Chapter 20 Rally, Manheim PA

                                      Great to be ‘HOME’
No, we did not really go ‘home’, but to a Chapter 20 Rally. We have so many good friends there that it seems like going home. We arrived on Tuesday which gave us time to settle in before everyone else got there. We spent Tuesday evening with Bill and Lois Boose, talking about Alaska. Lois retired from teaching this year and then had both knees replaced. She is doing well, so they are off on their first real ‘full timers trip’. They were going to the Gypsy Journal Rally in Ohio and then they are venturing west for the winter and eventually to Alaska next summer. Happy Trails.
On Wednesday and Thursday more people arrived. We had a social hour on Wednesday and then on Thursday we all went out to eat. Friday the hosts served us dinner and we had a great time visiting with friends. Saturday was breakfast, business meeting and a pot luck dinner in the evening, followed by a very lively auction. We had a wonderful time and we are looking forward to seeing some people over the winter and more people at the SKP ACRE Rally in Marion NC in April.
                 Ann, Fran and Ira                                             Ira, Joe and Rudy
We headed home on Sunday, not sure what we would find for detours once we got close to home. We were not able to come home on Route 414 through Canton so we traveled north through Troy and home on Route 6. There was one detour around a bridge in East Troy and in Luther’s Mills there was a large section of road that was washed away. They have bulldozed all of the debris away and we had quite a drop onto old road bed and then a good bump  back up onto pavement. When we got home, everything was fine, just looked like no one had been living here for about six months! If it ever stops raining here we can get some mowing done.
We had a great five months on the road, but it is great to be home again. Lots to do before we head out again in November.

Tragedy at Home

                                 Severe flooding and devastation
I have never rally been a fan of Facebook, but I have changed my opinion. While we were traveling on September 7th, I had the laptop open and I was browsing a lot of my favorite sites. I knew that there had been a lot of rain at home from Hurricane Irene but now they were being pounded by the tropical storm. The first I read was that schools were dismissing early. Then I read that NEB was not dismissing children because the roads were too dangerous for the busses. OH, oh….Then pictures started appearing on Facebook of bridges that were collapsing all over the place in Bradford County.







Flooding has closed roads all over Bradford and Sullivan Counties as well as north up in the Owego and Vestal areas. Many stores and homes are flooded and destroyed. Devastations were everywhere close to the Susquehanna River and near local creeks and rivers.
Shannon made her way to Athens, where Keith works. They took the shop truck to try to make it home. They were able to take a round about route and get to the NEB school to pick up the boys. They made it safely home to Warren Center from there. They were home Thursday and Friday with no power, but Keith ran a generator to keep the sump pump working in the basement as well as keeping their food cold in the refrigerator. Thankfully, they have a gas stove so they were able to cook their food.
Keith made it to our house and called to say that all was well there except that there was no power. I heard from a neighbor that the power came back on Friday evening. The pond was very full but Keith said it appeared to be draining out the emergency spillway, which was what it was designed to do.
Most damage appears to be to roads, buildings and to cars. Shannon’s van and Brandon’s car that were left in Athens are now history, water up to the roof. Keith was able to make it to the shop and help with some clean up there. They are hoping to reopen on Tuesday. Shannon’s residents were all evacuated to Ithaca NY and she does not know if she can even get there to work, so many roads are closed.
I have heard that Towanda School District will try to open on Monday but I have not heard about any others. Trying to route the busses to pick up the children will be a monumental task. There are four bridges out on Route 187 I think, maybe more. Pennsylvania Avenue from Vestal down to PA is closed due to a bridge being out.
Our prayers are with everyone affected by the flood. At this time we are not sure what route will be open for us to get home. We are hoping that we will be able to get the RV home…….Not sure at this time.

Alaska Trip September 2-11, 2011

                                                   VCR Rally
After may SKP hugs and handshakes we packed up and left Gillette Wyoming and the 2011 Escapade. We traveled east and settled in Elk View Campground in Sturgis SD. They had saved the closest spot for us. It was a nice level spot and we were soon all hooked up and watching the rest of the VCR (Volunteer Club Representatives) arrive. At 4:00 PM there were some SKPs wandering around looking for a Happy Hour. We found a shady spot beside our RV and set up Social time. We had a good time visiting with friends, old and new.
Of course, SKPs travel on their stomachs, so we all dispersed to go find dinner. Some people went into Deadwood to a buffet but Keith and Shirley Murphy, Betty Bear and Phil and I headed into Sturgis to Pizza Hut. Between $10 specials on the large pizza and our Senior Discount, dinner cost us less than $15. Plus we had half a pizza left over for breakfast on Saturday.
We had a quiet day on Saturday. We had a Pot Luck Dinner Saturday night, followed by an Auction for CARE.  We were pleased that a half gallon of PA Maple Syrup that we had donated sold for $100. Also, a bottle of champagne from my stash went for $50. Phil bought me a goody bag for $50. and a hair cut for another $50. and I bought a Carnival Glass covered dish for $20. Care did well by us that night.
Then  the VCR training started on Sunday. It was a full and productive day.  Susie Orr taking pictures:

The day ended with a great steak dinner provided by the campground.
Sunday morning Denny and Susie serenaded me under the bedroom window with “Happy Birthday to you…”. Nice way to start the day. Everyone also sang to me when we came in to breakfast. Again, there were lots of hugs and handshakes before we were all on our way.
We headed for Council Bluffs IA to the Camping World. We had an appointment the next day to have a new washer installed in the RV. We had not really looked at the mileage on the map before setting up this appointment. We traveled over 500 miles to get to Council Bluffs and then had to go around a detour of an extra 50 miles before reaching Camping World. They have had flooding along the Missouri River.
We reached Camping World after missing the road and having to find somewhere to turn around. We slept well that night in their parking lot. Phil was up early the next morning and had the front windshield washed and everything ready for Camping World by 8 AM. We went inside and signed papers and headed out for breakfast. We could not find the Cracker Barrel but did find Perkins. So we had breakfast, visited Sam’s Club and went back to Camping World. The RV had been moved and we checked the inside and sure enough, I had a new washer in place, all ready to use! Old washer was gone never to be seen again.
Before we set out, I called our friends Dave and Karen Long from Iowa. They were in Bellevue camped at a county park. So, we set out to find them. It was another long travel day, as we needed to cross Iowa and then go NE from Iowa City to Bellevue. However, we were able to get there before dark, and after a few wrong or missed turns, we were successful. Dave and Karen were just returning to the campground from a day trip around the time we arrived. So, of course we set up, did some visiting and then headed out to supper. There was a neat restaurant next door that we enjoyed.
The county park was RIGHT on the Mississippi River. We could watch the barges going up and down the river from our camp sites. So early in the afternoon we headed downtown to the locks to watch the barges go in and out of the locks. Here are some pictures of the barges:
 
Tug pulling barge into lock.






This barge was full of trash recovered in a River Cleanup Mission.
 
                                             

                         The next ship in the lock, headed north. What a pretty sight.

We enjoyed our short visit with Dave and Karen and gave hugs before setting out the next day. We traveled into Illinois for the night and then on to Ohio. We will be heading for our Chapter 20 Rally in Manheim PA next week.

Week Twenty and Twenty one ~ Alaska Trip

                               August 22-September 2
We arrived first in Buffalo, Wyoming and stayed there for two days before heading into the Escapade. We noticed several other people with Escapee stickers on their rigs. So we hosted a SKP Happy Hour on our second night. We met some neat people and had a good time.
On August 24th we traveled the rest of the distance to Gillette Wyoming. We were met by the smiling Parking Crew. They escorted us to our site and helped Phil to back in. It was easy, when we got there the lot was almost empty! Everyone else filled in around us as the week went on.

As soon as we were all hooked up, we headed to the Office to see Molly and get our assignments. Phil was the Handicap Host and they supplied him with a radio and a golf cart. On Friday he greeted all the rigs with Handicapped People, gave them their instructions and provided his phone number. If anyone needed a ride to or from the Cam-Plex they would call Phil and he would shuttle them back and forth. So, he was ‘on call’ all through the Escapade to supply rides for handicapped people. They did find several odd jobs for him to do as well through out the time we were there.
The Cam-Plex was a beautiful set up. All air conditioned, thankfully. We had a 50 AMP hook up which made life easier for us, we could run both air conditioners and keep the rig cool. It was in the high 90’s several days. Of course, in the mid west that means you can have some pretty severe storms and we did have a couple.



My assignment was the Newsletter Editor.  I was concerned about not having enough information to fill the two pages I would produce daily. NOT a problem. Anyway, this kept me out of trouble for a while. I produced the newsletter, sent it to the Escapade Director (Molly), she sent it to Headquarters in Livingston TX. From there it was emailed to almost every participant in the Escapade. This was a large task, as we had about 680 rigs attending. I would then also post the news on the Escapee’s Forum as well as on the web site I had created for the event.

Opening ceremonies were impressive. Quite a few people.

It was a very busy week of seminars, craft classes, staff dinners, chapter socials, coffee and donuts in the mornings and entertainment in the evenings. WOW! Busy time!  Here are pictures of the campground that Phil took. They are side by side, not the same pictures.
 

 

There were parked several rows deep. This is Boxelder where the attendees were. There was another whole section that held staff, vendors and handicapped parking.


Here is a picture of BIG RED TRUCK that they use to ferry supplies back and forth from Livingston TX to Escapade.
Anyway, exciting times. We saw many, many friends and made some new ones. The Escapee motto is, ‘The more involved you become, the more fun you will have.’ That holds true for us. We had a wonderful time.
We are now in Sturgis SD and a small VCR Rally. We have some training, but these people also Play Hard! We are expecting to have a great weekend. I’ll let you know soon.

Week Nineteen and beyond~ Alaska Trip August 14-21

                   Eureka MT to Pincher Creek Alberta to Montana

Sunday morning we were ready to head on down the road from Libby MT. We traveled back on Route 37 north toward Eureka MT. We had done part of this road last week. It was a beautiful drive. After the Libby Dam there was Lake Koocanusa which runs beside Route 37 all the way to the Canadian Border and beyond before it becomes a river again. It provided some beautiful views and made for a memorable drive.

At this point there were people all over the rock formation to the left. They were climbing this outcropping of rock to take pictures and to get a better view. Not me!! Made my stomach funny just to see them out there.
We traveled to Eureka MT where we had made a reservation by phone for the night. We pulled into a campground that had the same name as the one I had called, to find out it wasn’t. This one was not an RV park, but a trailer park. So, we unhooked and went searching. Phil even went to the local Police Department and they had never heard of the campground. They called the campground number for us and the number was not a working number. So, we settled into their small city park to boondock for the night, $5.00 fee. It was a nice little park right by the river and there was a small museum and such next door.









We had a good time watching the locals enjoy the river and the park. There were also two couples tenting in the park. When we got up the next morning we discovered that a truck had pulled in after we went to bed and they had strung up three hammocks for sleeping. What they DIDN’’T know was that the sprinklers to water the grass come on automatically in the morning. We got the windshield of the truck washed, but they got a little more! They were rudely awakened by their uninvited morning shower and quickly packed up to leave!
We were not far behind them, heading north to Canada again. This time we were heading through British Columbia to Alberta for the Chapter 44 Escapee Rally. Again, we encountered some gorgeous scenery along the way.

 
The most remarkable site that we encountered was after Crowsnest Pass, known as Frank’s Slide. In 1903 there was a tremendous avalanche that buried most of the town of Frank in about 100 seconds. Somewhere between 70 to 90 people were lost. All of the granite boulders are still there and there is little to no vegetation growing in the area.

I would encourage you to just do a Google Search on Frank’s Slide, Alberta Canada and read about it.





You really need to see the site in person to begin to comprehend the vast area of devastation that took place. The Canadian government is still monitoring the mountain because it is still considered to be unstable. It makes me think back to all of the areas that we have driven through that were labeled ‘Slide area, do NOT stop!’.

We arrived at Pincher Creek just after noon and set up. We then went up to register for the rally and the fun began! We had a wonderful week of food, fun and fellowship with people that we did not know, but soon they all became good friends. We were at Heritage Acres in Alberta. There was a museum on site and there was lots of interesting things to see. Cars, tractors, a grain elevator, windmill, etc.  Check out the Picasa Web album to see all the pictures of neat things.
 

 

It was Chapter 44’s Fifteenth Anniversary so we were treated to a delicious Anniversary Dinner with Prime Rib and all the fixin’s. There was entertainment. The next night we feasted on leftovers and there was entertainment again. On Friday morning the gentlemen treated the ladies to a Hitch Up Breakfast. The ladies all dress up, including hats, and the gentlemen escort us to the tables and serve us coffee and breakfast. The men also did all of the cleanup. What a treat.

Maitre D and waiter…..








Thankfully I had a hat and boa with me! What fun.
We soon gave SKP hugs all around and began the next leg of our journey.









We ventured toward  Saskatchewan, but spent another night in Alberta. We found a campground in Medicine Hat that had Wifi, so that we could check email and see what was happening in the rest of the world. We had a super dinner at a buffet nearby that had both Chinese and American food. The next day we did travel into Saskatchewan and down into Montana. As we traveled south toward the US border from Swift Current, the road just kept getting more narrow and poorly maintained. We wondered several times if we had somehow gotten on the wrong road, but that would be difficult because there was only ONE road. We traveled very slowly and had no problems. There were only a few farms on the whole stretch of road. One has to wonder where these people shop and send their kids to school. They were truly in the BOONDOCKS!
We stayed at a small RV park in Malta MT. We had encountered a plague of grasshoppers and the front of the RV was COVERED. Phil (and everyone else that pulled into the campground) spent quite a bit of time cleaning the windshield and the front of the rig. What a job. The next day we traveled to Billings MT. Whoopee! They had a Sam’s Club.
We traveled on until we settled in Buffalo WY for two nights. This will give us time to catch our breath, do laundry and get ready for the Escapade.  We are looking forward to seeing a lot of friends and making some new ones.


Montana and Wyoming are pretty much high plains. There is a lot of hay and grass area for cattle to feed on. The mountains in the distance look like they have been painted on the sky.
  
Heading toward Gillette Wyoming and nine days of Escapee fun. I’ll keep you posted in a while……

Week Eighteen~Alaska Trip August 7-14

                              Kalispell MT to Libby MT
              SOMETHING OTHER THAN MOUNTAINS
                                 AND RIVERS!
We had a good week while we were in Kalispell MT. Sunday was our  46th Wedding Anniversary and our son Craig’s 41st birthday. Yes, he was our 5th Anniversary gift, one that we have never been able to top! Our week was up in Kalispell so we packed up and moved on. We had a lovely drive of about 90 west to Libby MT. No particular reason that we picked Libby, it just looked interesting.
Libby is a lovely little western town. It is called the ‘City of Eagles’. So, we went to the Visitor’s Center to see where the eagles were and how we could spot them. WELL, two local residents have made several metal sculptures of eagles and they are displayed all over town, so now it is ‘a City of Eagles’. The sculptures and murals around town are awesome. Double click on any picture to enlarge it.
    
With all the beautiful scenery in Alaska there was very little landscaping or yard flowers around. It is pleasant to be back in the lower  48 where people decorate their yards and streets.
They like to put a lot of things up in the air here as well.
       We are in a lovely RV park with a train nearby (of course). On Monday we took a drive up Route 37 toward Eureka. We will be taking that road on Sunday when we leave here, so Phil wanted to check out the road conditions for the RV. It turned out to be a very nice road. We only drove up about twenty miles. We were traveling beside the Kootenai River. There is a dam built by the Army Corps of Engineers that was quite impressive.
  

  







We couldn’t get it all in one picture. Then we drove up to view the dam from the top.
The scenery here in Montana is lovely. We had a good trip back.

OK, I had to give you at least ONE picture of mountains and rivers didn’t I??
Tuesday I spent on the computer, doing some web page work for DKG and also finishing the August edition of the Chapter 20 Newsletter. With that done, I will be able to concentrate on my work for the Escapade when we get there.
Wednesday we headed west into Idaho, just for fun. We followed the Kootenai River in the other direction and came to the falls.

This was still in Montana, then we arrived in Idaho and made our way south and east to the  Lake Pend Oreille. This is one BIG LAKE.
                                           Forgive me, I must educate:
Lake Pend Oreille is a lake in the northern Idaho Panhandle, with a surface area of 148 square miles (380 km²). It is 65 miles (105 km) long, and 1,150 feet (350 m) deep in some regions, making it the fifth deepest in the United States. It is fed by the Clark Fork River and the Pack River, and drains via the Pend Oreille River. It is surrounded by national forests and a few small towns, with the largest population on the lake at Sandpoint. All but the southern tip of the lake is in Bonner County. The southern tip is in Kootenai County and is home to Farragut State Park, formerly the Farragut Naval Training Station during World War II.


When we arrived at the Idaho/Montana border there was a dam that was started in the 1940’s and completed in the early 1950’s.
   This was impressive to see. The power of water is always very daunting to me.
The drive back up to Libby was pleasant. We had a dry, sunny day. Up in the 80’s but there is little humidity here. They could use a little rain.

Well, it is Wednesday evening and we don’t have much planned for the rest of the week. I’ll update this blog if we do anything interesting! All the photos will not make it to the Picasa Web Album for another day or so. My account is full (can you imagine??!) so I had to purchase more storage. When they have updated my account, I will add all of the latest pictures.
See ya!