We have just hit one of those major mile markers on life’s journey, our 40th wedding anniversary. It doesn’t seem possible, there is no way we are that old!! Life has taken a lot of twists and turns over the years, and led us to places we never dreamed of when we said those vows 40 years ago. A lot of good times, and of course, some bad moments, too. It all comes with the package. We are proof that love does conquer all, along with a good margarita once in a while. To celebrate the occasion, we had the most expensive dinner ever at the Republic of Texas Bar and Grill in Corpus Christi, Texas. Only sad part is that with COVID-19 still interfering with life, we couldn’t share the time with our children and their families. Maybe next year, some time. We sure are looking forward to bringing the grand kids down here for time on the beach! Sandcastles, fishing, and shell collecting are all more fun with them.

It wasn’t good planning, it was just plain old good luck – – early in March we joined our good friends from Waco down in the Big Bend National Park. Located in West Texas, right on the Rio Grande. When we left, COVID 19 was still a mystery, and no one knew if it was going to get to the US or not. How much can things change in a week’s time?!! Well, we made it to Big Bend and back safely, the country was still open and active, but within a few days of getting back, the entire state of Texas and most of the country was shut down.

We were lucky, and had settled back into our winter apartment in Grand Prairie, Texas. We are now about 6 weeks into the emergency shut down, and going stir crazy! With so many campgrounds closed, state parks restricted to day use only, and supporting services reduced, I’m really glad we are not on the road right now. But we are looking forward to getting out this summer once it’s “safe” to do so.

For now, enjoy some or our favorite views of Big Bend.

Just what you don’t want to see when you’re camping in a travel trailer – –

Snow!! We were trying to stay ahead of the white stuff as Fall began to settle in to Wyoming and Utah, but an early storm in the Colorado high country caught us. The ski resorts were ecstatic – opening weeks ahead of schedule. But we learned an important lesson, and that was to watch these weather trends and make adjustments. In the high passes, it was not only snowing and slick, but there were also 50 MPH wind gusts,

so we turned around and headed back to the western side of the state where it was still dry and waited a couple of days along the Colorado River.

A couple of days later, we made it through Loveland Pass and had a beautiful day in Denver (60’s and sunny). A new storm hit that night with 8″ of snow and more wind, so once again, we decided to wait a day before travelling again. That flexibility in your schedule is very important – – bad weather, rain, snow, wind, can come at any time of the year, particularly in the mountain west. You don’t want to get caught in a situation where you have to travel. We enjoyed the delays, spent some extra time by the river, and Pinochle with friends that we had not seen in many years. It was a great blessing, and our travel days were much more relaxed.

We left Moab, Utah, on Saturday, and maybe we should have stayed a few extra days (snow, ice, and wind getting through the Colorado Rockies to Denver – more to come)! It was hard to see and do everything around Moab in the short week that we had, but here are some of the photo highlights – – there’s more in the Moab Page with more pictures from each of the parks. Utah is just covered up in National and State Parks, so we are looking forward to getting back here when we can stay a month or two and really take in the whole state.

We were really having a lot of fun in Landers, Wyoming, and planned on staying a few more days, but a Winter storm was bearing down on Montana and Wyoming, so we left early to stay ahead of it (I still haven’t scraped any frost or brushed any snow off the truck). We did the Chevy Chase Vacation movie through the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone in one day!! We even stopped to see Old Faithful, and Jennefer found lots of Elk basking in the late fall sun. BTW – Warning, a couple of these images show snow while driving through Yellowstone – these were scenes at very high elevations and early morning, so it was actually pretty, but I never had to put a coat on or scrape any of it off the vehicle. And Mom still hasn’t seen a Moose, so she is still on her quest.

We spent the entire month of September in the Black Hills of South Dakota!! Loads of fun, adventure, and some new friends. But snow is in the forecast and it’s already accumulating in the higher elevations, even being measured in feet, not inches. Time to move on. The snow also gave us some real concern about Yellowstone and the Grand Teton National Parks, so we opted to bypass them this season, but Jennefer found a great spot South of Yellowstone in Lander, Wyoming. We were only going to spend a couple of days here, but after visiting Sinks Canyon and looking over the area, have decided to spend a week. We’ll be watching the weather closely, but right now, we appear to have cut just enough South to miss worst weather and get another week in this gorgeous country!! Here’s a peak –

Say Hello to Adventure – It took 9 months and a lot of hard work, but we have collapsed 1,600 square feet, a full basement, and a 3 car garage down to a 10 X 25 storage unit. Don’t let Jennefer’s smile fool you – there is still a lot of anxious moments ahead, but we’re excited to be on the road again.

But first things first – we have to go back to Texas to pick up the trailer – at least it got to Winter over in a reasonable climate even if we didn’t!! No real plan on this trip. In fact, we cancelled the only reservation we had just so we would have the freedom to go where ever. Jennefer wants to spend some time in a field of Blue Bonnets, and I want to get a few miles on the bike to get Spring started on a good foot.

The goal: Keep driving south until people stop asking me where my coat is!! Living in Illinois and Iowa the last 20 years has been tough in January – the coldest month of the year, so we have wanted to take this trip for a long time. Just spend some time on the beach and do some bicycling right in the worst month of the winter. Bird watching was a big highlight on this trip – particularly the Whooping Cranes, but there were all kinds of birds wintering here. It was gorgeous.

This was a totally unexpected pleasure. We were just looking for a Harvest Host winery to spend the night at, so Baxter’s showed up pretty close to our route. We had never even heard of Navou, but once we got there, the host told us we had to go downtown and see the Mormon Temple. The temple and associated museum were awesome, and the fall foliage along the river just added to the day. Thanks go to the museum staff who arranged for a showing of the documentary on the early days of the Mormon church and Joseph Smith.