The MoHo Has Landed

Meanwhile back at the mother ship……

    It took me approximately 3 weeks, an assortment of champagne and tasty cheeses, and 2 bouts of losing my will to live to really embrace the MoHo lifestyle. But it happened (my mind flashes on pictures of Patty Hearst in that nasty SLA outfit and a gun in her hand…..ahh she was just embracing the lifestyle!) It was all that Dave could do to stop me from emblazoning  “Git’er Done” on what is left of our spare tire cover(it still may happen). “Home” had become Dave, 3 westies and only as much cuteness as the MoHo’s 6 wheels could carry. The road provided a certain freedom. The biggest concern being whether or not the RV park for the night would have cable hook up.(Not much of a concern really, the MoHo “Duoplex” has flat screen tv’s and dvd players in both the “bedroom” and “living room”.)

      Now, I find myself back in Soquel, re-adjusting. There was a certain comfort in the coziness that the Moho provided. Practicality too. No longer can I sit on the couch and do the dishes. I actually have to walk all the way into the kitchen.  Then there is sitting and staring vacantly out a window for hours at a time,which is actually an activity when traveling  the country in the MoHo.  At home…it becomes cause for alarm.    6 weeks worth of mail anyone?…..MoHo take me away!.

     Before reality completely takes over, I am going to close my eyes and commit to memory this “great adventure”. Savoring especially the moments spent with dear friends and family that we saw along the way. Cue Music: “Memories“? I don’t think so….”On The Road Again“? euwww….what we need here is “The Montage Song” from Team America World Police……hehroe!

Internet access is not universal…. nor is my will to type

I really should have expressed it at the time. I opened the computer several days ago, when we did have access, and went through my 150 new emails,deleting 99%. It goes quickly, but then it was time to blog; and I just didn’t feel like it.

Where have all the REAL bikers gone?

Sturgis is home to the largest motorcycle rally in the world. Today I have seen more motorcycles with stuffed, and I mean cute cuddly, animals tied to them than any person would believe. I have not seen a single bad ass scary biker that I would cross the street to avoid. As a matter of fact very many had their bikes on trailers behind SUV’s and I won’t even coment on the tricycles…..can you say “training wheels????”  So Sturgis receded in the rearview mirror and I was not compelled to throw a single strand of beads.   We drove along sang some songs do dah do dah  do dah day.. Stopped at a Wally Mart to buy victuals.  Eventually, did I mention fifty five is rather slow and 30 up hills is crawling, we arrived at Big “freaking: Timber!!!!  Horse Whisperer was filmed here and the RV park that we are in,  fronts Boulder Creek. Our site has the front bumper hanging over the stream where many many trout are feasting on thousands of bugs. We are having cocktails watching the show from our comfortable chairs…..life is good.   Tomorrow fishing licenses and Ennis for several days. BTW did you know that Billings Montana has two refineries and lots of squallor??   Me neither.

North and West from Milwaukee feels like going home

Looking at the atlas; we are a very long way from home.  But the longest  journey begins with a single step, in this case a folding step to enter the MoHo. First stop Rochester, Minesota. Who knew the Mayo clinic was not in New York? Fine smarty pants well I didn’t. The MoHo was once again uncomfortable in a park full of very very expensive breatherin. Turns out they even have a rule to not allow MoHo’s of our vintage to stay there. Well we stayed anyway. Hitting the road again we made our way to I-90 West; first stop? Why the Jolly Green Giant of course!!!

                                       “Do these leaves make my butt look big?”

 Didn’t know he was here either…  Mitchell South Dakota was our scheduled stop for the night. CORN PALACE !!!!!!! What the ?!?!? Would there be corn tiaras??? Corn pone????? Corn popped???  All that and MORE. This place is actually covered in corn…go ahead…click on the picture…I’ll wait. Can you believe it?

We found a city park on a lake to stay at and the cicadas were screaming loudly. Turns out this was Barbara’s fathers’ home town and she has stayed in this very park. Next AM……. Did you sat CORN PALACE ?!?!?!?   Quite the place and the doll museum across the street was world class.   Back on the highway the wind was howling. Probably 40 mph head/cross winds. Lots of fun. NOT.   So signs start to popup advertising Wall Drug . There are a lot of signs. I mean really….a lot of them. So we stop. Picture Casa De Fruta on steroids. We bought souvenirs and still this did not stop the wind. The signs were more interesting than the place. Back to arguing with the MoHo on whether we should stay on the road……   We are stopped  just past Rapid City almost to Sturgis very poor TV reception, but good blog reception. Well good night for now.

I drove through Chicago……

Heading back to Milwaukee, Olga told us to stay right and the traffic to the left was stopped. So I went right. The steel mills loomed large, the projects loomed larger still, I prayed for the health and well being of the MoHo as I felt our well being was exceptionally dependant on not breaking down in this part of Chicago…..or any other for that matter. Well it takes a long time to drive through but we made it. Before long we pulled back into Randy and Barbaras driveway in Fox Point. They claimed to have been in rehab subsequent to our visit a week prior. So we cracked open a bottle of champagne to celebrate their success at detox. We had a raucus visit with them and their friends (Carol and Bart) . Highlights included a home cooked Greek meal with a  vintage Winnabego/flower centerpiece. It was a fabulous meal and great time as always; thanks guys.

This Just In !!!!! Suspicious Packages lock Down !!!

I am sitting in Susies bedroom updating the MoHo Blog, Jodee and Susie are prepping dinner for our last night here; does that make this a Menage a’ Blog ??!!   I certainly hope so.  We have been stationed at the Alton RV Park for several days. Or is that stationary at the Park? Whatever…. We went to Red White and Boom; turns out it is a huge fire works display. Very impressive, I loved the reflection of the fire works in the windows of the highrises in the background. A video of that would complement a jazz selection very well. We also went to the Dublin Parade on the fourth, it was a fun parade but the police and fire need to lay off the sirens and air horns. hint hint guys…..  We have shopped and are ready to drop Susie is a professional shopper I do believe…lol… very nice areas around here. Soooooo as for the title, well tonight we are scheduled to go downtown after dinner to a bar/art display (best of both worlds) ; but there are suspicious packages downtown that the police are inspecting. At one of the locations, so far there are four, they have blown up the packages to find they contained paper. I hope that whatever Joker set this up is an adult not a minor; I would hate for some unsuspecting parents to get hit with the bill for defending this moron. Well…..stepping down off my soapbox……tomorrow we hit the road again to motor stately to Milwaukee again. If Randy and Barbara have recovered sufficiently we will spend the weekend there before heading back West. Well that’s all for now stay tuned………

Heading for Ohio

The layover day at the RV Park with lake was very nice. No driving just puttering around the MoHo, reading, watching TV. BTW the TV reception out here is amazing. We have a $30 antenna from Radio Shack and it is crystal sharp. Anyway, we started out heading for Ohio; kinda south and east. Driving at 55 miles an hour takes a long long time. Have I mentioned that previously? Probably will again later. Sooooo numerous hours have gone by and Jodee has selected an RV Park that has 330 sites and a lake for fishing and a pool and hot tub and all kinds of activities. Hmmmm full you say? All 330 sites? Could it be that the MoHo is just too ugly to be let in??? Naaaaahhh that couldn’t be it. IT is the only RV Park in the area listed in the book, no problem, we move on. The young gal at the grocery store tells us of an RV Park down the road a piece,,, not a fer piece but a piece. We arrive they have only 35 sites or so. We get one. Now this park has a pond for fishing also. It is brown and muddy with soap suds on the surface. I am told that they stock it with catfish. Many people are fishing for the catfish. They are using bobbers, catfish are bottom feeders, I don’t really feel the need to educate them. So it turns out this park will have a hot rod car show next day and music and food. Meanwhile we discover what the primary recreation is at this Park. Seems they get in their golf carts, many with polished aluminum wheels and custom paint jobs, and drive around the park, beer in hand, waving to all and sundry.One cart is a replica of a Rolls Royce, this belongs to the only other Westie in the park. Our dogs had to walk. Next day with outdoor DJ blasting the oldies and the hotrod crowd popping brewskies we hit the highway yet again. News Flash: Harv’s engine on his Boston Whaler died and he had to be towed in off the Monterey Bay by the Coast Guard. The internet is amazing.

 We finally arrived at Kristin and Tims’ house in Wyoming, Ohio outside Cincinati. Jodee and Kristin worked together at Paper Parade in Capitola. Their house looks like a photo shoot for Pottery Barn. Very clean and elegant. The neighborhood made the Beige Turd rather uncomfortable. We got a tour of the beautiful homes in the area had a nice visit . Next morning we went out to breakfast and bid farewell to Kristin and Tim. A short but fun visit. It is a short drive to Susie and Scotts’ near Columbus Ohio. We found a small older RV Park in Alton just 3-4 miles from their house.

Susie and Jodee were very excited to see each other again and we saw their lovely daughters again.  We have done some shopping and rented a fun little Jeep. Just in this evening from dinner with them and they are off to the airport to pick up their son and his wife returning from Africa. It has turned warm again by the way. Tomorrow is the 3rd of July and we are to go to “The Red White and Boom” …I have no idea what it is but I am assured it will be very crowded….gotta love explosives combined with massive crowds. Well that is all for now, we are keeping our fingers crossed for no tornadoes as it is still season for them and Weds. is siren test day. Goodnight for now.