Our August - September, 2006 Travelogue

Our August-September Pics are Here.

After arriiving back 'home' at the Airstream Park we had a lot of yard work to do to make the place look presentable. It had been ignored all spring. We even rescued a few cheap plants from the Shopko in St. Cloud and after some food and water they actually bloomed!

We mainly spent the month visiting relatives and friends as well as getting a bunch of doctor and dentist chores taken care of. All is well - mostly - nothing to keep us from migrating in October!

We did take some time to attend the Bayfront Blues Festival in Duluth, MN. We had made reservations at the Duluth Boat Basin last year for this event. We went with our friends Rich and Suzette, and had a great time.

Perhaps the biggest event of the summer was our decision to continue the full-time lifestyle for the next several years - at least. That decision was followed by a decision to upgrade our house - to get something a little bigger with more power. So the hunt for a motorhome was on - along with the old debate about motor home vs fifth-wheel - and we again decided on a motor home.

The motor home decision being made we started searching local dealers and the internet. Rich came through for us with an internet site we had not heard of before and a listing for a motor home about 130 miles West of our Park. After some phone calls and faxes we went to look at it - and loved it. After some negotiating we came home with a deal to buy it - a 40' 2002 Winnebago Journey DL. It's powered by a 330 hp CAT diesel engine with a six-speed Allison transmission, has 2 slides, etc., etc.

We are now ready to hit the road again. The only problem was we needed to get out of the Airstream Park - not an Airstream means you are not welcome there. Without delving into the details, we unloaded the Airstream motor home and park lot - somebody got a great deal, and we were able to hit the road without having to winterize and store the rig until next season.

Since we now have a house payment again we also decided to workcamp for the winter. We had a couple offers from small Texas Parks, and also sent out numerous letters. We decided on working at Alamo Rose - a park very close to MJ's parents home and a sister park of Tip of Texas where we spent last winter. MJ will be in the office and Randy is in Maintenance.

After we got the new rig we spent the end of September jumping about a bit - Baker Park Preserve West of Minneapolis, and Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Eagan. We decided to leave MN on the 28th of September. Our goal was to head West and see Devils Tower National Monument - then turn left and head South. We needed to make a detour to Forest City, IA to the Winnebago factory surplus store for dining room chairs. The fellow we bought the motor home from said the two chairs were in storage, and when we picked it up he completed that discussion by saying they were in storage in San Diego, CA! Lovely!

Even though our trip started in September, I have decided to continue this dialog in the October Travelogue for the sake of continuity. So - you can go there now by clicking here.