Greetings to all!                                                                       

As we settle into our summer workamping jobs at Adventureland in Altoona (Des Moines), IA, this is a good time to get you caught up on our travels.

We didn’t travel much Dec. 1^st to April 12^th since Regina was in the office and Paul did maintenance 30 hours each week at Encore Royal Coachmen RV Resort (RCR) in Nokomis, FL.  We did drive to Pioneer Village in Ft. Myers for a visit with Marla and George, RV friends from our first year in Homestead.  We spent a cool January day at the RV Supershow at the Tampa Fairgrounds and met up with Gary, the Human Resource fellow, and Doris and Walt, fellow workampers, from Adventureland, and also the Gonnams and Marshalls, friends from RCR.  It was a fun day!

February was filled with RCR activities:  John Davidson show, Valentine’s Dance, Senior Games both at RCR, Lee County and Charlotte County.  We took St. Patrick’s Day weekend to attend Angie and Ryan’s wedding in WPB and visit with our moms and siblings.  Interspersed in there we had special visits from Marla and George, Linda (Latin teacher from Bradenton), Nancy (Latin teacher from Jacksonville), Cathy and David, and sister Ellen and friend Dave on two of their motorcycles trips to the west coast.  It was good to have Wed, Thurs, and Fri to participate in RCR activities – table tennis, Red Hat - and take care of mundane needs like groceries and laundry.

Our trip north began with the Grand Reunion 2 celebration of Leon High School’s 100^th graduating class.  Regina and Margo welcomed alumni to the Latin classrooms on Saturday morning as the current Latin teachers were with the Leon students who won the 15^th consecutive State Latin Forum.  Ite Leones (Go Lions)!!  Makes a body proud to see this tradition of excellence continue.  Not only did Regina get to meet up with former students at Leon but also their parents.  Connie, the wonderful mom who made Regina’s Latin t-shirt quilt, gathered it up again and made some much needed repairs.  Can you believe that quilt has been gracing the RV’s couch for 7 years!  And Regina has been sitting in the same spot that long, too.  Time to move it around.  Well, Regina never did make a claim to domesticity.

That afternoon Paul and Regina sat in the bleachers of Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium to watch the Garnet and Gold final scrimmage game before attending the Leon High evening activities at the Civic Center – where Rachel, a 1986 graduate, joined us and 5000+ other Leon alumni and friends.  It’s hard to believe that Buddy will be 13 years old on May 13^th.  After a few doctor visits, laundry, and shopping, Paul and Regina spent a last dinner at the Crispers hot spot getting caught up on email and surfing.  New Leaf, the health food store, is nearby there, too.

Then our two-week trek began.  We had wanted to get to Madison, the capital of Wisconsin, but thought it better to stay warm a bit longer.  So we took the I-10 southern route spending several nights at WalMart Supercenters before arriving at the Escapees Rainbow’s End RV Park and National Office in Livingston, TX.  Texas has very interesting information centers:  the one on I-10 at the Sabine River has boardwalks over the ‘Blue Elbow’ swamps as well as a plethora of maps and brochures.  Then we turned north and followed US 59 and US 71 most of the way.  We’ve seen sawmills, several national forests, sheep, goats, cows and calves, llamas, Razorback Stadium (Fayetteville, AR), and just beautiful country.  Our diversion on state roads to Branson, MO, was a bit curvy and hilly as we went right through the Ozarks – which reminded us of state roads through the Smokies. The City of Branson Lakeside RV Park is right on Tannycomo Lake and adjacent to Branson Landing (which took half of the RV park away) and Historic Downtown Branson.  We looked out our front window to watch the fishermen, ducks and geese, and boats on the lake.  We did spend a night at Terrible’s Casino and RV Park in Osceola, IA, also.  Good food, good fun, and we didn’t lose our t-shirts.

Our weather was great most of the trip; we missed the tornadoes, hail storms, and most of the thunderstorms through Arkansas and Missouri.  We did have rain and a few cool nights but enjoyed plenty of 70 and 80-degree days.  Most days we were able to hook up to the internet with the phone but Iowa rest areas are great because most of them are free wifi hotspots.  Yes, we are lucky – and blessed.

Now what does a Winnebago Adventurer RV do in Iowa?  Why, visit the Winnebago factory in Forest City, of course.  We spent a day at the service center before heading down to Altoona - and that brings us up to date. 

Hope you are all well and happy and enjoying your adventures as we do.  Remember to keep up with us daily – or weekly – at www.home.earthlink.net/~arvtravels.