end of travels

After Louisiana, we decided to end our travels and settle back with the family in sunny Florida. We stayed in Panama city beach for 1 last week of vacation then headed south to Stuart. We bought a townhouse, a car, got jobs, sold the rv, and returned to the "normal" way of life. While our house was being built, we stayed at a great condo on the beach which helped with the major transition. It was an unbelievable journey and we can only hope that everyone who wants to will be able to "live their dream" as we did....remember...there's No Day But Today!!!!!

heading south

from Oklahoma, we headed south thru Texas into Louisiana where we parked in Slidell to participate in a Habitat for Humanity build...had a good time with all of the other people helping out...Toni learned how to use a circular saw....very, very hot!!!!

Oklahoma City

visited the Oklahoma city bombing memorial....very sad and moving....what a tragedy!!

route 66 thru New Mexico to Amarillo, Texas

we stopped at a car museum along historic route 66 and saw a lot of great old cars...2 quick stopovers in Gallup and Santa Rosa, New Mexico then on to Amarillo Texas...we saw the famous Cadillac ranch (old spray-painted caddies burried in the ground), and ate at the Big Texan steakhouse where you can order a 72oz. steak dinner, finish it in an hour and it's free...had a limo service to the restaurant from the rv park...what a great piece of meat!!!

rainy Williams

leaving Las Vegas we drove over the Hoover Dam on the way to Williams, Arizona... heavy rains kept us inside but saw a great sunset and rainbow afterwards.....

Back to Vegas!!

after a quick stop in Beaver, Utah we arrived at the beautiful Marriott hotel in Las Vegas!! king size bed and huge shower and tub...what a treat!! we visited with our friends, took in a show, relaxed by the pool and shopped at Caesars....it was great to be back....thanks to everyone, we had a great time!!!

Mormon town

we continued south thru Pocatello, Idaho then stopped in Salt Lake City, Utah...walked around Temple Square where we saw the mormon church and Tabernacle choir auditorium....

grand tetons and jackson hole, wyoming

we drove south to the Grand Tetton mountains, had lunch at the Jackson lake lodge, rode our bikes to Teton village and walked around the touristy old cowboy town of Jackson Hole....this area is beautiful!!!!

more yellowstone pics

beautiful Yellowstone!!

it's hard to describe yellowstone in words so we'll put up more pictures...we saw lots of wildlife, waterfalls, geysers including old faithful, bubbling mud pits and ponds, went on a stagecoach cowboy dinner ride....this place is incredible!!!!

Deadwood to Cody, Wyoming

we left Deadwood and crossed the state line back into Wyoming...we visited the famous Devil's Tower monument....this is the USA's first national monument...also where they filmed "Close Encounters of theThird Kind"....quick stop in Buffalo then on to Cody....nice little town with lots of old west charm...saw a rodeo, took a trolley tour and learned a lot about their main man Buffalo Bill Cody!!

Deadwood, South Dakota

mom and Buddy met us in Deadwood...we had a great time together!!! we saw Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse monument, buffalos in Custer park, shoot-outs in the streets, rode the old fashioned 1880 steam train, visited Presidents Park, took a mining tour, saw Sturgis before the big motorcycle rally, and ate 79 cent breakfasts.....old west prices still exist, at least for breakfast! thanks again mom and buddy for sharing this time with us!!!!!

on to deadwood thru wyoming

we made a quick stop in cheyenne, wyoming and stayed at a bison ranch...had a good buffalo burger!! another quick stop in lusk, wyoming then drove thru the black hills into deadwood, south dakota....so much open land in wyoming...we felt like we were the only people on the planet!!

more colorado pics

drove thru Boulder, toured Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory, got our free samples, then headed up to Estes Park, Co., the gateway to Rocky Mt. National Park...we had lots of outdoor activities planned but mother nature had different plans....it poured!!! we made the best of it by watching alot of Wimbeldon tennis on tv...it finally cleared up on our last day...we rode up the aerial tramway overlooking the beautiful town of Estes Park

finally colorado

with a quick stop in Sterling next to the prison, we continued on to Denver.... explored the downtown area...went to a nice art festival.....got tickets to see Blues Traveler at the Red Rock amphitheatre...it was beautiful for the first 2 acts but then it poured down rain, lightning, thunder..we got soaked and had to leave...went home and watched fireworks on tv...

nebraska

one word for Nebraska-----cornfields!!!!! that's it...no pictures....

celebrity sighting

camping with us in Adel, Iowa was the great Willie Nelson....well it was "Almost Willie"...the impersonator...he performs around the country and travels around in an old bus..

servicing "Papi"

we had an appointment in forest city, iowa to have the motorhome serviced...10,000 miles in 5 months...no major problems, what a great rv! we stayed at the Super 8 motel in town...cable tv, wi-fi, big bed and shower, not too bad...they gave us a car to use so we drove to Clear lake...nice little town with a main street and big beautiful lake..highlight of the day was having lunch at the Main Cafe and meeting the owner, Linda and her mother.....they were closed for the day but let us in anyway and made us a nice lunch....it was a pleasure speaking with them and learning about the town so if you are ever in Clear Lake, Iowa, stop by the Main Cafe and tell them Neal and Toni sent ya...we also took a tour of the Winnebago factory to see how they put these things together...pretty cool!

minneapolis

we stayed at the Mystic lake casino rv resort and rented a car to explore the city....first stop...Mall of America...this place is like 3 regular malls piled on top of each other....next day we drove downtown to Loring park and the Walker art center...it was gay pride week-end and festivites were in full force...saw the famous cherry on a spoon sculpture...nice town, nice people!

turkey factory

we saw the jennie-o turkey factory on the way so we stopped to explore...no tours but we were able to buy turkey burgers and sliced turkey meat very cheap....toni loves a bargain!!! now she refuses to buy it in the store...too expensive!