Sandy and Alan's EXCEL-lent Adventure

On our way to visit our family in Kansas and Missouri, we stopped in Smith Center KS to tour the Peterson Industries plant where they manufacture Excel 5th wheels.  Alan has been doing some research and wanted to check it out.  The tour was very interesting - and off we went towards Overland Park KS.

The largest Excel dealer happens to be in Moriarty NM, just outside of Albuquerque, so we stopped on our way to AZ to check it out.  Well, you know what they say about not going to the dog shelter if you aren't prepared to bring home a dog?  Apparently, the same holds true for RV dealers.

We ended up buying a 2014   34'   5th wheel trailer, just 6" longer than our HitchHiker.  The dealer couldn't get it to us for a couple of days because they host a safe trick-or-treat event for the area and all the rigs were parked end to end for Halloween.  Each trailer is sponsored by a local business and volunteers stand in front of each trailer (about 30 of them) to hand out candy. We volunteered to man our new trailer, and it was a very fun event.  They had 1665 folks come through - admission was a can of food or $1 that benefitted a local charity.  Afterwards, the dealer fed all the volunteers dinner too.



We didn't have costumes, so we donned our long underwear, warm clothes and some Halloween headgear.



Alan handing out candy bars.



The man in the rig across from us had this Spongebob costume and it was the hit of the event.  All the kids wanted to have their pictures taken with Spongebob and it created quite a traffic jam!  While Alan and Spongebob handed out candy as fast as they could, Sandy cut open bags and restocked both supplies.  Spongebob, Alan and I were all worn out by the end of the evening.



This tiny bumble bee was half frozen - it was very cold and windy.



Getting to look up to Spongebob made it all worthwhile.

Here is our new home as we saw it on the sales lot.

A larger TV than we have ever had and even a fireplace.  We really like the hickory wood cabinets.

It has a residential refrigerator, quite a culture shock after having an RV refrigerator for the last 14 years.

A microwave/convection oven - my friends tell me it isn't hard to make the conversion.

Nightstands - that is really a treat.

View of vanity and washer/dryer closet - no washer/dryer for us as we need the storage space.



Here is our salesman, Brian, delivering our new home to the back lot where we were parked.



Maneuvering the contraption that helps makes moving easier.



The "bridge" in place.  All it takes is one step down, a walk across and one step up for each load.  It took us two full  days to move and we were exhausted.  We had lived in our HitchHiker for almost 14 years, and we worked hard to clean out, throw out, etc.  Still, we struggled to fit everything in the Excel.  NuWa made that HitchHiker with tons of storage space.

We spent two or three days living in the Excel, making a list of things that needed attention by the dealer.  Then a day or two for repairs and adjustments before heading to AZ.   We were glad to be on our way, since it was 13 degrees a couple of nights while we were in NM.

 

Here we are on the road.  One of the repairmen said that NM is known as the Land of Enchantment but it is really the Land of Entrapment.  That is kind of how we felt after being at the dealership for so many days.

 

Here is the space above our kitchen cabinet, displaying some of our treasurers - Diane, your quilt is there and Chris, Pollo Loco is in the bear's lap on the left.  These things are very special to me.

 

 

 More treasurers, including the Santa Mary made me and the pillow Lisa embroidered and the little bear with the picture drawn by Brandon when he was little.

It is beginning to feel a little more like home.  Other than too much stuff in too little space, we are liking if fine!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall is for Family

We spent part of our fall visiting our family members in Colorado, Kansas and Missouri.  It is always a time of year we love - especially reconnecting with our 6 grandchildren.

Cheryl, Jeff and Brandon and Sandy's sister and brother-in-law, Dottie and Jerry, are in the Denver area.  In between getting our driver's licenses in South Dakota and a couple of  Dr. appointments in Colorado Springs, we got to spend quite a bit of time together.

In Denver, FALL is for FOOTBALL!  Brandon is 14 and played this year on the Pomona High School Freshmen Team.  He plays right guard on offense and nose guard on defense, and he had a great year.  His team won every game, most by big margins.  After his season was over, he was one of 10 freshmen asked to practice with the varsity and suit up for their games.  Pomona is in the playoffs, so he is very excited.

Brandon is No. 56

Jeff, Brandon and Cheryl (and us, not shown) having yogurt at Smart Cow - yum

Cheryl, Jeff and Brandon, joined by their lovely rescue dog, Kona

Brandon facing the camera

Victory celebration  - pink socks for October, Breast Cancer Month

Alan, Sandy, Brandon and Dottie, Sandy's sister, on the field after a win

Dottie and her husband, Jerry with Brandon after another win.


Our next family stop was Overland Park, Kansas.   



Brad, Lisa, Alex and our granddogs, Joey and Jake

Alan and Sandy at Powell Gardens where they have beautiful plantings and were celebrating the fall season with more than 30 scarecrows.



These scarecrows were in their "pajamas"



This one was so cute with its pink tennis shoes, knee pads, scooter and pipe cleaners and crazy straws for hair



This was titled "flower bed"

We also went to the Kansas City Zoo - a very fun day.



Brad took this with his big camera - what a beautiful picture



Lisa spent lots of time playing tug-of-war with this young orangutan - he would let go and she would flip the cloth at him and he would pick it up and tug really hard, then Lisa would let go and he would tease her with flipping the cloth back and forth.  She spent so much time there, someone asked me if she worked at the zoo!



Brad, Alex and Lisa on a church hayride



Alan and Alex making smores after the hayride

Alan ate 4 (yes 4) smores.  Look at that sticky beard!

Off to Columbia MO to visit Kristin, Chris, Phoebe, Clark, Will and Julia.  Impossible to get a family picture, complete with our granddog, Duke, no matter how hard I tried.

This was a picture taken last winter, not while we were there, thank goodness, but I loved the picture.  Left to right, Will, Julia, Chris, Duke, Phoebe and Clark.

Phoebe loves acting - she is the actress in the gold blouse

Duke, too bad he missed the family photos

Will, Kristin, Julia, Duke and Alan walking in Bear Creek Park

 

Julia climbing the tree in the front yard

Clark playing his drums

Will really enjoys the time he spends in the Scouts

 

 

 Chris, Clark, Will, Phoebe, Julia and Kristin at homecoming.

We had such a great time visiting everyone.

 

 

 

 

Fall in the Colorado Mountains

 

Our final few weeks in Creede CO presented Alan with two new and really fun experiences.  Many people in our park there have Polaris Rzrs (Razors), off-road vehicles with a few more creature comforts than traditional ATVs.  His first trip was with our friend Bob, whose wife decided not to go with him that day.  Alan had a great time and he even got to drive quite a bit of the time.

 

Doesn't Alan look just like he belongs in the Rzr?



This is the group that went the day of Alan's first ride.

A few days later, folks across the road from us, Jim and Susann, asked Alan to go on an all-day ride.  Alan got to go in place of Susann, who generously gave up her seat so Alan could have this fun experience. 

 

 Jim and Alan at the top of Cinnamon Pass, 12640 feet above sea level.

An abandoned mine where they stopped and ate their lunch.

A high-mountain lake on their trip - they traveled on the road in the picture.

The top of California Pass, 12960 feet above sea level.

 

 Moose - I really missed seeing this in person.

Mountain goats - a great wildlife trip in addition to wonderful scenery.


Monday nights at Mountain Shadows, they have a jam session.  This particular night, our friend Bob sang with Barb Maxey, a professional singer/songwriter who was in the park.  Bob devised this clever boom microphone by using a rake and a couple of tools for a counter balance.   Wonderful music.

Every fall, there is a car show in downtown Creede.  This year, there were 92 cars on display.



Alan's favorite car.

On the morning of September 23, after a full day of cold rain, we woke up to snow on the mountain tops.  This was taken from our site and it was very cold that morning.



Later that day, we spent the afternoon with Tanya and Jim (high school classmates of Alan's) having lunch at Freemon's (see previous post) and "leaf peeping."  The aspen leaves were even more beautiful with the snow in the background.










We got a kick out of this sign.



September 24, the morning we left, it was in the 30's with ice like this everywhere.  Certainly time to get out of  Dodge.

 

It is hard to explain how being in the Colorado mountains makes us feel - it is like we can really breathe with the clean, clear air - it is just good for the soul.