Colorado and Arizona - November 12 - December 9, 2017

Randy and I enjoyed watching the Steelers win over the Indianapolis Colts so my departure was delayed until 3pm Crawfordsville time.  The trip to Colorado was accomplished in "Delivery Mode."  In other words, I just drove straight through, only stopping for gas, meals and sleep.  The first day ended with the RV spending the night in Macon, Missouri.

The second day took the RV and me to a rest area on I-70 near Goodland, Kansas.

Lunch break in the rest area near Ellsworth, Kansas

Sunset while crossing Kansas on I-70

The third day took me to Denver and my son's home in Englewood, Colorado.  We enjoyed real Mexican food unlike some of the places "back east" that cater to folks with my own weak taste buds.  Those that know me, know I don't handle "hot, spicy" foods very well.  I enjoy the spicy flavors, but can't deal with "hot."  Even the "mild" version at the real Mexican restaurants challenges the likes of me!  :-)

View of the Rocky Mountain sunset from Allen IV's condo, 5 stories up.

The next evening Allen IV had to work so I walked to a nice local pub for a sandwich and beer.

Sunset on the walk to dinner

"The Pint Room" is known for it's great selection of draft beers

Visits with Allen IV are always enjoyable, especially as his home is so distant from the east coast where I spend most of my time.  It seems we only get together about once a year.  We wrapped up the week together by unloading boxes and gear that I had brought from Allen IV's mother's home in PA.  The RV had room for lots of stuff that didn't fit in Allen's car when he drove to Colorado, so the RV briefly played the role of delivery truck.

The RV had been winterized before the cold weather arrived in Pennsylvania, so I had been using public restrooms and friend's showers for a couple weeks now.  It was time to head south of the frost line into Arizona.  Once again it was back into delivery mode.

Pike's Peak is the mountain in the distance

The first day was spent driving south on I-25 where I snapped a pic of Pike's Peak while near Pueblo, Colorado.  That night was spent in a rest area near Trinidad, Colorado.  Although the RV was comfy enough, I still woke early and decided to get started into New Mexico.  Sunrise caught up to the RV almost four hours later near Las Vegas.  No, NOT That Las Vegas!  We're talking the small town of Las Vegas, NEW MEXICO.

Sunrise in Las Vegas, NM

Colors in the Las Vegas, NM Sunrise

It was a beautiful and fun drive, but V-e-r-y L-o-n-g as I filled the entire day driving from 0400 - 1830, all the way to Tucson, Arizona.

Sunset in Tucson, AZ was very colorful and dramatic. Unfortunately,
using a cell phone camera through the windshield diminished the effect significantly.

The first night I spent on the edge of Tucson in Crazy Horse RV Park.  Nice enough, but not quite the Arizona desert scene I had been expecting.

De-winterized the RV thanks to the warm Arizona sun

The neighbors in Crazy Horse RV Park were a bit close together

After laundry, shopping and refilling the fresh water tank, I made my way to a very nice county park a few miles outside of Tucson, Gilbert Ray Campground.

It was almost lonely in the Gilbert Ray Campsite.  I loved it!

The view outside my RV door

Sunset my first night in Gilbert Ray campground

The next day I took a nice walk around the campground soaking up the desert sunrise.  Below are photos from that walk.

The fuzzy photo is due to significant zooming/pixelation to show the little bunny

No question about being in the Arizona desert now!

PA, OH and Wabash vs DePauw Football - October 12 - November 12, 2017

The RV and I headed north to Pennsylvania after the boat show.  It was time to relax and rest after the full activities of "Boat Show!"  My first order of business was to catch up with my granddaughter and her parents, Paul and Kelsey Murphy.

Avery and family join me for Sunday dinner

Avery tells me she is going to be a big sister!

The big news is that Avery is going to be a big sister to a new sibling joining the family in May 2018!  I really enjoyed the time spent with Kelsey, Paul and Avery and now I'm excited and looking forward to their new addition.

Autumn in western PA is a grand time, especially outdoors with the leaves changing colors.  Here are some photos from a hike at McConnell's Mill State Park.

A huge rock hangs above Slippery Rock Creek as Margy looks on

Looking south along the Slippery Rock below the covered bridge

Looking back at the bridge from the same spot as above

The Rose Point Park Campground was home for much of my PA visit.  It is an older campground and they tell me they even have sites open and available through the winter!

Rose Point Park Campsite

The campground borders on Slippery Rock Creek and a canyon-like run that empties into Slippery Rock Creek.  I enjoyed a wonderful hike through the run and took a few pics.

I enjoyed many evenings with family and friends, so western PA provided the R & R I was looking for.  Of course, just as with boats, full-time cruising with an RV is lots of maintenance and repairs in exotic (and not-so-exotic) places.  While in western PA I got several maintenance, tires and systems projects completed, including a new water heater that can run on both propane and electricity.  The old one only used propane, even when plugged into shore power, so when it failed, it seemed a good idea to replace with an upgrade.

The next stop was visiting the "Columbus Murphy's."  We had a very nice time watching football games on TV and engaging my brother John and his three kids in various conversations.  As nephew Patrick is graduating early from college in December, he and I enjoyed a good talk about the job market for new grads.

Patrick and John enjoying an Ohio State game

As my fellow classmates and fraternity brothers know, the most important football game every season is the "Oldest College Football Rivalry West of the Allegheny Mountains," Wabash vs DePauw.  This segment of my trip enabled me to catch up with several longtime friends that I've only rarely spent time with since graduation, so this was very special to see everyone again.

Randy Allen and I enjoy a coffee at the venerable Scarlet Inn

Roger Wilson, Bill Hill, CaptMurph, and Randy Allen enjoying the wrestling match.  Pic by Rosann WIlson

Wabash College wrestling team WINS!

This year's big football game was hosted by DePauw at their Blackstock Stadium in Greencastle, IN.  Bill, Roger and Rosann have considerable experience hosting the Wabash football tailgate parties and this year's Monon Bell Game was no exception.

Rosann Wilson prepared terrific food for tailgating!

Roger, Randy and Murph

Roger, Rosann and Bill enjoying the tailgate party.  Selfie by Bill Hill

Wabash Wins come-from-behind-victory, 22-21!  Murph, Roger and Randy

 The next morning, the RV took me west towards Colorado and my older son, Allen IV.

Boat Show! September 26 - October 10, 2017

I headed to Annapolis for my 23rd? US Sailboat Show.  I spent the first 18 years attending as a consumer, two years as a broker, the last three as a gopher ("Go-Fer", get it?!), helping friend and boss, Harry, as he wired several exhibitors with WiFi and helped clients with their booth setups.

For this year's show, Harry had me park the RV in his driveway.  That way he'd be certain I'd be working on time!  :-)

Narjes & Shirley as Murph's canvas dries, RV is in their driveway

The Solimans and Harry included me in their family outing to eat Maryland crabs and crabcakes.

Harry and family are impressed with the pile of crabs before Harry

Harry digs in!

Harry and I even enjoyed our last ball game of the regular season as the Pirates played the Nationals on the Nat's home field.

Good for Harry, his Nats won and are off to the post season playoffs

Harry and Jeanneau Yachts both turn 60 in 2017

Capt Paul provides water taxi service for Harry and Murph from Atlantic Cruising Yachts across Spa Creek to the boat show

See the Helicopter on the aft deck of the megayacht?  On our morning water taxi into the show

This was the first time in four years that CaptMurph didn't drive a sailboat out of the show at break up on Monday (Here's a video from a few years ago), but it's just as well now that my own boat is 13 feet smaller than the smallest Jeanneau in the show.

Smoky Mountain Camping - September 15-24, 2017

Orlando reopened the airport in time for Rob Matthews to fly into town as scheduled and we drove together northbound to Cherokee, NC where we met two other fraternity brothers for a week of camping in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee.

Our campsite in Cherokee, NC

We had a great campsite at the gurgling creekside, sprawled across the RV, LLBean tent and dining fly including a campfire circle.  After a memory lane concert by the Doobie Brothers, we enjoyed horseback riding, lessons for panning gold, a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway, a New Belgium Brewery visit, a drink at the Grove Park Inn, railroading, and fraternity camaraderie as we drank beer, played horseshoes and ladder ball.

Kim, Rob, Randy, Murph along the Blue Ridge Parkway

The view of the Smoky Mountains behind the picture above

As the sign says!

Kim, Randy, Rob and Murph aboard the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad

Check out the Billboard!

The camping fun came to an end as the other three piled into Randy's car for their road trip north and I headed to Annapolis for my 23rd? US Sailboat Show.