Chapter 52...Reflections

...First some facts regarding our Great American Road Trip...

...The Trip began on May 7, 2015 when we left Oelican Lake RV Resort in Naples, Fl.

...It ended on October 8th when we arrived back at Pelican Lake...

...The total trip was 12,225 miles of pure enjoyment...(not counting Brainerd, of course...but don't get me started on that fiasco...)

...We used a total of 2,351 gallons of diesel fuel which cost approximately $5,000.

...Some number of gallons of Tequila were used...the exact quantity is unimportant...

...We were gone for 154 nights...

...We visited 33 states...

...Challenges, troubles, etc.

...All three new air conditioners were replaced in Indiana, but still do not not function properly...

...Water pipe joint burst in the 1/2 bath ( behind the wall of course) while in Maryland...repaired by the Captain...

...The poor Jeep was dragged 25 miles with its brakes applied thereby ruining all brake components. This is was in Delaware...all affected components were replaced in Charlotte, MI...

...Aqua Hot water heater quit in Petoskey, MI...Captain made temporary repairs until a new switch could be installed in South Bend, IN......Automatic waste valve on the Beast broke (thankfully in the closed position), when leaving Indiana. Picked up repair parts in Indianapolis and working until midnight by flashlight, the Commodorable and Captain made it better than new in Chillicothe, IL...

...The dashboard air conditioner on the Beast quit somewhere in Montana. In Ogden, Utah a new compressor was installed...problem resolved...

...The Jeep ran into the Beast in Utah, bending the large tailpipe chrome extension on the Beast...Captain repaired...

...The Beast's fuel tank developed a leak in Williams, AZ...Captain found epoxy putty in Flagstaff and made a temporary patch, which still leaked, but not as badly...new tank being built right now...

...The Beast was brutally attacked by large boulders in Taos, NM...CARGO DOOR KNOCKED COMPLETELY OFF...Captain patched it up enough to continue the trip...

...Rocks hit windshield of the Beast in New Mexico, leaving several scars...

...The Jeep had a flat tire while crossing the Chihuahuan Desert in Texas...Captain changed tire in 102 degree heat...new tire installed in San Antonio, TX...

...Trees hanging over the street in Tarpon Springs broke off the wind sensor for the passenger side awnings...new sensor ordered, Captain will install...

...Our Thoughts, in no particular order of importance...
...American is beyond beautiful, it's people even more so!!!
...Iowa shocked us with its beauty...
...Custer's Last Stand was a somber experience, but we highly recommend it...
...Ditto for the D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA...
...Lake Havasu, AZ was a bit of a dissappointment...
...The highly touted RV resorts of Petoskey, MI and Indio, CA are not nearly as special as Pelican Lake...
...Dry desert heat, while hot, is preferable to high humidity...
...The Captain finally sang on stage in Nashville...not the Opry, but still...
...San Antonio especially the River Walk is great...
...We could have spent months in Utah...it's that good...
...We took our sweet time, and we're glad we did...
...We loved Santa Fe...
...We loved Jackson Hole...
...The Black Hills of South Dakota are magical...it's easy to understand why the Lakota tribe thought them to be sacred...
...We really liked Deadwood, SD...
...The Crazy Horse Monument, even though under construction, is far more impressive than Mount Rushmore...
...Can't give enough praise to the Beast's Spartan K3 Chassis. Only a few other coaches have this rugged and capable chassis...Foretravel Realm, Newmar King Aire, and Entegra Cornerstone...We will insist that our next coach have this chassis…unless Leslie finally chooses the correct MEGA-MILLIONS numbers. Then our next coach will be a NEWELL.

...Would we do this trip again? You betcha!!! We'd spend more time in some places and bypass others altogether...
...Our next trip will probably be three months or so, and have only a few major destinations where we'll spend extended periods of time...
...We are happy that our Westie pups are great travelers, they really get excited when we get ready to roll...Rocky (the eldest at 14 years) insists on riding "shotgun" at all times and remains awake until we stop for the evening...
...We are grateful to have been able to have the hundreds of individual experiences that this trip gave us...
...And finally, we thank our wonderful friends we saw along the way for taking the time they spent with us...we truly enjoyed your company and cherish the friendships...(we'll be back...)

...The Beast...

...The Commodorable and the Captain

...The Rock, The Murph, and Opie-Dopey...

...and of course, the Jeep…

All of the above was written in October, 2015 when we returned to Pelican Lake in Naples, Florida.

i am writing this portion in the early evening of January 2, 2016…

Since October, the following has happened…

RIVIERA Yachts has kept me quite busy. I’ve completed at least 10 yacht trips since returning to Naples. In the process, my best friend and long time shipmate retired. My new shipmate, Nate has been a godsend, and we’ve become good friends despite the 35 year difference in our ages.

I had the fuel tank replaced with a custom built one. The new one doesn’t leak…

I had North Trail RV Center repair all the body damage done by the aggressive boulders from Taos, NM

The family Jeep was replaced with a new white one. We will call the new Jeep SNOWBALL.

The Commodorable purchased a complete patio furniture set plus two large umbrellas for our new rental lot.

We met Don Frye and his family who were on their second visit to Pelican Lake. Don first “met” us via the blog as he followed our mis adventures across America. It was great to meet in person.

The Westie Mom, Leslie took our sweet Murphy to see his brain surgeon to get a final reading on his post surgical progress…you may remember hat he had a large tumor removed from his brain last February. My boy passed with flying colors!!! His medications were adjusted accordingly…

In December we made two great new friends…Toni and Harry. They were in Pelican Lake for only a month, but we sure hated to see them leave us as they headed back home to Indiana. After many conversations, Harry and I found we had an astounding amount in common.

On December 31, 2015, our beautiful sister-in-law Janet celebrated her 60th birthday at the fabulous Ft Lauderdale Beach Marriott. We took our Westie posse across Florida so we could join the celebration. It was a great party and New Year’s eve celebration…

This would prove to be our last celebration for the foreseeable future...

I woke up on January 1, 2016 to the familiar feeling of our middle pup Murphy kissing my nose. Only a puppy parent can appreciate how loved you feel when your fur baby kisses you awake.

By 5:30 PM that same sweet, beautiful WESTIE pup kissed me one last time as he lay in my arms and drifted peacefully into the loving embrace of God…

Oh Dear God, how i miss that little boy…

i will try to tell the Story of Murphy in the next chapter...