Moving on and catching up...

Grand Central Station

Tom with a Rockette

The Empire State Building from The Roc Observation

In the middle of Times Square

New York traffic, we took a bus.

Central Park

Next stop: Pennsylvannia

Time to catch up...

We are in Savannah, Georgia now. This is the Savannah River. We have been walking all over the Historic Downtown.

This is where we've been:

Mr. Tom Dulin at the Welcome to New York State Center.

Niagra Falls - American, Bridal Veil & Horseshoe Falls.

Lady Liberty

Welcome to Ellis Island, immigrants, fresh off the boat.

There really is such a place: Sleepy Hollow, New York.

Washington Irving's house in Sleepy Hollow.

The Rockefeller Estate.

Next: New York City...

OK, it's a few tomorrows later...

After the Escapade in Goshen, Indiana we left Ralph and Pam there to have work done on their rig. We drove to Hartland, Michigan and stayed at Waldenwoods Resort. It is by Detroit and in Dearborn.

The resort was nice, the weather good and the lake lovely.

We spent the week going to The Henry Ford Museum one day and Greenfield Village the next. We still couldn't see it all.

Mr. Tom Dulin came along and made the acquaintance of Mr. Ford and a lovely ticket lady who was impressed with his travels.

He found Glenda's first bus and ran an evacuation drill.

We had fun in the Model T and all the other running antique vehicles.

Too many other great shots to put on here, so I'll put some more photos up on flickr.

Next stop: New York

And we're moving on...

Yes, it is more than a week, but we've been so busy all I seem to do is take the pictures, dump them on the computer, clean the card so it will be ready to go the next day.

After we left Indiana, we went to the Detroit area in Michigan. Ralph and Pam stayed in the Goshen/Elkhart area to have work done on their rig. We spent a fun-filled week going to The Henry Ford - that is the automobile museum plus. He collected everything from farm implements to the farms they came from. He has trains, planes and automobiles and the farms and towns they connected. I'll put up some new photos tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Still to come: Niagra Falls, Upstate New York, NYC, the Hudson River, West Point, Sleepy Hollow...

And after the 5 nights...

So, we settled into Blackhawk, South Dakota (west side of the state) for about a week. There was so much to do and so little time. That seems to be our current mantra. We saw Mount Rushmore again, Wall Drug, Custer State Park Wildlife Loop and Needles Highway. For those who want more pictures, please check out the Flickr account (if you need the address, let me know).

We also went to Sturgis, but no bikes only Ford Mustangs. Great, huge bunches of them., more than 500. Then we had a picnic at Bear Butte Lake Park.

Next we spent a couple of days in Mitchell, South Dakota (east side of the state). Here we found the World Famous Corn Palace. We expected something really cheesy and touristy. It turns out to be a truly artistic masterpiece of a building. Each panel is made of five different kinds of corn (the cobs are cut in half, length wise) and rye and some other kind of plant material. The pieces are wired and nailed on the panel by hand and the panels are changed each year. They go all around the building.

Now it's time for another speed run, 4 states - 4 nights. Next stop: Goshen, Indiana on Sept. 11 for the Escapees Club Escapade. South Dakota, Wednesday 9/8 - Iowa, Thursday 9/9 - Illinois, Friday 9/10 - Indiana, Saturday 9/11. No more long drives or multi-state runs now until we leave Texas in April.

Elkhart and Goshen are in Amish country. Small horse buggies on small country roads.

The Escapade was 800 rigs of people who get together to share education, companionship and stories of the road. We were at Elkhart County 4 H Fairgrounds for 7 days.

Mr. Tom Dulin still makes appearances at unexpected times.

After the Escapade, we left Ralph and Pam to have work done on their rig. We're off to Detroit, Michigan and The Henry Ford Museum.

More on that next week...

5 nights, 5 states

His bags are packed...

He's ready to go...

He's standing here outside our door...

It's time to wake up and say goodbye...

We're leaving on I 90, don't know when we'll be back again....

So now it really begins:

Friday night, Washington

Saturday night, Idaho

Sunday night, Montana

Monday night, Wyoming

Tuesday - South Dakota where we will alight for the next week.

And so the adventure begins...

Well, Linda's adventure has begun.

The little house is buttoned up for the winter, so I've moved on, to Thunderbird between Monroe and Sultan.

Tom says his will start when he's behind the wheel and we're headed east. That happens next week.

In the meantime,

we have grandsons with birthdays,

Raine is 5...

Sam is 14...

and final preparations for the coach and car, planning with Ralph and Pam and I'm sure there are things we're forgetting. See, it's an adventure already.

Meanwhile, the gnome: aka, Mr. Tom Dulin - he's been busy communing with nature on the Skykomish River,

and making new friends.

Here he is with the Thunderbird Resorts' Eagles.

More next week...

And it's later still....

The Gnome has begun his travels with us with a visit to a relative in Hoodsport. He's a very quiet passenger.

Alright, Linda didn't post the Travel Schedule, Tom figured it out. Sometimes I can get the computer away from him, but sometimes it takes more effort than I care to expend and he so enjoys figuring things out.

We got some really great news from his cardiologist this week. He has recovered much more than any of us expected. His heart is up to between 45 and 50% (remember he was at 16% when he was diagnosed). He will simply keep on doing what he has been doing for the next year and he'll get another echocardiogram when we come back home.

Preparations for the big trip continue and reservations are being made all across the US.

OK, so now it's later...

Time has flown past and we are now retired, depending on who you talk to. Social Security starts for Linda in July and for Tom in August. Our pensions start at various times this summer and early fall. Our plans for the trip with Ralph and Pam are progressing and Linda is getting familiar with computer applications instead of hardware.

We have a resident gnome who will be traveling with us and he will have a regular photo op with commentary to share with all our friends unlucky enough to still be at the grind stone.

Linda will add the Travel Schedule later this week and we will update it regularly, along with photos. More to come...