Hope you’ve been reading our website journal. We try to update weekly but that is dependent on our phone hookup or wifi availability.

Regina thinks the picture of Paul hooking up during Alberto on our first day out is priceless - she’s dry inside the truck waiting for a lull before venturing into ARV.

We couldn’t get enough pictures of all the birds we saw at John Prince Park - green parrots, ibis, anhingas, ducks, ring necked turns, and many more. And then there was that squirrel who came right up to Paul, begging, and even jumping to our steps - I do believe he would have entered ARV on his quest for food.

Besides the beauty of the park, we were fortunate to visit Paul’s family at Frank and Lawty’s wedding, pick up and arrange Regina’s mom’s doll in the baby bed Paul assembled, shop with both moms, and enjoy evening visits with siblings and families. They’re not as old as we are so they still work…

Did you get our excitement at riding our “created” roller coaster at Disney Quest? We did it twice and bought the DVD of the one with six loops. Paul found this a safer ride because we were contained in a barrel that actually rolled, twisted, and looped upside down. Regina missed the wind rushing past and looking out over whatever the landscape might offer. The other interactive “rides” were pretty good, too. Regina especially likes skee ball, other carnival games, and the pinball machines; Paul likes the Daytona race cars.

The next few days taught us not to sit for six months to allow rust to settle in the ABS contacts and disc brakes - we do live in a motor home so we need to keep moving along; fine with us - so much to see through our big window on the world.

Our stop in Tallahassee reminded us how friendly the Elks are - they welcome us each time we pass through. We saw Sandy’s scar over the plate and nine pins (?) in her ulna - or one of those arm bones. We got caught up on Kris’s wedding and Karl’s engagement plans. Regina spent time catching up with Linda as well as her involvement in planning for Leon High’s 100^th graduating class celebration set for April 2007. Sas was home after a busy week with visits from her daughters; she’s still getting rehab recovering from a broken wrist in April. Isn’t it great how we can visit with friends from a past life and it seems like yesterday? Our journal already mentioned visits with Margo and Bob and JoAnn and Spessard and hearing about their wonderful travels. What a great life we all are lucky enough to enjoy.

Nothing much except a variety of trees, corn, beans, and malls along the highways until our 2½ hour delay on I-65. When we were stopped a few minutes we saw the black smoke ahead and knew there must be some vehicle burning - the truck was a total loss but we didn’t hear about it on the news: TV is not handy on the road and we’re already miles down the road so local news is gone before we stop for the night.

Our stop in Metropolis was fun - Superman Museum, art deco buildings, and losing money (okay, so that’s not fun) at Harrah’s where we parked for the night. At the Arcola Camper Stop we met six other Winnebago motor homes on their way from TN to the Grand Rally. We spent several hours at the Amish Interpretive Center - very well done and informative - and had dinner at Yoder’s in Arthur. We drove the countryside and marveled at the horses, buggies, barns, and lack of electric wires. Everyone we passed waved and smiled; this is one of our favorite Amish stops because it isn’t very commercial and is more country-fied. The July 4^th fireworks were Saturday night at a park in Arthur; 30,000 people from the surrounding towns came to enjoy the festivities that included a fly-over by a stealth bomber, food, games, and forty minutes of sparkling and booming fireworks.

Our long anticipated visit with Mable and Jim on the dairy farm was all we hoped - with great food, walking the fields and barns, and catching up on Bentsen Grove news. How many pounds of catfish, bass, and blue gill can eight people catch? Lots! We felt like part of the family for the July 4^th weekend, visiting with Gene and Bill and their families, too. We all traveled up the road to visit with other Winter Texans, sitting out under the stars at the hillside home with their family, other Rio Grande Valley visitors, and all of us. We could see fireworks from every direction. We are so sad that we missed the gathering at Mamoset.

When we left we headed to the HWH factory in Moscow, IA, to replace some bushings on ARV slide out rooms and then headed to Forest City, IA, for the 365 Rally which happens during Grand National pre-Rally at Winnebago headquarters. We spent a week marveling at the number of Adventurers and other motor coaches parked on the rally grounds. The food was continuous, the friends we made understand what full-timing is all about, and we enjoyed the relaxation before arriving at Adventureland USA in Altoona, IA, and our summer workamping job. But we’ll save that for our next missive.

Paul and Regina