2012 Recap

2012 is past and many memories were made. Some are happy memories, some sad, some silly, and some bad. 

One of the most influential memories I will have from 2012 is the passing of my father in February. There were many times throughout the rest of the year when I’d say to myself “Dad would have loved to see this” or “This reminds me so much of Dad”.  I know his presence will always be with me and I’ll hold him dear to my heart.

My second special memory of 2012 is Paysen Marie Ramsey.  Chuck’s older daughter, Melissa, delivered our first grandchild on May 1.  I didn’t feel like a “Grammy” or “Nana” and we came up with the idea of my being “JoJo”. Chuck wanted to be “GrandDad” but because he had on a baseball cap with the name of a coffee shop in Bar Harbor emblazoned on it, everyone started calling him that name instead; “Grumpy”.  Only time will tell if Paysen likes our nicknames or not.

2012 was a year of travel for sure as Chuck and I continued our full-timing.  We left Florida in early March to return to Massachusetts for Dad’s funeral. We hung around New England for about a month and I did some more family genealogy research before working our way to NY and Pennsylvania, getting to Maryland just in time for the birth of Paysen. In mid-May we started our real travels and headed back to New England, spending a few days in the Portland ME area reconnecting with friends and professional services before pushing on.

By June we had crossed in to the Canadian Maritimes and reconnected with several campgrounds we had visited in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, as well as finding new locations to visit in Nova Scotia.  I think our favorite location during that part of the travels was staying at a campground outside Baddeck, on Cape Breton Island.

July brought us back to the United States and New England, first a brief stop in Maine and then a week stay in New Hampshire.  We had abandon our plans to travel westerly across Canada and decided to see the U.S. instead.  One of the places on our 2012 bucket list was to visit an RV manufacturing plant.  While in Elkhart IN we took advantage of touring at a Heartland facility. Very educational for us.

During this time, while checking an email, I discovered that there was a need for Care-A-Vanners at a Habitat for Humanity build in Brookings, SD.  We decided to sign up, and with a few weeks before the build date made a few more stops on our way west.  It was during this time that we discovered Pipestone, Minnesota and the Pipestone National Monument.  There is a lot of Native American history in this region.  I found this area very special for me spiritually and hope to get back again.

After our two week stint with Habitat was up, and because RV friends we knew from Maine 2011 were in Montana, Chuck, the pups and I headed west across South Dakota to meet up with our friends in Sturgis, SD.  (Bike Week had ended and the RV park had an outstanding deal which we couldn’t resist.)  We stopped in Mitchell SD, home of the Corn Palace and also at Wall Drug as we headed west of I-90.  

Upon crossing the Missouri River in SD, a whole different world opened before us. The landscape of our country was so different and beautiful.  We stopped for a few days in the Badlands National Park before joining Michael & Glenda in Sturgis for a week.  It was fantastic to reconnect with them in person and the week flew by.  While staying in Sturgis, Chuck and I drove to Mount Rushmore one day and Devils Tower another.  

Getting back on the road, we chose the Little Bighorn Battlefield for our next destination.   From there we headed to Yellowstone National Park, spending a few days on the east side of the park in Wapiti, WY, then to the west of the park in Island Park, ID.

By this point I was starting to feel overly visually stimulated and instead of trying to get to many more of the national parks, chose a few key locations we wanted to see during the year before finding a place to set up camp for the winter.  We headed to Las Vegas where I reconnected with a friend who I first knew when we both lived in Charlestown MA.  Kathryn and I hadn’t seen each other in 10 years and had a fun reunion.  And Chuck finally got to say he had been to Vegas.  I was able to share the Red Rock Canyon area with him which had always been the highlight of my trips to Vegas.

From Vegas we headed to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.  Words and photos do not give this beautiful area full justice - to me it is something you have to experience.  While in Arizona, we decided it was time to head back to Florida and chose 2 more most stop locations before getting back to the campground we stayed at the previous winter.

Our penultimate must see destination was Roswell NM, and as far as we recall, neither of us were abducted during that night.  Our final must see for the year was a visit to the Alamo in San Antonio TX.  Other than those places, the campgrounds we stopped at were strictly for resting and pushing on.

We arrived back in Leesburg, FL for October 1 and settled in to a routine at the resort.   Because we bought a new truck at the end of February, we knew exactly how many miles we had gone in the year, just under 20,000, sleeping in 25 states and 3 provinces.

At the end of Nov. our friends, Michael & Glenda coincidentally were in the same region as us and invited us to visit them at the campground they were at in Crystal River. The Crystal River campground was 1/4 the size of the Leesburg park, and had a more decidedly camping atmosphere vs  the mobile home park, and we decided to relocate to Crystal River for the winter.

Since arriving at this campground we’ve been kayaking with manatees and rode our motorcycles in a toy ride of over 300 bikers.  Mostly though, we’ve been relaxing and enjoying the company of friends and the outdoors.

When asked by people what we hope to do in 2013, we explain that our plans are written in ice cubes, ever changing with our whims.

Jetlag

We’ve crossed through 4 time zones over the past 2 two months, usually spending a few weeks in the new region before moving in to the next zone.  However, we’ve gone through 3 zones in 4 nights.

Traveling East to West, slowing down an hour was relatively easy on us humans, while the dogs, Rugby in particular, had issues.  

You see, Rugby knows what time it is and if he’s not being fed at the proper times (8 am and 6 pm) he lets us know. In the morning he’ll start “talking” with a soft yodeling type of sound. Once he’s out of his crate, Rugby comes and sits on our feet and gives us a sad eye look.  The body contact to make you aware of the time resumes at about 5:45 pm.

On our journey west, we’ve been able to wean him in to the new times, and within 3 or 4 days, Rugby knew his new time to eat was later than before. Now that we’re working our way east, Rugby’s loving that he gets to eat sooner then expected.

From the human point of view, it’s been the sleep point of view.  Chuck generally wakes up around 6am, and in the Central and Mountain time zones, that was still his routine. However, when we reached the Pacific zone, he slept until 7. Heading back east, the two mornings we were back to Mountain time, I awoke right at 6. Today we’re back in Central time and once again, we awoke around 6.  Mind you, except for the 2 weeks we did Habitat work, we haven’t set an alarm to wake us.  

For me, the oddest part of all these time zone changes has been the time the sun rises and sets.  Coming from Coastal Maine, where the sun rises and sets early, it’s odd to have sunrise at 7:40 in West Texas. (Sunrise in Portland ME was 6:30). The bonus to the later sunrise is a later sunset, making it easier to see as we walk the dogs at night.

Habitat for Humanity: RV Care-A-Vanner

Last year, the church we are members of in Maine participated in their first Mission Trip, assisting an organization with various repairs for multiple homeowners. I was able to be part of that group and enjoyed being able to assist those families with painting or minor carpentry skills.  

Because Chuck and I are retired and traveling all over, I started looking for similar opportunities for us as to help others. While searching the Internet, I learned about a group called Care-A-Vanners, folks with RVs who help at different Habitat for Humanity builds across North America.  CAVers use their RVs as their home during the build, most are fulltimers like us, but some people use vacation time to go and help in a different community from where they live.  We were going to join a build in FL last fall, but a family member’s health concerns delayed our plans.

In mid-July I received an email indicating a need for more RVers for a build taking place in Brookings, SD the following week.  Since we were approaching South Dakota and wanted to spend some time in our new home state, we decided to sign up.  A community hopes to get 5 or 6 RVs.  We learned there would be 1 other RV with us.

We arrived on Sunday, and met the other Care-A-Vanner who would be working with us.  They were an older couple who had participated in numerous Habitat builds, but the wife was no longer physically able to; staying “home” in their RV while the husband went to the build.  Unfortunately, they had a mechanical issue with their RV and had to leave after the first day. 

When we arrived at the home the first day, House 49 was just a cement foundation. We helped lay trip boards, put in flooring joists, flooring plywood, install S.I.P. (Structural Insulated Panels), build and frame walls and install roofing trusses. We operated table saws, chop saws, air guns and lots of hammers.

Over the next two weeks we generally spent 7 hours a day helping build a home for a mom and her two kids.  The work crew weekdays would be the general contractor, Chuck and myself.  Wednesday is a local volunteer day and we were joined by 7 to 10 people, including the homeowner, which allowed us to make greater headway.

One thing we didn’t anticipate when we signed up to be Care-A-Vanners with Habitat for Humanity in Brookings, SD, was extreme weather. The temperature was over 100 the first week and we were out in the bright sun.   Lunch was provided for the work site volunteers daily, and several days we left our build site to go to Habitat’s local office to cool off in their air conditioned space. One evening there was a severe thunderstorm and even a tornado watch in our region. 

Before the build, I had always thought that Habitat “Gave” people their homes in exchange for hours spent working on their home (or helping Habitat in some manner).  It turns out, each homeowner “Buys” their home at cost, financed with 0% interest thru Habitat.  A few times during our stay we heard Habitat does not give a hand out, but a hand up.

We seriously considered sticking around the community to join their next RV Care-A-Vanner build starting a week after our time ended, but the call of the wild in Yellowstone as well as more travel through the country convinced us it was time to move on. When we left Brookings after our two week stint, there was a lot more to do on the home, no way was it finished.  The anticipated completion and move in time for the homeowner and her children is Thanksgiving.  While there’s still much work for the community to do, it was a special time for Chuck and I to be able to participate.

Pipestone National Monument

Today we visited Pipestone National Monument in MN. Pipestone is a red rock similar in makeup to that of soapstone. As such the Native Americans would quarry for it to make pipes.

During our visit we watched a 20 minute documentary about the pipestone (or Catlinite as others call it) and how and why it was/is quarried.  We then were able to watch two interpreters work with the stone as well as see wonderful examples of different pieces of stone; pipes, jewelry, buffalo effigies, bowls, etc.

After spending some time in the air conditioned information building, we headed out for a short walk through some of the quarries and prairie land in the area. The grounds were delightful, although very hot and parched because of the severe drought the region has been experiencing.  There were some interesting overlooks and views along the paths. 

One of the things I found most interesting was the size of the quarries.  I was expecting large holes in the ground where trucks and bucketloaders might have once worked.  The pipestone quarries rather small.  They are all dug by hand.  Only members of nationally recognized tribes can apply for permits to dig and there are only a limited number of quarries.  The interpreter we spoke with said his quarry was about 15' long and currently 17' deep.  Because the vein of pipestone continues to the East, his quarry hole can go as far east as he wishes to dig. However, the vein is on a downward slope of 5 to 10 degrees, so he'll have to dig out even more quartzite before he gets to pipestone.

We took lots of photographs which we are sharing with you here.

Pipestone pipe - man in wolf costume

Horsehead - pipestone

Travis, shaping pipestone - the dark red piece on the table in front of his leg is the man in wolf costume

Pipestone pipe - man on horse pursuing buffalo

Blue Vervain

Pipestone Creek

Old Face

A couple of tourist

Winnewissa Falls

Oracle through looking hole

Pipestone

Guest Blogger: Chuck's Truck Entry

In March of 2012, in Leesburg, FL, we traded in our 2011 Toyota Highlander V6 All Wheel Drive and our 2008 Ford F250 Supercab XLT 4X4 Short Bed 6.4L Diesel for a 2012 Chevrolet 3500HD LTZ Crew Cab 4X4 Long Bed 6.6L Diesel.

Now with 11,500 miles on the new Chevy, had the first oil change at 7,000 miles, and filled the DEF for first time then. We are towing a 2011 Carriage Cameo 35SB3 5th wheel that has a GVWR of 15,000lbs.

Most of our miles have been towing miles as we are full time rvers, for 16 months now.

The truck has been great, lots of room for Jodie, MoneyPenny, Rugby and I.

We fold up the back seat and the pups get the floorspace of the whole backseat.

We have been from Florida to Canada, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, New Brunswick, now crossing the US.

The truck pulls our 5th wheel with ease, in Canada, lots of rain and I was a bit worried when leaving Cape Breton Island, thought we might get stuck, BUT no problems, I didn’t even have to use 4 wheel drive.

It keeps good speed up and down grades, the exhaust brake is great, really makes slowing even on hills.

The "wonders" of modern technology

The past month we’ve endured a few challenges in trying to stay connected to friends and family.  We both have “smart” cellphones which are supposed to allow us to use the phones for calls as well as Internet functions.  That’s all well and good as long as we’re in range of receiving a cellphone signal.  You’d think by now all cellphone providers would have coverage everywhere in North America.  

Various cellphone companies tout their coverage areas, but if the population is not there, neither are they.  Even in the geographical center of the State of New Hampshire, our cellphone provider has no signal that we can get calls on. (Can you hear me now?)  But once we travel back in to their coverage area, the messages we didn’t know we missed come through

If it weren’t for campgrounds offering WiFi, we’d be traveling blind - no phone, no Internet, nothing. Remind me now, how did we function before these inventions? Made me feel like the pioneers who crossed this country in covered wagons.

Fireworks - Mother Nature Style

Mother Nature just handed us a wallop at the campground in Ashland NH.  Around 5pm I started hearing thunder waaaayyyyyyy off in the distance. The clouds were getting thicker and darker also.  By 5:30 we knew the storm wasn’t too far away and picked up all our outside things (folding chairs, bbq grill, decorations). A camping neighbor mentioned that a weather alert had been issued and we were due for a storm within the half hour.

Around 6pm the rains started and came down fast and furious.  There was a lot of thunder and lightening in this storm and we were doing our best to keep the dogs calm.  As the temperature dropped from the high 70’s into the 60’s, we opened a few windows to allow the breeze to blow thru and cool us.  As Chuck was opening one window, a major crack of thunder and flash of lightening struck, shaking the entire RV and scaring humans and dogs.  

A moment later I thought I heard a tree branch crack and fall - the tree branch didn’t sound too close, but our trailer is close to the woods, so I figured I’d search the woods later to find the branch.

By 6:15 the storm was almost over; the temperature had dropped 15 degrees in 15 minutes.  The roads in front and behind our RV were rivers - meeting up at their merge just below our campsite.  I grabbed my camera to take photos of the water on the roadway and noticed the tree branch behind the RV in a driveway down towards some tent sites, only 60 to 70 feet from our trailer. Took a quick photo of it through the camper window before heading outside.

The lightening we experienced had traveled up a large pine tree and the top half of it splintered and fell over, taking a few smaller branches of other trees with it.  Looking down the roadway it was amazing to see that the tree top and branches had fallen clear of the 2 camper units and their vehicles. The folks in the 2 campsites were fine and their pets were unharmed also.

The lightening split the trunk of the tree from the roots up to where the break occurred.  On closer inspection we could even find the hole where the lightening started up the tree

This storm has got me thinking about how we need to have an emergency plan laid out should we experience a more serious situation in the future.