Rainy day traveling

We left Kansas in a thunderstorm and drove all day in the rain.... pretty stressful driving - but thankfully I think the rain storm cells will continue north east (towards New England actually) while we stay behind in Missouri for a couple of days.

Where in the world is Blanche & Lucy tonight?

Camping in Missouri! We parked our little Rv next to the 'Big GirlRVs' and decided to spend a couple of nights here at Sundermeier RV Park in St Charles, MO (Just outside of St Louis) with our friends Linda and Barb and their little dog Bailey (Blanche and Lucy's boyfriend). Linda and Barb want to show us the sights of St Louis tommorrow so we look forward to that.

Bailey and his moms welcomed us to their campground and we made plans for dinner together at the restaurant on the campground.

While their moms enjoyed cheese & crackers - Blanche, Lucy & Bailey enjoyed doggie treats.

Where in the world was Blanche & Lucy today?

Today - Blanche and Lucy didn't go too far - they started this rainy day in Kansas and ended this rainy day in Kansas.... read below to see their escapades...

Today was a rainy day in Kansas - so we decided to be lazy - slept in and thought it would be a good day to just play tourist in Kansas.

This is my "I stop for Wineries' photo.... we started the day off with a drive to a local winery just up the road from our campsite. Great wine - we bought a few bottles to bring home.

Because Cheryl loves anything History... we dropped by the Eisenhower birth place, in Abilene, Kansas as well as the Eisenhower Museum and the chapel built where he was laid to rest. Very interesting and moving.

We stopped in Wamego, Kansas to visit the Oz Winery (terrible wine) and the Oz Museum - actually pretty good memorabilia from that era and the movie.

Well after driving for less than 100miles - and still in Kansas.....we decided that we would end our day at 5pm by camping out at the Prairie Band Casino & Resort in Mayetta, Kansas. We just had a lazy day of playing and touring Kansas Winerys, Eisenhower's Historic home and the Oz museum....so we parked the RV - walked the dogs and went to the Casino for a nice dinner and a little gambling. The campground is clean - no trees - but full hookups and great bath house. By the way we started with $5 and ended with over $30 so not bad for a couple of hours of relaxation and a good dinner.

Bye-Bye Denise, Gary, Tyler & Ethan

Saying goodbye to Tyler - Ethan & Denise was hard.... but they will be coming to visit us in Newburyport at the end of June so it kept me from crying this morning as we hit the road again for the long ride back to Mass.

Where is the worl is Blanche & Lucy?

Tuesday morning - 7:30am - ON THE ROAD AGAIN! - Just leaving Denise's house.

From Aurora, Colo to almost the border of Kansas I gripped the wheel as we crawled along the freeway in a 'soup' of fog. Visibility most of the time was about 100 ft....

In this part of the country all we hear on the radio is Jesus music and country music (thankfully I love country music). And a huge sign about Jesus is a common sight as well as crosses as big as a house.

Where in the world is Blanche & Lucy tonight?

They're in Salina, Kansas - just outside of Topeka. We stopped at the Salina KOA campground around 4:30 after being on the road since 7:30am. This Flywheel Museum is right across the street from the campground.

After dinner we went for a walk across the street from the Salina KOA where we were staying. We found this lovely little chapel in a meadow surrounded by antique farm equipment.

As the sun started to set in Kansas - we went back to the campsite to call it a night.

Where in the world is Blanche and Lucy today?

In Snowy Colorado!!! Boy what a site to wake up to! We heard that we were getting rain overnight and till noon today - Monday. I freaked when I looked out the window and saw all the white stuff! We discussed waiting one more day to leave Colo......But by 1pm the sun had come out and reached 60 degrees and the roads were clear and dry so I stopped panicking... I guess we're back on schedule to leave Tuesday morning....

All of Tyler's new plants got covered in snow... so we hope that they are strong enough to survive.

The snow was heavy and 'wet' so Denise had to go shake out her trees and bushes in her backyard that had been bent over with the heavy snow. That's right - she was out there alone....Cheryl and I are not carrying boots or snow gear on this trip.... so we watched the babies (and took pics!)

Well it's been a long time since they saw snow... so they just looked at it for a bit - then dove in.

With a white dog and white snow... where's Blanche? She really loves playing and running in the snow - unlike her mom!

With all this snow - I was really wondering 'where in the world is Lucy?'

Where in the World is Blanche & Lucy today?

On Sunday the weather here in Highlands Ranch Colorado is a beautiful 65 degrees. Cool in the morning and evening but warms up beautifully in the afternoon. The girls love chasing each other in Denise's backyard. Today we will play soccer, plant flowers and have a great outdoor day.

Tyler is quite a little Soccer player and gave us a good run for the money!

After a hard Soccer match Tyler shares her Graham Crackers with Blanche & Lucy.

Ethan is now sitting up almost by himself on the soft grass. Is he too cute or what!

Lucy loves Ethan and can't help but to lick him every chance she gets.

Denise and Tyler decided that it was such a lovely spring day that it was time to plant the spring flowers in Tyler's flower pots.

Lucy & Blanche wanted to help Tyler plant flowers. No Blanche!! no cookie seeds!

Tyler put her garden gloves on, filled the pots with planting soil planted lots of little flower seeds & watered them all. She now can't wait to see them sprout.

We ended a wonderful sunny Sunday on the Deck playing with the kids. Baby Ethan likes Blanche.

Where in the world is Blanche and Lucy Now ?!

Well we are all visiting my daughter Denise and her husband Gary and my two grandbabies - Tyler (she's 3 1/2 yr) and her baby brother Ethan (he's 6mos). We'll be here for a few days so I can get my fill of hugs and kisses from the babies to last me a couple of months till I see them again.

As you can see Blanche is sad because she is not getting my full attention and Lucy doesn't mind getting poked and kissed by Tyler.

Well it didn't take long for Lucy to give Ethan a big kiss - or for Ethan to yank Lucy's wiskers... of course she didn't mind at all.

Blanche and Lucy stay close to me while I cuddle Ethan as much as I can - he's either sleeping or smiling most of the time.

Denise invited Gary's mom and his sister Judy and her husband Pete and thier kids over for dinner so we could visit together. Gary's family is wonderful and we love spending time with them whenever we are in the Colo area. So I took the opportunity to take a few family photos on the stairwell for them - This is Judy and Pete with their kids, Aubrey (on the top stairs) and Andrew sitting behind Michael on the bottom stair.

At a little over 6mos old, (born 10/8/08) - Ethan is still a little guy but is developmentally right on target... he has 2 bottom teeth, sits up almost on his own and loves to be pulled up to a standing position. He grabs things infront of him and screeches and giggles when his sister Tyler plays with him.

He's such a happy baby - always smiling and laughing.

Denise, Gary, Tyler and baby Ethan on the stairwell.

This is Gary's mom, Helen (known as Grandma to the grandkids) and me - Denise's Mom (known as Grammy to the grandkids) with Denise's family.

Where in the world is Blanche & Lucy today?

Blanche and Lucy went to Canon City to visit Dory & Anne - but especially to meet Heidi & Zeek their beautiful little kitties. Within a day of visiting, the kitties and dogs could be in the same room together without incident. Though Lucy still wanted to chase the kitties, Blanche was happy just to be in the same room with them and watch them. Heidi was very curious and brave and even came down to the floor to get a little closer - but Zeek ran from the room at the first movement from either of the dogs.

We were sorry to miss Anne during our visit -she was out of town visiting old friends. But Dorymade up for it by cooking us a great pork chop dinner and a wonderful bacon & eggs breakfast the next day. We had a wonderful visit and stay at the Million Star RV Resort and hope to visit again soon.

Zeek & Heidi saying hi to Blanche & Lucy from a safe distance behind the screen

Dory & Anne have ranches & farms all around them - This is a beautiful horse ranch right behind her property.

Dory brought us to visit the Alpaca Ranch right up the street where she lives.

These animals are like Llamas but a little prettier and friendlier - no spitting..

We got up close and personal with the Alpacas. They seemed very domesticated and friendly.

Blanche and the Alpacas are saying hello

Lucy & Bessie the cow are intrigued with each other

As the sun sets the deer come out to play in the meadow beside the houses in Dory & Anne's neighborhood

Viewing the lights of Canon City from Skyline Drive

Good night Canon City

Where in the world is Lucy & Blanche today?

Camping in Albuquerque, New Mexico..... After leaving Show Low at noon we lazily drove to New Mexico and decided to spend the night at one of our favorite campgrounds - American RV Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico.