Whelan's Wheels (go round and round, round and round): Ho hummmmm

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Ho hummmmm

Not much happening around these parts. Sunday we rode for a while after we made arrangements to move to the fairgrounds camping area on Thursday ~ thankfully it is quiet over there. Where we are now is right next to interstate 90 and constant highway noise. I need a decent nights sleep. And to top that off I was reading until 1:30 this morning then up at 5:30 ... I guess I am my own worst enemy sometimes! Then again, I think we all are at one point or another!

Yesterday, being the first real business day since we arrived in Sioux Falls (Friday was a holiday) we got some errands done. We needed to find a place for Rick to have some lab work done before he goes back to his doctor in MA in a couple weeks. It was amazing how easy that was to do here ~ even if we do have to coordinate it with his doctor in MA. Some of you may recall the incredible frustration we had trying to coordinate scans in FL with his doctor in MA. THAT was an absolute nightmare, complicated by a medical facility in Jacksonville whose staff just didn't give a damn about patients ~ Sioux Falls on the other hand was just as easy as could be, no "attitude" to deal with, just a smile and a "how can we help you" attitude, just as it should be! I have been struggling lately with my "why can't everyone just get along" issue/question so this was a refreshing event for me!

We also had to register to vote, again, as we used our mail forwarding service address when we registered in September and we should have used the address of the hotel we stayed at! We also did concealed weapons applications (a long story, for a different day, as to why I am applying!!). When we came out of the Sioux Falls Law Enforcement Center I spotted this great statue. So, Sgt. Shawn, this picture is for YOU! I thought it was a great statue. The city of Sioux Falls has a terrific display of statues along the main street in the downtown area. I will take pictures, but probably not today ..... well maybe today ~ who knows. We should really wash filthy motorcycles today and do some laundry and cleaning and take care of a few maintenance issues, but we shall see. All that of course will be after I have a little "nap"!

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This is our story ~ and we're sticking to it.

Our attempt at a blog - quite scary isn't it?

We left MA in early October, 2007 after I (Tracey) retired September 5 as an executive assistant for a software developer and Rick retired from his job on October 1. We passed papers on our house September 28th and off we went. We traveled down the east coast to the Florida Keys ~ where we planned to spend three nights but 17 nights later had to leave our site because someone had reserved it a year prior! We then stayed in northern FL for another month and headed off to meet our Marine returning to the San Diego area after his second tour "over there". We spent several wonderful weeks realizing why grandparents get tired easily! After the San Diego area we headed to the "low desert" (certainly a new phrase for us) of CA and into western AZ .. and decided it was finally time to start the blog we'd talked about since August or so!!

So many wonderful things we saw along the way. And the people, oh the people. I have said so many times to Rick the best part of this journey has been the people. So, so many people with so many interesting stories. Think about it - think about the stories YOU have and multiply that by the many many people we must have met along the way ~ particularly a social person like Rick .. we met a rattlesnake milker in Sweetwater, TX, we met the camp hosts in the Keys who summer back in NH ~ talk about the best of both worlds! We met the female police Sgt. at the Sweetwater Elks whose son was also in Iraq at the same base as my son. We met people in Slidell, LA who survived Katrina and had a great attitude and a smile on their faces and were proud to share their local cuisine with us. We saw the Blue Angels, purely by chance, in El Centro, CA. Or the "campground" where within an hour of arriving our house had been hit three times by golf balls! Or the Elks lodge in Indio ~ the sweetest, bike riding, bartender ~ I just wanted to pack her up and bring her along on our adventure. Not to mention the aerial tram while we were there, the warplane museum for Rick who does NOT do aerial trams! The Salton Sea ~ WOW just WOW. We stayed in the lovely little town of Wilcox, AZ - there was just something about that town. How about Pensacola, FL where the Elks Lodge on the beach is now built high, very high, off the ground! Or what about Huntington Beach State Park in Murrels Inlet, SC - talk about beautiful. What a great place that was to spend our first Thanksgiving on the road with good friends - that was something to be thankful for, for sure. Our first Christmas and New Years in the Keys!! WOW. The love and support of a dear friend in FL while Rick had to fly back to Boston and we dealt with all that entailed with unexpected follow ups back in FL .. how fortunate were we through all of that. Not to mention having the new trailer outfitted in Myrtle Beach and staying at what a week or two a year is the Broken Spoke? Or the kind and soft spoken LA Police Detective who is on the gang unit? So many people, so many stories. And there is so much ahead. The people .. did I mention how wonderful the people have been - all different walks of life .. so many personalities, so many stories! I have said many times ~ I need to pinch myself every morning to be certain it REALLY is happening to US! We are so grateful.

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