, a workbench for Jerry and the extra refrigerator.     And we have more room inside for visitors and to store those things we're accumulating again.   Besides, we're also pleased that Krissy bought our cute little condo.  It's perfect for her!  So now I should post a pic of the front of  the house,  right? Instead of one of those, I think I'll insert one of the flowers on our hibiscus tree that is among several flowering plants, bushes and trees we are enjoying at our new place.    

     I could also write many happy words about this summer's activities that didn't involve the chore of moving. We've had more than our share of good times.   For instance, there were super visits with old friends that came through Indianapolis, fun family reunions, several special birthday celebrations, helping with our grand dogs, hanging out on our new deck, setting food on fire on the grill and meeting new neighbors.   I won't try to describe those experiences,  just keep doing more.  This short story will have to suffice as the catch-up on Hurley Travels for now.  The leaves are falling and it's time to move on. 

     Thanks for sharing some time with me.  Check in here at Hurley Travels again as we see where this path leads us.

Keeping Up On Phases in Life

The blog-writing has had some interruptions lately.  Some of those time-robbers have been very pleasant and planned….others were not so welcomed.
Winter hit our condo in Indianapolis with a staggering punch!   But there’s recovery in this story.  Our ice maker on the refrigerator decided to go nuts and spray water everywhere while we were wintering in Gulf Shores, Alabama.  Tim came to the rescue when he found the disaster.  He got the water shut off, brought in the guys to tear up the flooring and stabilized things until it warmed up enough for us to get back with the motorhome.   There’s not much use crying about it now.  The homeowners insurance kicked in and we got things livable as quickly as possible.  We’re once again settled in on Cape Drive in Indy. 
Meanwhile, during the repairs, we had our old parking spot for Ferd at Tim’s house.  Somehow this situation seemed appropriate, depending on Ferd the Foretravel as our home again for a spell.  So, things were very comfortable when they could have been treacherous.
We arrived in Indianapolis, and were all setup a day or two in advance of the March celebrations.  To start off right, we joined a few family and friends at the neighborhood Murphy’s restaurant on St. Patty’s Day.  It was fun to tip a few and chow down on corned beef and cabbage, while catching up with our peeps who had weathered the long, frigid winter in Indy.
Two days later I was treated to my birthday lunch and a really cool time at the Indianapolis Museum of Art by Krissy.  Here I am inside the bamboo exhibit in the three-story lobby.  This is one art exhibit that you can touch. Imagine these reeds hanging from about 50 feet(??) up, just a few inches apart, in a huge circular design that you can walk through.  Oh well, it's hard to explain. The photo doesn’t do it justice!What a fantastic mother/daughter day we had. Krissy found a small, white-table-cloth restaurant for us to try with great food and nice atmosphere.  We saved our birthday brownie deserts for later when we knew we’d have restored our appetites after walking the museum.  The featured exhibit currently is Robert Indiana, “the Hoosier state’s most famous living artist.”  The exhibit includes his most iconic works, such as, the Love statue and his Numbers pieces.  There’s a good deal of background from interviews with him that bring some light to the motivations for his work.  It’s very interesting to learn about his history and what influenced the pieces he created. We used the audio tour to walk through while we heard all about Robert Indiana.  Plus, we roamed through more of the creations on other floors in the museum before our feet were beat. For instance, look at this unusual piece of artwork - it’s actually wearable!  Want to try to order a McDonalds wearing this?!  Krissy and I thoroughly enjoyed my birthday browsing both contemporary and ancient works of art.  http://www.imamuseum.org/ 
About the time we got settled back into our condo at Cape Cod Village, April started out with a treat.  Mary Jo (friend since high school) came to visit from New Mexico.  Of course, she has other folks to see besides me.  But I was lucky enough to have some time with her on three occasions during her week in Indiana.  Thankfully, we never lose touch.  Between visits on our travels, her occasional trips back to Indy, email and phone calls, we keep each other up-to-date pretty well.  But these times when we can just talk together like old times are the best.  We had a super time on our day in Nashville, IN, with her cousin, Nancy, (great gal). It was a blast for the three of us to make the trip to Brown County, cruise around the state park we all love, and then browse for the afternoon in the shops in Nashville.   Here are Nancy and Mary Jo with a furry stuffed friend we found outside a local establishment.   And I had to stop to say hello to Abe at the woodcarver’s shop, too.

The latest celebration was just a few days ago with Grandson Ben.  He’s 19! It seems incredible that he’s grown from that little boy drawing pictures in our living room to this 6-foot-something young man on the road to being an electrician.  We sure enjoyed having a birthday evening at Applebee’s with Ben and his sister, Caroline.  Here’s Ben and Gramps having one of those special moments.
Our lives seem pretty fluid right now.  We’ve given Ferd the last sprucing up.  He’s awaiting the anticipated transfer to a new owner.  We’re just moving into a new phase in our lives -- whatever it turns out to be.  For sure, we plan to roam some more.   Who knows where, when or how.  Keeps life interesting!

Taking Time for Ferd in Texas

Just like any home, Ferd needs upkeep and updates.  That’s where we are for a few days – Motorhomes of Texas in Nacogdoches.  Our northwest travels from Gulf Shores, Alabama, included a few days in Livingston, Texas, at the Rainbow’s End Escapees Park, our “headquarters.”  But after picking up our mail at our box and making our appointment for the motorhome, we meandered north about 75 miles to have the necessary Ferd enhancements. 

Our good experiences over the years with MOT bring us back when we can reasonably work it into our path.  So, now it’s time again for watching and waiting while the work gets done.  Let’s see….broken windshield, generator has a broken support bar, brakes need repairs and engine needs service….and then, on the road coming up here our alternator decided to bite the dust!  The repairs list keeps growing. 

Oh yeah, we’re also sprucing up the finish on poor old Ferd.  You know, he’s about 19 years old now and he’s pretty dull. There’s a deep polish we can get to bring back some of the original luster.   It took some consideration and contemplation on this elective stuff.  We talked with two or three people here about the benefits and results.  After discussing the budget, etc, we decided to get ‘er done!  Can’t erase all the years of wear with just this fix, or revive the cracks in the decals. But Ferd will have a bigger smile, a nicer finish.  Kindof like me having a Botox treatment, but keeping the cellulite and gray hair – noticeable improvement, while keeping a few badges of time!

So for now, we’re settled in. Comfortable... using the pleasant surroundings in the customers lounge, free coffee and internet and tv...and living in Ferd when the employees move us outside for the night’s stay. Of course, as soon as they position us inside the bay in the a.m. for the day’s work, we’re off to a breakfast spot. We’re on our second night parked here and expect to be here two more. If you have to spend the time and money, MOT is our choice of the place to do business.  The people are straight with you on what’s involved, do a professional job and are extremely pleasant.  We hear so many “yes Ma’ams and Sirs” and “ya’ll need anythings?” from these courteous Texans that you just have to feel welcome.  The guys on the work crew make sure we have electricity and answer any questions before locking the gate in the evening.  (we have the code!)

These maintenance trips are among the ingredients of this lifestyle that aren’t the most favorite times, that’s for sure.  But, just as other activities/toys/hobbies that any of us choose, we have to keep it up to enjoy it.   Whether you have a yacht, a cabin, a pop-up camper or a bicycle….there’s always something to do.  Right?  Please say yes! 

We’ll soon be taking roads to warmer places again.  And our home on wheels will be purring along much smoother and shinier.

Thanks for visiting Hurley Travels.  See you down the road!  Be safe.

Goin Up Around The Bend -- Indiana to Alabama

There’s a place up ahead and I’m goin’…..Come along, come along with me………

We’ve had fun over these past nine years of travels goin up around the bend with this CCR song. This one just fits – and there are plenty of memories connected.  So now there’s another place up ahead.  We’re on another winter road trip, south from Indiana to Alabama….so far that is.

This trip started a little differently.  We were both indecisive in the weeks leading up to our late-November departure about our destinations and which roads we wanted to take to those places.  We gave ourselves options……Texas or Alabama or Florida, or maybe all three.   So, we just headed south from Indianapolis on I-65,  with our first night’s stop chosen  - Nashville, Tennessee.  

As we hit Nashville, the reports started coming in about the huge winter storm heading east that could cause highway concerns. So, it was easy then to decide to take the shortest route to warmer temps in the Gulf Shores area of Alabama.  The ride through Tennessee and Alabama was smooth and mostly sunny. 

No matter how many times we travel the same road, though, there’s usually something new, to us anyway.  You know how you aren’t always looking at the details?  I know I’ve been there, but this time I paid attention to the rocket at the welcome center as we came into Alabama.  Actually, it’s a Saturn 1B and it’s located in Elkmont, Alabama.  This is just right there along the highway.   And just because, here are a few details I found:

Installed in 1979, the 224 foot tall Saturn 1B was a forerunner of the Saturn 5 launch vehicle for NASA missions. It boosted unmanned Apollo modules and a few orbital trips.

In the late 1990s, you could stop at this Alabama border Welcome Center, stand under the engines and imagine how the blast of takeoff would feel (like Alabama in August?). Renovations to the exhibit since then prevent strolling under the rocket.

Anyway, after a leisurely two-and-a-half-day ride from Indy, we arrived on Monday, November 25, at the Rainbow Plantation Escapees Park in Summerdale.  The park makes a nice stopover spot, comfortable parking on grass in a quiet area.  Although we don’t like the slow Internet much. But, since we were both still recovering from coughs and colds, it was nice to just settle for a while.  And we also were thinking it would help to find some of the good shrimp etouffee we remember from our other visits. 

We’ve had a nice time checking on the ocean at Gulf Shores, exploring a future parking spot at the Gulf State Park and eating fish/seafood. Oh yeah, we had a quiet Thanksgiving dinner in our little home, steak, mashed potatoes, salad and chocolate crumb cake.  And the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn fans are very evident in this region, to put it lightly.  They’ve been preparing for the excitement of that big game, decorating their cars and getting ready for the huge event last Saturday.  Well, if you didn’t see the last few seconds of that one, I can’t begin to describe It!!!

Meanwhile, there’s another project that was on our planning list; Ferd needs some maintenance and repairs.  So, now we’re making phone calls, pricing and planning for that.  If possible, we prefer to have maintenance done in Nacogdoches, Texas, home of Foretravel.  Besides, we haven’t visited Livingston in a while, our “rving home,” that’s along the way between Alabama and Nacogdoches.  So, we’ll be taking a northwesterly route to do some necessary stuff.  We’ll look for a few new turns in the road through southern Louisiana and Mississippi as we go.  See you later.  

Goin Up Around the Bend

Songwriter: JOHN FOGERTY

There's a place up ahead and I'm goin'
Just as fast as my feet can fly
Come away, come away if you're goin',
Leave the sinkin' ship behind.
CHORUS:
Come on the risin' wind,
We're goin' up around the bend.
Ooh!
Bring a song and a smile for the banjo,
Better get while the gettin's good,
Hitch a ride to the end of the highway
Where the neons turn to wood.
[CHORUS]
Ooh!
You can ponder perpetual motion,
Fix your mind on a crystal day,
Always time for a good conversation,
There's an ear for what you say.
[CHORUS]
Yeah!
Ooh!
Catch a ride to the end of the highway
And we'll meet by the big red tree,
There's a place up ahead and I'm goin'
Come along, come along with me.
[CHORUS]

What’s Up After Our Winter Travel ?

We did a “study” this winter -- just low key and personal, that is.  A few of our questions are at least partially answered.  Do we want to continue our RVing now that we have another home in Indianapolis? Is the lifestyle still as attractive?  Or are we ready to hang up Ferd’s keys?   

How did we feel about taking to the road again?  Did the traveling still have its attraction? 

Honestly, after the 18 months break in 2011-2012, we easily readjusted to our life in the motorhome last Fall.  Seeing some old friends and traveling to a few new places was very enjoyable.  And missing the ice and snow in the Midwest was a no-brainer!  We had a great time out on the road over the past five months.  Ferd continues to make a nice home for us and is comfortable for traveling.  Leaving the condo seems to have worked out without problems…at least for this winter. 

Results of the study are: We are still feeling fortunate to be able to move around in Ferd at our leisure.   We’ll continue to maintain this two-sided way of living for now. 

So anyway, we are resettled into our little place here in Indianapolis for a while. Unpacking Ferd was not fun, but we survived.  There are many projects on the to-do list for our condo.  One aspect we were considering was a new TV satellite or cable service. Whether we wanted to put the Dish Network TV satellite “on vacation” and get something different for home.  Check that one off! We investigated, evaluated, arranged and overcame the headaches of the process. We not only have a new Uverse modem and DVR, we are enjoying new selections on our Amazon account.  Thanks friends for the input we received this winter from those of you who were way ahead of us on these options. It’s great!

We’re also  busy remembering where everything might be and finding those things that we left undone or developed over the winter.  For instance, the weeds went crazy with all the rain. I’m pulling weeds and planting.  Jerry’s fixing indoor lights and planning a workbench in the garage.  No hurry though. We’re taking it slow.

One of the projects that was on my agenda was to scan, organize and backup computer files, especially the scads of photos that were in storage. I’ll never really finish this little endeavor.  But, I always have fun looking back at the oldies. 

So now, my brain’s busy coming up with other ways to have fun with these old photos. Some of you know I’ve started using these days-gone-by pics to create  cards with a little different wrinkle. Now, I’ve decided to reuse a few as Facebook cover and profile pictures.  I started with one of Jerry and me with Ole Yeller from a few years ago.  You can see it on my FB page. 

But all this scanning has to lead elsewhere, right?

How about we do some time travel to the past here on the blog?!  I’ll dig out one or two old photos each week for a post. Who knows what will pop up!

Since this special lady’s birthday is this weekend, I’ll kick off with Krissy.

Happy, Happy Birthday, Krissy.  Love you lots!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for visiting Hurley Travels.  Stay safe.

Click On Our New Page of RV Lifestyle Aides

Everybody has their own way of doing what they do.  Right? I bet you just had two or three thoughts flash through your mind.  You have your own particular way of working on the car or making a favorite recipe or packing for a trip.  Whatever it is, you have certain resources you count on to help you decide how to get it done.  Well, that applies to RVing as well.  Over the years Jerry and I have come to count on some key resources for planning our travels, including the experiences that were passed forward by friends. So, what would be a better use for a page on Hurley Travels than to share a listing of our resources? Ta Da!  You will notice at the top left a link to our “RV Lifestyle Aides” page.  Hopefully, you’ll find a few pointers to add to your enjoyment of RVing.

We also invite suggestions for making this list more “resourceful.” Feel free to comment about your favorite sources.  There’s room for expansion on our list.

Thanks for stopping by at Hurley Travels. Talk to you later.

Northeast to Matanuska Glacier – Alaska Adventure 2010

Whoops! This post is out of order.  I missed it when I was catching up ---  Here’s July 9:  It was late on Friday afternoon.  The Jeep repairs were completed.  And we thought it best to move out of the Anchorage area before the mass exodus of citizenry heading for the fishing holes and campgrounds for the weekend.  A big thanks goes out to our friend Mat Rude, an Anchorage resident, for the referral to a repair shop for the Jeep.

By about 3:00 p.m. we chose a tentative destination about 80 miles east on the Glenn Highway and Ferd cruising east through the Mat-Su Valley. Around the community of Palmer we noticed our first views of farms. These agricultural fields are a part of the colony established in 1935 as a federal relief program.  Descendants of the 203 original colonizing families that migrated mostly from Minnesota and Wisconsin still produce an abundance of vegetables for local sale.  We were enjoying the variations of terrain when I noticed a caution note in the Milepost:  “Narrow, winding road eastbound…no passing lanes…7 % grades, 35-mph curves, soft dirt shoulder, steep dropoffs…..”  No kidding!  Sometimes there were no guard rails.  The  Matanuska River below was a nice view, but it wouldn’t be much fun descending via the steep dropoff.  So, we enjoyed the scenery a little more slowly, Jerry doing a top-notch driving job, of course.  :D

Since we had a late start we were considering making it an 80-mile day anyway, perhaps stopping at the Matanuska Glacier area for the night. That roadway helped us decide.  When we arrived at the glacier,  the generous parking area and super views cinched it. It was a great place to soak up another glorious nature show.  As the evening passed, people from around the world stopped by to enjoy the show with us.  We were relaxed and ready to be on our way early toward Valdez the next morning.

Here are some scenes from the day’s drive:

Hatcher Pass is near Palmer, Alaska.  It is named for the gold miner Robert Hatcher who had success during the Gold Rush in these mountains. Point at the photo below with your cursor for another aspect of this scene. 

Matanuska Glacier on the Glenn Highway, 101 miles east of Anchorage.  The glacier’s average width is two miles and it is over 18,000 years old.  At the terminus the melt water drains into a stream that flows into the river in the photo above.   This was our overnight spot, but it wasn’t that cold! We were about a mile away.

All Aboard – Great Falls to Shelby, MT

Our Great Falls, MT, visit ended this morning when the volts on our rebuilt alternator finally cranked correctly.  Ferd is once again purring along.  Knock on wood! 

But, wait a minute.  Instead of tapping our toes yesterday we took a ride around town. Loved this mural on one of the buildings downtown. Hope there’s no days like this fellow had in our near future.  The closest we came so far to wildlife in Great Falls is the prairie dogs living in the field next to the repair facility.

But we did hunt down a super, nostalgic restaurant that I read about in a community newspaper.  Fords Drive In on West Central Avenue now has our vote, along with Food Network Magazine’s judgment as the best burger in northwestern Montana. They use only fresh ground beef from local producers. Very good.  Fords is also known for their shakes…..50 flavors, including Montana huckleberry, rum & coke and bubble gum.  I tried caramel and Jerry had chocolate.  Not too adventurous, but delicious.

The car hops run to your car. No wonder the smiling girl we had was so slim.  It was a fun place to visit, especially for those of us who can remember when these types of “drive-ins” were  a part of our youth. Just thought I’d share.   

So anyway, about heading “North to Alaska” again. It was a short trip today, but one that got us on track again.  We traveled north from Great Falls to Shelby, Montana, a meager 75 miles. Our general delivery mail was waiting for us at the friendly Shelby post office. We made sure to eat or throw out any produce, vegetables and opened meat tonight. Now we are poised for the 30-mile trip to the Canadian border tomorrow. 

Take care everyone.  See you down the road. 

Travels and Troubles in the Hurley Corral

We’ve glimpsed quite an array of enjoyable western United States scenery over the past three days on on interstate 15 northbound.  There are so many stretches of miles that have low traffic and outstanding views.  The scenes varied from red cliffs, the Salt Lake, snow-topped mountains, ranch-filled valleys, swift streams to pine trees -- from southern Utah, through Idaho, to northern Montana.    But the trip also took some slightly unwelcome bends.   

One of our stops was Cabela’s in Nehi, Utah, to look for a few important items for the Alaska adventure.   We stocked up on some highly-recommended insect repellant, found the hiking shoes I (Nancy) wanted and sampled the delicious bison and venison brats at the in-store restaurant.  Cabela’s has roomy rv parking accommodations just a short walk from the store.  The setting is high on a bluff with blue-sky-snow-powdered-mountains at 360 degrees.  We had a prime resting spot for the night.

The next two days included tremendous scenes in eastern Idaho and western Montana, still on I-15. Winding through southern Montana, following the railroad tracks through Clark Canyon, the small western towns are reminders of times past. As we reached the mountain passes in Montana the spring snow melt was evident in the quickly-flowing creeks.  We enjoyed seeing fly fisherman doing their thing. And we watched real cowboys doing their thing - cutting cattle. 

Our route turned a little bit nasty in the mountain passes south of Butte when snow shortened our visibility considerably.  Here are a couple of photos snapped as we zig-zagged at about 7,000 feet. 

The weather cleared up as we went into the valley nearing Butte.  But that’s when another of our trip’s glitches occurred.  Jerry noticed Ferd’s  voltage meter taking jumps occasionally from 14 to 16 volts. Not a maintained spike, but still enough to get his attention.  We regrouped at a rest stop in Helena where we searched the Internet for a possible repair facility. Since the larger city of Great Falls provided more possible choices, we moved on for another 75 miles.  This brings us to our current location, Dick’s RV Park in Great Falls. The people are friendly, the park is clean and the accommodations are decent – a place to take care of business. Thanks to my mechanically-minded husband (Good ole Gramps!) and helpful Foretravel online friends, we are locating and ordering a new alternator. Installation will follow.

When all is said and done, this will be just another bump in the road.  Besides, this area of the country also happens to be having an unseasonable cold snap (snowy and frigid!). We’ll pause for a few days to remedy Ferd’s little annoyance and let the weather improve somewhat. Then we’ll take our next step toward Alaska.  We are just about 100 miles from Canada now.  Those glaciers are nearing. Stay safe and keep smiling. We’ll see you down the road.

Chilling Out and Staying Warm in Texas

What to do when it's cold outside? Well, how about cooking, watching movies and playing on the computer? I'm sure there are other suggestions. But we'll just talk about these here. (LOL!)

We finished with Ferd's maintenance in Nacogdoches in shorter time than anticipated, since our refrigerator decided to begin working flawlessly again. Why go through the hassles of replacing it now when it's purring along, right? Time to get down the road again. But, not too far this time.

Since we were only 90 miles from our mail service at the Escapees park in Livingston, we stopped in for a few days. The park's a nice place to layover for laundry and catching up on chores. Of course, it is cold here, as in most of the rest of the country. It's been in the teens at night and about 40 deg. for the daytime high. Although the sun is shining brightly; so a walk is great.
What better to do when it's cold outside than to make a pot of chili, watch movies and play on the computer. Jerry made some fantastic, spicey, chicken chili that warmed the "inards." We've been wanting to watch the John Adams HBO series on DVD that our good friend Karen recently loaned us. So now we are now up to Part VI.
Of course, I've also been playing on the computer. I needed some time to explore with Picasa photo software and YouTube and other things. So, here's one of my experiments: Looking Back at 2009. It's about three minutes of selected photos.

The first link is to Picasa albums online. Please click here: Movie Link. The quality seems inferior so I'll have to investigate that. If you have to know my email address in Picasa, it would be nhurley1010 at gmail dot com.

The second experiment is with uploading through Blogger below.

Thanks for looking. Let me know what you think and what you do to post videos, slideshows, etc. Is this too long, or maybe you have a better way. Would love to hear from you in our comments section or by email.

Meanwhile, stay tuned and stay warm!

Love Bugs ??

Well we did it. We are now Texas residents. There was a pause between hurricane weather, Gustav and Ike, so we came south again to stay at the Escapees park in Livingston and take care of our business.

Wait just a minute though. These last few days weren't exactly easy going. But not for the reason you might expect. Registering and inspecting vehicles, obtaining drivers' licenses and registering to vote, all went very smoothly. We found helpful people everywhere. While we were at it we even braved a Verizon store visit and added a second phone to our plan. Smooth sailing on that too. (By the way, we found there is a $59.99 deal for two lines, 450 minutes. If you are in the area and need help, the sales people at the Cleveland, TX, store are fantastic.)

But, seriously, the nightmare in this past week has been the invasion of the "love bugs." This was anything but a loving experience. It's a miniature version of "The Birds." These are swarming, repulsive creatures that coat the front of your vehicle with extremely sticky matter that can damage the finish and clog the radiator. We ran into them on Highway 59 heading south from Nacogdoches to Livingston. In about a 50 mile stretch they battered the front of Ferd so that it was getting difficult to see. Every vehicle coming toward us on the highway looked as though it was coated by a king-sized pepper grinder. When you step out the door they are busily buzzing in pairs, surrounding you. The only remotely positive feature about them is that they seem so exhausted from their mating that they move very slowly. They are easy to smash when you have to eliminate the ones inside your home.

Here's the info I found on the Internet about them: Soon after rainy periods in the spring and especially in the fall in the wooded Upper Coast counties of Texas, "lovebugs ' emerge as adults and mate in swarms around roads and buildings. These insects are actually flies (Diptera) of the family Bibionidae, having the scientific name, Plecia nearctica Hardy. The common name "lovebug" has been given to these black colored, orange-backed flies because they are most often seen flying around in mating pairs.

We haven't been to this area of Texas in late summer so we weren't aware that these nasty bugs sometimes emerge after a heavy rainy season. The only way to avoid them seems to stay inside and do not travel during the hours of approximately 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Warmth seems to draw them out. The locals are saying this is the worst they have seen them. Just our luck!

But so much for the Hitchcock experience, we finished our business and scooted out of the area as soon as possible. Besides, hurricane Ike is on the way to southeast Texas. It's time to move northwest toward northern New Mexico or southern Colorado for a while.

Our New Home

After considering a switch from our 5th wheel to a motorhome for about a year, we got serious and found a possible prospect for a new home during our adventures in Texas in November. The negotiation worked out pretty comfortably but the transaction was a bit more difficult. What a week! From the time we agreed on a price for "Ferd" the Foretravel motorhome on November 20 until we finalized the transaction on November 28 was an ordeal to remember. It was a lesson in working with wire transfers, banks and investment companies that we would prefer to limit to that one occasion. How does money go to a bank in Wisconsin that has no relation to one in Indiana when you have provided the routing numbers??? Beats me!

Having recovered from those days of frustration, we snuggled our 5th wheel alongside our newly-acquired motorhome and proceeded to sort, pitch, uninstall, reinstall, reorganize and sell as needed for five days, until we had our belongings somewhere in Ferd. We were fortunate that we had a nice location, the Escapees Alamo RV Park in Hondo, Texas, where the people were friendly and very helpful. By the time we finished our move it was time to turn the wheels toward Indianapolis for our Christmas visit.