Whelan's Wheels (go round and round, round and round): I'm baaaaaaack

Friday, August 29, 2008

I'm baaaaaaack

Rick took that picture the other day when we were out on the bikes ~ nice job huh!

So yesterday we traveled 150 miles from Albert Lea, MN to Oelwein, IA. We extended our stay in Albert Lea by two days (no more extending for a while - we have commitments in Louisiana in two weeks and in South Carolina October 13). We really liked the fairgrounds we were at in Albert Lea, although it wasn't as social as the fairgrounds in Sioux Falls. The downside (??) to the one in Albert Lea was no satellite because of the trees surrounding our site so we would take the laptop to the local library every few days.

We had the bikes out quite a bit in Albert Lea. That was an interesting town ... a very friendly Elks Lodge and a very unfriendly American Legion Post! Not a lot of restaurants in the town - my birthday dinner was Applebees! Rick asked the girl at the library what was a good restaurant to go to ~ her answer ~ Applebees, Pizza Ranch or a Mexican place in the mall!!! Oh well that was the day we went to the SPAM museum so birthday lunch was a spam reuben!! Like Ricky says, he takes me to all the best places!

Below is a picture for you Kimberly - this was outside the office in Northwood, Iowa ~ everyone there said they didn't know you ~ I was wondering if any of them were in Kansas City with you!

Today I guess we will get the bikes out and explore the town of Oelwein (and hopefully learn the correct pronunciation of the town). Also, there is an Amish community here that I want to go to ~ word has it they have baked goods for sale on Friday and Saturday - I need a raspberry pie in the worst way. Also, we are right on a lovely lake so you know what that means - Sir is ready to go swimming at a seconds notice! So we'll probably take him to the lake then head out after he's tired...

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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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