So We Did an Exciting Thing To End 2020.....

 2020 has been a b**** in so many ways. Not to lessen any of the other losses this year but we lost the ability to travel. Not only did LW and I have to cancel several planned trips, Lauren and I had to cancel our two week trip through Germany and boy did that hurt.  So to end 2020 and hopefully allow for some future travel, we went out and bought this....

It’s a 2021 Grand Design Imagine XLS 22 ft travel trailer and of course we needed a truck to pull it.  I’m driving the truck on a daily basis. It’s a 2018 Ram 1500. I love driving it cause I sit up high and have always loved sitting up high in a vehicle.

We’ve completed our orientation and first night in the trailer and all went well. We decided that it was a lot of new information to take in and remember so we thought we should practice on our own right away so as not to forget anything. So we brought it home today, prepped it for the weekend and then will behbe to a campground in Spicewood for the weekend on Friday. Today we hooked up the trailer to the truck and undid everything in the cold and rain.  So I think if we can do it in that weather, we should be good for the better weather expected this weekend. We are also going to take Benny and see how he likes it.

We also decided that when LW is done working, we would travel the country with this trailer instead of how we did it in 2016-2017 in our car. I’m really looking forward to our short outings in our new trailer over the next year or so.  Watch for more about our adventures soon!

Solo Travels to Iowa and Back

 Since everyone was beginning their back to school routines, I decided to take a solo road trip  to Iowa to visit family.  I should have posted along the way but I didn't so this might get long.  Tuesday, August 4, I left Round Rock and drove as far as Wichita, Kansas.  Here are the sights from day 1-Keeper of the Plains and a couple sculptures.

Day 2 I stopped in Emporia, Kansas at the Memorial for Fallen Educators.  On the walls, the names of educators, states, and years in which they died were listed.  On the ground in front of the walls were the teacher organizations from all 50 states and some other quotes.

Once I arrived in Council Bluffs, Iowa, I checked in with family and spent time catching up.  One day I drove to Sioux City, Iowa to see the Trinity Heights Gardens.  There are tons of religious sculptures, places for prayer or quiet contemplation, an opportunity participate in the Stations of the Cross and many more lovely places.  There is a 20 foot high Mary and a Jesus that stands 30 feet high.  They also had on display a life size wooden last supper.  It was so cool. Here are a few of my favorites.

When I left Council Bluffs headed east to the other side of Iowa, to visit family, I stopped in Madrid to see the high trestle hike and bike bridge across the Des Moines river.  Then in Des Moines, I checked out the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park and made a quick stop in Winterset to see the birthplace of John Wayne.

I stayed with my aunt and uncle a couple days and before heading to my dad's, I backtracked a bit to a sunflower field and an antique store.  Along the way I also saw the American Gothic painted barn.  While in the antiques store , people were talking about a bad storm headed towards us so I quickly left and got on the road.  I was trying hard to keep ahead of the storm.  Here is a picture of the sky behind me.  As I made the last main turn towards my dad, the storm caught up with me but that story deserves it's own post.  Watch for it!

One of the things I did while in eastern Iowa was visit the German American Heritage Museum in Davenport.  It had lots of interesting information about the Germans who settled in Scott County, Iowa.

The night before I left to head home to Texas, we went to my favorite ice cream place.

On my drive home, I stopped in Riverside Iowa, the future birthplace of James T Kirk, and Eldon, Iowa to see the original American Gothic home.

I love road trips and every now and then I love a good solo trip.  Watch for my story about the storm I tried to out run while headed to my dad's house.  Coming soon!

Tour de Texas-Plant Life

I think the different varieties of plant life are so amazing in the desert mountains of West Texas.

One bug picture

Until next trip....thanks for following our adventures.

Tour de Texas- Big Bend National Park

We've spent the better part of the last three days exploring Big Bend National Park and the surrounding area, both through hikes and through drives.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from this area. We did see a kangaroo rat and a young bear but my camera wasn't ready in time. Also LW claims he saw a tarantula crawling across the road at one point today but he also thought he saw a bear which turned out to be a cow. So who knows!?

critter crawling along the road

dead snake in the middle of the road-Western Diamondback

sunrise on Tuesday

sunrise

sunrise

Our view from the restaurant at Lajitas.

sign posted in a yard in Terlingua...

Mule Ears

The Rio Grande River...I'm standing on the bank on the US side...just so you know.

Roadrunner visiting us at dinner.

Santa Elena Canyon & the Rio Grande

This morning we got loaded up and ready to leave Lajitas to head for home. When LW checked us out, they told him Big Bend National Park was closed due to a person in the residential community testing positive for COVID 19. Luckily we weren't planning on spending the day in the park but we did miss out on driving through the park as we left the area. Oh well. We will be back home later today. I have a post I want to make of all the different plants I've seen on this trip to the desert  ountains of  west Texas. I'll do that later today with any pictures I might have forgotten. 
Until then...