Well, we are finally back from our southern travels, and it was an amazing two months on the road. Ken has actually given our trip a "9.8 out of 10", which gratifies me, since there were a few moments when I was quite concerned about whether or not we would be able to survive our challenges. The dramatic 'turkey' incident was, of course, the most difficult obstacle we managed to overcome. However, there were other less traumatic issues that I think we handled quite well, and have proven to be a testament to the stability of our relationship. Having our GPS lose reliability because of the damage done during the accident made trip-routing somewhat of a problem. Having no camping sites available during several sections of our route made for some rather primitive living conditions (and we all know that "roughing it" for me typically means no room service after midnight, or that the ice machine is on another floor). But we "weathered" all the adversities we encountered, including some very strong winds, rain and hailstorms. After leaving beautiful spring-blooming Atlanta and Kirsten, Paul and little Lucas, we headed to Red Bay, Alabama to tour the Tiffin Motorhome facility where our camper was made. It was absolutely fascinating! (Thank you, Dora, Shawn and Floyd). Ken was particularly interested in the cabinet-making operations, and saw many innovative techniques being incorporated into their new models. We then drove to Perryville, Missouri and stayed at the same campground we did on our first night on the road - back where the turkey hit us. It was great to enjoy that campground when the temperature was not registering a freezing-cold four degrees, as it was when we were there in January. Arriving back in Muscatine on April Fool's Day, we've since been asked several times what our future adventures might include. At this point, we plan on staying here at Nancy and Tom's cozy and comfortable house for a couple of months, and then perhaps settling in at one of the nearby campgrounds on the Mississippi River. I have a few sub-teaching dates already scheduled, and Ken will be working on a few construction jobs as they become available. In the meantime, we'll take a trip out to Colorado to see Kyle and Rachel, and maybe tackle a couple of household projects there, as well. Our thanks to all who have followed our "Big Adventure", and hope you will continue to do so in our future travels.
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